28Digital (EIT)

28digital is the new name of EIT Digital since 2025. This is however not just a rebranding exercise but also signifies a moderate shift in their approach. It will from now on be centered around 3 keywords:  

• Talent: development of digital skills and entrepreneurship
• Tech
  • start-up and scale-up programmes gives incentives to help launch and grow promising ventures. They want to help businesses make the final transition from innovation to succesful commercialisation. They invest in strategic areas like  Digital Tech, Digital Cities, Digital Industry, Digital Wellbeing and Digital Finance.
  • Research to market programme (Spin Explore and Rise) helps entrepreneurs to develop their business acumen and make their ideas ready to conquer the world. The principal focus sectors are AI, cybersecurity, advanced computing, and robotics which are regarded as enablers of societal transformation, defence and dual-use innovation, and sustainability.  
• Trust and build relationships with the other members of 28Digital: it has the same kind of structure as before with a  headquarter and regional hubs. These offices liaise with their ecosystem which consists of European corporations, SMEs, startups, universities and research institutes, where students, researchers, engineers, business developers and investors address the technology, talent, skills, business and capital needs of digital entrepreneurship. This way new promising businesses are created or there is collaboration on EU-projects.

If you want to know more about their guidance, training,  financing, etc. or if you want to become a partner, please have a look at their website. if you want to know more about their open and upcoming calls you can click here. 

background information: The European Commission finances each knowledge and innovation community (KIC) of the EIT for a period a maximum 15 years. Afterwards it needs to finance itself through the benefits of its investments and other sources of funding. EIT digital reached this milestone in 2025 and to mark this transition, they decided to rename themselve. The name 28DIGITAL draws inspiration from this idea of a ‘28th regime’ (alternative to the regime/rules of the 27 member states). It is meant to be a truly European framework where digital innovation, talent and entrepreneurship can thrive across the Single Market. The number 28 also symbolises perfection in mathematics, as it is equal to the sum of its divisors (1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28) – a concept rooted in number theory, the foundation of cryptography, quantum algorithms, and supercomputing benchmarks.