EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Innovations, Latvia, Medicine, Technology

The EIT Awards ceremony will be held in Budapest on 15 October 2019 during the EIT’s annual Innovation Forum, INNOVEIT. The nominees represent the most promising graduates, entrepreneurs and innovators in Europe. Each nominee has been selected for tackling global challenges with ground-breaking innovations in the fields of climate, energy, digitalisation, food, health and raw materials. Their products and services are driving Europe’s ability to innovate and creating jobs and growth for Europe.

This year’s nominees come from Finland (1), France (2), Germany (5), Italy (1), Latvia (1), Netherlands (1), Norway (1), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Spain (1), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1), United Kingdom (1) and United States (1).

Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport responsible for the EIT, said: ‘I am pleased that the EIT Award nominees reflect the wide range of activities that the EIT is running across Europe. Given the challenges facing our society, it is more important than ever that we support the next generation of entrepreneurs. These nominees show that the EIT is offering talented, creative people a space where ideas can grow to become products and services benefiting all of Europe and its citizens.’

Dirk Jan van den Berg, Chair of the EIT Governing Board, added: ‘Through Europe’s largest innovation network, the EIT is breaking down barriers to power innovation across Europe. The EIT Awards show how we are accelerating the transition to a greener, healthier and more sustainable society helping to change the lives of citizens. I am proud that with the EIT we support talented innovators that create a better future for us, for Europe.’

The 2019 EIT Awards nominees have been selected from the most successful graduates, entrepreneurs and innovators supported by the EIT Community as part of its drive to tackle global challenges. The 19 nominees compete in four categories: EIT CHANGE, EIT Innovators, EIT Venture, and EIT Woman. The 19 nominees will now go through to a final selection for the four awards. The finalists in each category will pitch their innovation on 15 October 2019 after which the winners of the five categories will be announced. Citizens will also be able to have their say by voting for their top innovation to win the EIT Public Award, with online voting starting on 02 September 2019.

The full list of the 2019 EIT Awards nominees can be found here.

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EIT BACKGROUND: Europe’s future is connected to its power to innovate!

What is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)?

The EIT was created in 2008 to drive Europe’s ability to innovate. The EIT is a unique EU initiative, the only one to fully integrate business, education and research. The Institute supports the development of dynamic pan-European partnerships among leading companies, research labs and universities. These are called EIT Innovation Communities and each is dedicated to tackling a specific global challenge.

What challenges do the EIT’s Innovation Communities focus on?

The EIT’s eight Innovation Communities work to:

• accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy (EIT Climate-KIC)
• drive Europe’s digital transformation (EIT Digital)
• lead the global revolution in food innovation and production (EIT Food),
• give EU citizens greater opportunities to enjoy a healthy life (EIT Health),
• achieve a sustainable energy future for Europe (EIT InnoEnergy)
• strengthening and increasing the competitiveness of Europe’s manufacturing industry (EIT Manufacturing)
• develop raw materials into a major strength for Europe (EIT RawMaterials)
• solve mobility challenges of our cities (EIT Urban Mobility)

Together with their leading partners, they offer a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities. This includes education courses that combine technical and entrepreneurial skills, business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects.