European Institute of Innovation and Technology - EIT
The EIT is an institute of the European Union established in March 2008. The EIT’s mission is to increase European sustainable growth and competitiveness by reinforcing the innovation capacity of the Member States and the EU. The EIT has created integrated structures (Knowledge and Innovation Communities, or KICs), which link the higher education, research and business sectors to one another thereby boosting innovation and entrepreneurship. The KICs focus on priority topics with high societal impact, currently: Climate Change and Mitigation, Sustainable Energy and Information Communication Technology (ICT), to be expanded over time.
The EIT and the EIT Foundation are two separate legal entities. The EIT Foundation (EITF) was established in September 2010 as a philanthropic foundation registered in the Netherlands. It is a not-for-profit entity whose primary purpose is to attract and channel funding for EIT activities that fall outside the scope of its regular funding, but which can bring the benefits of the EIT closer to EU citizens. Accordingly, it is responsible for fundraising and the subsequent financial administration of external donations.
