IP/09/1950 Budapest, 16 ta' Diċembru 2009 L-Istitut Ewropew għall-Innovazzjoni u t-Teknoloġija (EIT) jniedi l-ewwel tliet Komunitajiet tal-Għarfien u l-Innovazzjoni (KICs) L-Istitut Ewropew tal-Innovazzjoni u t-Teknoloġija (EIT) ħabbar illum l-ewwel tliet Komunitajiet tal-Għarfien u l-Innovazzjoni (KICs) tiegħu. Il-KICs huma sħubijiet integrati sewwa, li jgħaqqdu flimkien l-edukazzjoni għolja, ir-riċerka u n-negozju eċċellenti fil-qasam tat-trażżin u l-adattament għat-tibdil fil-klima (‘Climate-KIC') , l-enerġija sostenibbli (‘KIC InnoEnergy') u s-soċjetà tal-informazzjoni u l-komunikazzjoni tal-ġejjieni (‘EIT ICT Labs') , rispettivament. It-tnedija tal-KICs hija pass kruċjali fit-twaqqif tal-EIT, li l-għan tiegħu huwa li jservi ta' mudell għall-promozzjoni tal-innovazzjoni fl-Ewropa u b'hekk jikkontribwixxi għall-għanijiet tal-istrateġija futura tal-UE għall-2020. Il-President tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea, José Manuel Barroso laqa' din id-deċiżjoni: "L-għażla tal-ewwel Komunitajiet tal-Għarfien u l-Innovazzjoni hija pass ulterjuri lejn Ewropa aktar innovattiva. Nistenna bil-ħerqa li l-KICs isiru ċentri ta' innovazzjoni li jattiraw l-aqwa talenti mill-Ewropa u lil hinn minnha. Dawn għandhom jiżviluppaw fil-"postijiet neċessarji" għal dawk l-istudenti, ir-riċerkaturi u l-imprendituri li jixtiequ jaħdmu flimkien f'oqsma ta' importanza kbira għall-ġejjieni komuni tagħna". Maroš Šefčovič, il-Kummissarju, għall-Edukazzjoni, Taħriġ, Kultura u Żgħażagħ saħaq: "Il-KICs se jgħinu biex inaqqsu dawk id-differenzi li għadhom ta' spiss ixekklu l-kooperazzjoni effettiva fi ħdan it-Triangolu tal-edukazzjoni għolja, ir-riċerka u l-innovazzjoni. Ninsab fiduċjuż li l-EIT se jgħin biex jispira bidla fil-mentalitajiet, filwaqt li jħejjina aħjar għas-soċjetà tal-għarfien u joħloq ambjent fejn jistgħu jiżviluppaw ideat ġodda." Il-KICs adottati ntgħażlu fost 20 proposta li waslu bi tweġiba għall-ewwel sejħa tal-EIT għall-KICs aktar kmieni din is-sena. Is-sejħa, li kienet miftuħa bejn it-2 ta' April u s-27 ta' Awwissu 2009, tnediet fi tliet oqma prijoritarji: l-enerġija sostenibbli, it-trażżin u l-adattament għat-tibdil fil-klima kif ukoll is-soċjetà tal-informazzjoni u l-komunikazzjoni tal-ġejjieni. Kien f'idejn il-proponenti tal-KIC li jiddefinixxu l-qasam ta' attività tagħhom fi ħdan dawk il-prijoritajiet. Wara li saru valutazzjonijiet minn esperti indipendenti, l-aqwa żewġ proposti minn kull prijorità ġew mistiedna jieħdu sehem f'seduti ta' smigħ quddiem il-Bord tat-Tmexxija llum, is-16 ta' Diċembru, u warajhom ittieħdet id-deċiżjoni finali. "Il-kriterji prinċipali għad-deċiżjoni tagħna kienu t-tmexxija u l-eċċellenza. Il-Bord tat-Tmexxija kien ferm impressjonat bir-rispons għas-sejħa għall-KICs, u dan wera livell għoli ta' impenn mill-partijiet kollha interessati," stqarr il-President tal-Bord tat-Tmexxija Indipendenti tal-EIT, Martin Schuurmans. "Il-KICs huma laboratorji tal-innovazzjoni u nixtiquhom jiġġeneraw impatt reali, b'mod partikolari fejn għandhom x'jaqsmu l-ħolqien ta' negozju ġdid, l-edukazzjoni imprenditorjali u l-benefiċċji għas-soċjetà. Il-kompitu prinċipali tal-EIT issa huwa li tagħti l-ħajja lill-KICs sa nofs is-sena d-dieħla." Sabiex jiffaċilita bidu rapidu u bla xkiel, l-EIT se jarma minnufih lill-KICs b'għotja biex jidbew ta' ammont totali ta' EUR 3 miljun. Il-KICs mistennija li jsiru operattivi bis-sħiħ ftit żmien wara li jkunu ffirmaw Ftehim Qafas ta' Sħubija ta' seba' snin mal-EIT u wara li jiġu kkonfermati l-ewwel ftehimiet ta' għotjiet annwali lejn nofs l-2010. Ara d-d eskrizzjoni fil-qosor tal-KICs magħżula fl-Appendiċi. Websajt tal-EIT: http://eit.europa.eu Appendix: Summaries of the selected Knowledge and Innovation Communities Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Climate-KIC Concept Addressing climate change requires a huge transformation of the global economy. Climate-KIC's mission is to accelerate and stimulate the innovation for this transformation and ensure benefits for Europe. The KIC will achieve this by creating a community with world-renowned innovation capability and climate change knowledge. By 2014, it will be the natural place for companies to locate climate R&D centres, top students to look for climate education, researchers to look for inspiration and policy makers to seek advice. It will have created significant industrial value and high-skill jobs for Europe and built the critical mass to be self-sustaining. Focus Climate-KIC will initially focus on achieving excellence in four areas: assessing climate change & managing its drivers, transitioning to low-carbon resilient cities, adaptive water management and zero carbon production. These fields were selected for their mitigation-adaptation potential as well as innovation and job creation opportunities. Structural elements The four areas will form the core structural elements, each with a world-renowned lead responsible for the entire chain from education to commercialisation. Work will be embedded in five co-locations responsible for creating local innovation ecosystems to drive entrepreneurship and venture creation, whilst linking into a network of implementation sites. The core partners consist of major companies, academic institutions and regional agencies that have the strength to make the KIC a success. A joint not-for-profit entity will ensure effective governance. Co-location centres: London, Zürich, Berlin metropolitan area, Paris metropolitan area, Randstad metropolitan area Sustainable Energy KIC InnoEnergy Concept InnoEnergy is a strongly integrated alliance of reputable players from the education, research and industry sectors. It was created based on long standing links of cooperation as well as the principles of excellence and transformation. The partners have jointly developed a strategy to tackle the weaknesses of the European innovation landscape and aim to be the leading motor for innovation in the field of sustainable energy. Focus The KIC will create economical and societal value by developing ideas from mind to market. Achieving this aim entails the training of technology leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset as well as connecting key players across the innovation chain through projects, platforms and events. State-of-the-art innovation and entrepreneurial support will be offered and continuously improved. The structural and systemic concept of the partnership will pave the way to a paradigm shift in innovation networks and cooperation. The adopted technological approach covers the most challenging areas of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and addresses the transition of the system as a whole. The IPR policy and precise support measures provide incentives for the exploitation of research results. In addition, the holistic concepts of education, innovation and technology ensure the integration of the knowledge triangle. Structural elements InnoEnergy will systematically produce innovation by creating critical mass and integrating different actors of the knowledge triangle in a sustainable and structured manner. To achieve this, InnoEnergy will be organised and managed as a business. Its installation as a European Company (SE) provides stability and creates self-reinforcing mechanisms leading to sustainability. The managerial processes and mechanisms employed will assure the development of the alliance. Strong commitment of its complementary partners reflected in the jointly developed strategy and the dedicated resources is the key to success of InnoEnergy. Co-location centres: CC Germany: Karlsruhe, CC Alps Valleys: Grenoble, CC Benelux: Eindhoven/Leuven, CC Iberia: Barcelona, CC PolandPlus: Krakow, CC Sweden: Stockholm Future Information and Communication Society EIT ICT Labs Concept EIT ICT Labs, the KIC for the future information and communication society, aims at radical transformation of Europe into a knowledge society with an unprecedented proliferation of internet-based services. It will establish a new partnership between business and academia based on trust, transparency and mobility of ideas and people. The consortium connects world leading companies, globally renowned research institutes and top-ranked universities all dedicated to speeding up innovation to address grand challenges of our society. Committed to an efficient open innovation model, EIT ICT Labs will generate faster transformation of ideas and ICT technologies into real products, services and business, boosting Europe's future competitiveness in all sectors of society. Focus EIT ICT Labs will equip students, researchers and business people with skills and inspiration for creativity, risk taking and entrepreneurship. By re-aligning the activities in the European Higher Education Area, the European Research Area and high growth ICT companies the EIT ICT Labs will leverage regional, national, and EU level funding instruments. EIT ICT Labs will foster international top talent and involve under-utilised innovation and entrepreneurial resources such as non-core IPR, women, students, and cost-driven innovations for the next billion users. Committed to an open innovation approach, the EIT ICT Labs will catalyse the creation of strong ventures and help them to grow to become the future world leaders in the ICT arena. Structural elements EIT ICT Labs will build upon five co-location centres – Berlin, Eindhoven, Helsinki, Paris, and Stockholm – and turn these excellent clusters and their partners into a world-class network of innovation hotspots. The consortium covers the entire value chain in the ICT sector, thereby facilitating the capture of new business opportunities in the dynamic ICT sector. Cohesion and efficiency will be achieved by combining strong CEO-type management and clear IPR policies for open innovation with the agility of bottom-up initiatives provided by an extensive network of local and international innovation partners. Co-location centres: Berlin, Eindhoven, Helsinki, Paris and Stockholm