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Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the main Research and Innovation Funding Programme of the European Commission.

Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 is the previous Funding Programme. There are no longer calls, but projects can run until 2024.

Digital Europe

Digital Europe is a Funding Programme focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and administrations.

Other EU Funding

There are many other relevant EU funding programmes, managed by several agencies and directorates.

Partnership

EIT Manufacturing

EIT Manufacturing

Partnership website: https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

The mission of this innovation community is to strengthen and increase the competitiveness of Europe's manufacturing industry.

The manufacturing industry is a global base for prosperity and key to Europe’s economic, social and environmental sustainability. The sector is a main driver of industrial innovation, job creation and growth.

EIT Manufacturing brings together a growing network of top-tier industrial partners, leading academic and research institutions from across the region and innovative startups, scaleups and SMEs.

A key way of transforming knowledge into value is by overcoming the fragmented nature of many innovation networks. In order to ensure that innovations reach the market, industry has the right talent and entrepreneurs can thrive; EIT Manufacturing connects and integrates the areas of education, innovation and business creation.

Ultimately,  EIT Manufacturing strives to accelerate faster innovation with the potential to improve everyday life globally, help meet Europe’s ambitious climate goals, and ensure that its workforce is ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

About the community

This innovation community will bring together all actors in this innovation ecosystem and should lead to innovative products, services and also processes.

There are 6 general objectives

  • Upskilling the workforce and developing the talent
  • Creating efficient manufacturing innovation ecosystems
  • Digitizing the manufacturing industry
  • More on-demand and customer focused manufacturing
  • Manufacturing that looks at health, ethics, social acceptance and safety
  • Environmentally sustainable manufacturing

Programmes

These objectives are reflected in five different schemes for which organizations, researchers and industry (knowledge triangle) can apply:

  • Business creation of high-growth companies to lead the transformation of the manufacturing industry in Europe
  • Education of current and future workforce to make sure they are equipped to work with the technologies of the future
  • Innovation where they develop technologies and bring them to the market as ready-made innovative products, services and processes
  • Regional innovation schemes to help countries and regions that are lagging behind in terms of manufacturing innovation
  • Activities where they work together with other innovation communities to create cross-sectoral innovations

EIT Manufacturing’s 2030 Goals

  • 30% of material use is circular
  • 60% of production uses sustainable practices
  • Create 360 new solutions
  • €325M investment attracted by EIT ventures
  • 50,000 people trained and up- or re-skilled
  • Create and support 1,000 startups

How to get involved?

The EIT publishes regularly calls for proposals for these different programmes. You can find out the opportunities and latest news at the webpage of the innovation community https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/ or https://eit.europa.eu/our-communities/eit-manufacturing

The headquarter of this innovation community is in Paris but there are several regional hubs. There is no office in Belgium and Flemish interested parties need to contact the Darmstadt hub by mail central@eitmanufacturing.eu

You can also attend or watch InnoveEIT, the annual conference of the EIT where you can meet other members of the communities and experts of the EIT itself.

Finally you can contact the NCP for manufacturing, mark.antonissen@vlaio.be 

What are partnerships?

Partnerships group the EC and private and/or public partners, to coordinate and streamline the research & innovation initiatives and funding in some selected key domains.

How to use partnerships?

  • orientation
    Partnerships publish strategic documents, e.g. outlining the main research and innovation challenges or key focus points.
  • networking
    Partnerships often organise events, such as info days, brokerage events, etc. Meet potential partners and learn about the nuances that are not visible in the official documents.
  • ecosystem analysis
    Partnerships typically have an advisory board, and publish impact studies of previous actions. These are good sources of information to uncover the main R&D&I players in the domain.
  • steering the agenda
    Partnerships collaborate with the EC on outlining the strategy and the future funding opportunities in their domain, based on input from industry, academia, and other stakeholders.

Testimonial

image of AgrifoodTEF - the AI Testing & Experimentation Facility for the agri-food sector

AgrifoodTEF - the AI Testing & Experimentation Facility for the agri-food sector

The AgrifoodTEF, funded under the Digital Europe call for a Testing and Experimentation Facility for Agri-Food, is a network of world-class testing and experimentation facilities (TEFs) in the agri-food sector that supports testing state-of-the-art data, AI, and robotics solutions in real-world environments to accelerate their market introduction. ILVO, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Flemish node of the AgriFoodTEF supports the entire agri-food business, leveraging its infrastructures, experience and vast network established through participation in numerous Digital Europe and Horizon Europe initiatives.