On Tuesday, the 18th of June, in the heart of Nicosia, Cyprus, at the CYENS Centre of Excellence premises, the launch event of the new EIT Community RIS HUB Cyprus successfully brought together stakeholders from academia, industry, and government, along with EIT representatives. It demonstrated how EIT and its offerings can support and boost the already developing local research, innovation, and entrepreneurship (RIE) ecosystem.

The event aimed to provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the Cyprus RIE ecosystem, highlighting its key strengths and areas for improvement to further accommodate new ventures, while showcasing the funding, training, and networking opportunities offered by EIT to demonstrate the synergies and value it can bring to local stakeholders.

The event commenced with a welcome address from Dr. Márton Herczeg, Head of the Innovation Ecosystem Unit at EIT. Dr. Herczeg stated that: “EIT wants to do so much more in Cyprus!” and emphasized the role that the new EIT Community RIS HUB will play in achieving EIT’s goal.

Opening remarks followed, featuring Ms. Myrto Zambarta, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus, a pre-recorded welcome message from The Rt Honourable Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of The Commonwealth, the Honourable newly elected mayor of Nicosia Municipality Mr. Charalambos Prountzos, and Professor Yiorgos Chrysanthou, General Director of the CYENS Centre of Excellence.

The Mayor of Nicosia welcomed the presence of EIT in Cyprus and highlighted the positive impact that EIT’s presence will have in Nicosia: “Thank you all for being here today let us all work together to make Nicosia a shining example of what can be achieved through collaboration and innovation. CYENS is a great example of the immense impact that Innovation and European initiatives can have to our city, and I believe that the extended presence of EIT through the EIT community RIS Hub Cyprus will help us grow further.”

Dr. Styliani Petroudi, EIT Community Officer for Cyprus, presented the EIT Community RIS Hub Cyprus, outlining its vision, activities, and plans for strengthening the innovation ecosystem in the country. This was followed by a fireside chat on the mission of the EIT Community Officer (ECO) and EIT National Contact Point (NCP) in the innovation community, featuring Ms. Diana Miceli, EIT Community Officer (Malta), and Ms. Nedi Kaffa, NCP of EIT, Research and Innovation Foundation.

The panel discussion titled "Strategic Actions for Startups, Businesses & Industry," featuring the Chief Scientist from the Research and Innovation Foundation, Mr. Demetris Skourides, Investment promotion associate of Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA), Mr. Kyriakos Attouni on behalf of the CEO of CIPA Mr. Marios Tannousis, and Managing Director of Cyprus Seeds, Ms. Maria Georgiadou, provided a clear picture of where Cyprus stands in terms of what it can offer to startups, SMEs, and large enterprises. Additionally, it highlighted how our academic institutions are working diligently to turn their research outputs into marketable products and services.

Chief scientist Mr. Skourides when asked to share his thoughts about Cyprus’ strengths and his view on the country’s trajectory mentioned: “... The combination of building the financial capital though our local funding programmes, strong dedicated talent, as Cyprus has one of the highest percentages of tertiary education degree holders in Europe, and Key resources are paving the way for our country’s success in research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Are we there yet? No! Is there work to be done? There surely is!”.

Ms. Georgiadou warmly welcomed the launch of EIT CRH Cyprus: “I am extremely happy to be here with friends and collaborators that have helped in the past and are currently working towards developing our local ecosystem. The Research and Innovation Foundation, Cyprus Seeds, CIPA, and other Accelerators have been working towards helping in making Cyprus an attractive destination, reducing brain drain, and growing the pipeline of startups. And now EIT and all of its offerings are here to further support those objectives.”

The Cyprus audience was introduced to a wide range of opportunities offered by EIT Program managers from all EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), including EIT Digital, EIT Food, EIT Culture & Creativity, EIT Health, EIT InnoEnergy, EIT RawMaterials, EIT Urban Mobility, and EIT Manufacturing.

Furthermore, the event featured a panel with stakeholders who have already participated in EIT programs and shared their experiences. Ms. Antigoni Komodiki, CEO of Junior Achievement Cyprus, Mr. Constantinos Loizou, CEO of Embio Diagnostics, and Ms. Elena Poulli, from the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy, dedicated to the how EIT and Cyprus can align their trajectory to maximize the country’s innovation output.

The CEO of Embio Diagnostics gave a crystal-clear message of how the EIT Climate KIC accelerator Climate Launchpad supported the earlier stages of their venture: “When we joined the accelerator we got two things, 1.) During the accelerator we got to see where our product really stands in comparison to the global market and 2.) We got to travel all over Europe to test our product. Through travelling and testing our product in Greece Poland, etc.  we never received something that we are struggling in getting here in Cyprus to this day. We received Feedback from community! Through the feedback we received from EIT Climate-KIC we then did something very simple. Improve our Product!” 

The event included a special panel that explored the role of stakeholders from culture and creativity sectors and industries in establishing an innovation and entrepreneurship sector—a key goal for the heart of the city, as envisioned by the Nicosia Municipality. The panel featured Ms. Charis Theocharous, RISE Teaming Project Coordinator–EU Affairs Officer–from the Municipality of Nicosia, who discussed the municipality's efforts in building an innovation ecosystem in the heart of Nicosia and Dr. Ioanna Hadjicosti, Director of Contemporary Culture Department, Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus who provided an overview of the CCSI ecosystem of Cyprus. Additionally, Prof. Dr. Ivana Unkovic, Head of Operations at EIT Culture & Creativity, demonstrated how EIT Culture & Creativity could support the culture and creative sectors and industries of Cyprus as well as assist the Municipality in realizing its vision.

The event concluded with closing remarks from Ms. Marilena Raouna, Deputy Minister of European Affairs, and the pair of Dr. Alkis Nicolaides and Dr. Styliani Petroudi, working for the EIT RIS Community Hub Cyprus.

The consensus was that the EIT model, which connects research, education, and business through thematic, diverse, and effective support and networking mechanisms, can lift up the already fertile local ecosystem with its broad catalogue of offerings and its deep ocean of stakeholders. The event placed in everyone’s head that the EIT Community RIS HUB Cyprus will facilitate for a more dynamic and efficient collaboration between Cypriot and European partners.

If you're interested in delving deeper into the EIT's offerings and discovering how it can support you on your innovation or entrepreneurial journey, please reach out to the EIT Community RIS HUB Cyprus: [email protected] or follow the Linkedin page: EIT Community RIS Hub Cyprus

EIT - MAKING INNOVATION HAPPEN!

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (EIT)?

The EIT strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), among leading companies, research labs and universities.  These KICs are dedicated to driving systemic change in Europe and beyond, focusing on key areas such as climate change, energy, health, food, manufacturing, raw materials, digitalisation, urban mobility, and culture and creativity. Together with their leading partners, the EIT Community offers a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across Europe: entrepreneurial education courses, business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects. 

· Europe’s largest innovation network: 2 400+ partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe in 50+ innovation hubs across Europe.

· Making innovation happen: our ecosystem has powered more than 9 900 start-ups and scale-ups, who have gone on to create more than 2 400 new products and services and raise more than EUR 9.5 billion in external capital. More than 300 000 learners have participated in EIT training, upskilling, and entrepreneurship education programmes.

More information: https://eit.europa.eu/

The EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) was launched in 2014 to enhance innovation performance in countries with ‘emerging’ or ‘modest’ innovation scores according to the European Innovation Scoreboard. The RIS is managed by the EIT and implemented through the KICs. 

Learn more: https://eit-ris.eu