POLICY ANSWERS: There are more such hubs to be established in the Western Balkans soon and we are curiously monitoring the first one! Could you please let us know, what will be the next steps of the newly established EIT Community RIS Hub?

The newly opened EIT Community RIS Hub in North Macedonia will represent all the EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities (short: KICs) and focus on attracting and engaging an increasing number of Macedonian participants in EIT Community activities. As an EIT National Secretary, we aim to provide innovators with a centralised source of information on all services and opportunities provided by the entire EIT Community, both locally and more widely. Additionally, we will spearhead the EIT Community’s engagement with local authorities, including providing policy support and expertise as required.

We plan to work towards identifying and creating long-lasting partnerships of the local community of innovators: the industry, the academia and the authorities with EIT Communities. By continuously informing on existing and forecasted opportunities, the EIT National Secretary will raise the awareness of industry and academia leaders in relation to the opportunities for collaboration with the European counterparts.

Western Balkan countries face similar challenges as other South and Eastern European ones; we have an enormous innovation potential with bright scientific minds, but the research results will likely remain within the labs. At the same time, many needs from the corporate side remain unmet. And this is the point where the EIT and the National Secretary would like to step in to overcome these challenges by connecting innovative solutions with the industry’s articulated demands and increasing our regions’ competitiveness. The EIT brings together businesses, research centres and universities as partners creating a favourable environment for creative thought and innovation to flourish. It is a valuable, credible partner to get business ideas up and running.

The EIT Community would like to offer best chances for all European talents to contribute to European innovations independent of which ecosystem they are coming from. If talents are coming from an innovation ecosystem offering less opportunities, EIT offers even more support to them to be sure they can succeed.

POLICY ANSWERS: How will you measure your success?

The country is considered an emerging innovator with performance at 45.6% of the EU average. Positively, its performance gap with the EU is closing. However, the overall investment in research and innovation remains low - only 0.38% of GDP.

As the state aims to increase economic growth, it is important to develop competitiveness in its private sector through knowledge and innovation, and Smart Specialization should create a skilled workforce capable of innovation and generating higher income and economic value.

The Smart Specialization Strategy of North Macedonia, which is in the finalization phase and should provide a modern approach to economic development, especially in Smart Agriculture and Food Processing with high added value, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, Industry 4.0, and Sustainable Materials and Smart Buildings. The private sector has expectations from Smart Specialization to create a skilled workforce capable of innovation and generating higher income and economic value.

Compared to the macroeconomic figures, Macedonian innovators, educational institutions and companies used the EIT instruments, which resulted in contracted grants in the amount of €800,000, supported 5 startup companies in their development, 4 concluded partnerships and 1,351 innovators were included in the educational programs of the EIT.

Overall, North Macedonian innovators perform well in EIT education and training activities but are clearly below potential in terms of innovation and business creation activities. Yet, in general, consistent year-on-year growth is being registered, which is encouraging.

My focus will be on aligning Smart Specialisation measures with existing EIT instruments. Combined with potential other sources, public and private, it is expected to accelerate economic growth by creating products and services which are competitive on the European market.

POLICY ANSWERS: What can companies expect from the RIS hub in terms of concrete innovation support?

The Macedonian industry can benefit from these opportunities by approaching the already available EIT funds via different EIT KIC instruments, which might be channeled towards creating and pivoting of products and services with significant added value, thus resulting in creating a more competitive local and European economy. And we can only do that by establishing and improving the cooperation between the industry and the research facilities of the universities, which have the know-how to accelerate innovation.

POLICY ANSWERS: How can they best reach out to you?

Feel free to visit our EIT Community RIS Hub office, located in the BAU Accelerator / Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation - INNOFEIT, or mail us at aleksandar.stamboliev@bauaccelerator.com.

Follow us on https://bauaccelerator.com/eit/, the central gateway for all EIT opportunities, and our social media:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauaccelerator/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjoQP-dAkcHScKZyxyRh8ag

https://www.facebook.com/bauaccelerator

https://www.instagram.com/bauaccelerator

POLICY ANSWERS: Many thanks, Aleksandar, for the interview!