JANUARY 2023 / 03
the stakeholders group with the forum
for discussing innovation.”
These words, warmly welcomed
by everyone involved with the K4I
Forum, were delivered at what was
an historic moment for the EU, when
the Commission was unveiling its New
European Innovation Agenda.
The Agenda, a dynamic action plan
designed to realise the continent’s
twin digital and green transitions, has
got the potential to be the engine
room of the European Green Deal.
It sets out how it will make it easier
for startups to access funding, has a
target to train one million deep tech
pioneers - to help turn Europe into
the deep tech capital of the world –
and is prioritising support for women
innovators.
A great contribution to this agenda,
I am proud to say, comes from the
European Innovation Area (EIA)
Manifesto, which I had the pleasure of
helping develop with the Forum, other
K4I Forum political members, EIT KICs,
European Partnerships, universities,
and innovation support organisations.
Commissioner Gabriel acknowledged
this at the time of the Agenda’s
launch, when she said the EIA
Manifesto and its eight Focus areas
“had a major impact on the creation
of this new European Innovation
Agenda - and all eight are covered by
the new Agenda”.
One of the Manifesto Focus Areas the
Agenda is taking forward is the deep
tech opportunity, and I have been
extremely excited by what leaders in
this field have been sharing through
the Forum’s new online portal of open
access ideas.
Likewise, women innovators and
female-led startups - another of
the EIA Manifesto focus areas,
and integral to the Agenda, are
providing some of the most important
solutions. This is a space that is very
close to Commissioner Gabriel’s
heart, who says women innovators
are “responsible for some of the
most groundbreaking innovations
contributing to a more sustainable
future”.
The Commissioner has made it very
clear that she is on a mission to give
women innovators more of the tools
they need to succeed, so they can
“close the gender gap” which sees
“three quarters [of startups] still
founded by men” – an outcome she
says will be “good for growth and
good for our planet” – and she’s right.
Again, the Forum’s new online
ideas resource should be a source
of inspiration - not just for the
Commissioner, but for women
across the continent, as it shows
them spearheading a new era for
innovation in Europe.
I would like to add that the Forum has
long advocated for the establishment
of a European Innovation Area that
can better coordinate all these
ambitions. This approach is working
well now, as we see from the successes
enjoyed by the European Research
Area, and the European Education
Area: two streamlined ecosystems
generating real impact. We firmly
believe a pan-European innovation
ecosystem can do the same for
innovation. Because as you can see,
we have lots of good ideas that we
must jointly implement now.