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European Innovation Council would benefit from wider input, says Cesaer
The European Innovation Council—the EU funder that supports the development and commercialisation of breakthrough technologies—should adopt a more interdisciplinary approach, according to the Cesaer group of science and technology universities.
In a position paper published on 31 March, the group says that Europe is missing opportunities to help new companies grow “because key expertise is not always engaged at the right time”.
“While the EIC is designed to be Europe’s engine for breakthrough innovation, its funding mechanisms do not yet fully incentivise collaboration where it can accelerate commercialisation and adoption,” the paper says.
Combining expertise
The kind of interdisciplinarity needed is a strategic combination of expertise, according to the paper.
It says that some of the EIC instruments must better facilitate collaboration between “problem owners and technology developers” to increase their impact.
“Problem owners—whether in industry, healthcare, society or government—must be able to work alongside tech talents, technology experts, business strategists and social scientists to combine challenges and technological solutions,” the paper says. “Startups that overlook market fit, regulatory hurdles or user acceptance risk failure.”
“Bringing in problem owners early—whether from industry, government or civil society—helps ensure we’re solving the right problems with the right mix of expertise,” said Cesaer vice-president Tim Bedford, who is also associate principal for research and innovation at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
“By using interdisciplinarity strategically, Europe can sharpen its innovation capabilities and boost its global competitiveness.”
Recommendations
Cesaer says that interdisciplinarity “must be embedded at the planning stage and applied where relevant across EIC activities”.
More interdisciplinary expertise must be brought onto the EIC governing board, which lacks sufficient representation from the social sciences and humanities, according to the university group.
There is also a need to better support interdisciplinarity through the design of funding calls and the evaluation of proposed projects, it says, calling for changes to the metrics the EIC uses to evaluate its effectiveness.
These metrics should better measure commercial success and societal impact, the group suggests.
It also asks that researchers and innovators be given a “central role” in the EIC’s strategic planning.
“By fostering collaborations where they add value, the EIC can accelerate deep tech startups, open new market opportunities and enhance public trust in innovation by, for instance, more efficiently integrating user needs, ethical considerations and societal adoption strategies into innovation development,” Cesaer says.
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