European Institute of Innovation and Technology appoints new Board members
The twelve new members include President of Microsoft Spain María Garaña.
By Biocat
The European Commission has appointed twelve new members to the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). These new members will officially take up their positions on 31 July, replacing those who have finished their four-year term. The newly appointed members, all with a solid reputation in the field of higher education, research, enterprise and innovation, are:
- Gabor Bojar, founder and chairman of Graphisoft SE and the Aquincum Institute of Technology (AIT) in Romania
- María Garaña, president of Microsoft Spain
- Dr. Ulf Johansson, chairman of the board of Junta Novo A/S and of the Novo Nordisk Foundation
- Elpida Keravnou-Papailiou, rector of the Cyprus University of Technology
- Dr. Jana Kolar, head of research and founder of Morana rtd.
- Professor Marja Makarow, vice-president for research in the Academy of Finland
- Professor Peter Olese, chairman of the Danish Council for Strategic Research
- Dr. Patrick Prendergast, president/provost of Trinity College Dublin
- Bruno Revellin-Falcoz, president of the National Academy of Technologies, France
- Gianfelice Rocca, chairman of the Techint Group
- Professor Nigel Thrif, vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick
- Jeroen Van Der Veer, non-executive director of Shell Company
The EIT was created in 2007 as a tool to promote European competitiveness and leadership in innovation, and is governed by a Governing Board and an Executive Committee. The Board, the EIT’s highest power, is charged with setting the overall strategy and direction of the EIT and coordinating its activities, which include the assessment, selection and support of the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC), as well as supervising the application of the Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA) presented to the European Parliament a few months ago. The board has 22 members: 18 appointed members and 4 representative members.
Current Chairman of the Board Dr. Alexander von Gabain is the cofounder and former CEO of Intercell and president of this company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
EIT, an opportunity for Catalonia
Since 2009, the EIT has started up three KICs: ICT Labs (information and communication society), InnoEnergy (sustainable energy) and Climate Change (mitigating and adapting to climate change). In 2014, under the framework of the European Horizon 2020 program, they expect to hold a call for new KICs. In order to drive these bids, Biocat is currently working to coordinate workgroups for the two Catalan bids for KICs in healthy living and active ageing and food for the future (Food4future) with the HUBc and the IRTA, respectively. Various bodies have already joined these workgroups and other organizations from around the country will soon be asked to participate in order to reinforce the potential of the bids. The EIT’s budget for the 2014-2020 period is €3.2 billions.