INESC TEC and SONAE are part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology consortium in the industrial field
07th December 2018
EIT Manufacturing’s mission is to bring together important agents in the European manufacturing industry in innovation ecosystems that can add unique value to the corresponding products, processes and services. Improving the competitiveness of the European companies in order to create jobs and to protect the environment are the main goals of this project.
By 2030, this consortium intends:
- To create and support 1000 startups
- To train or help about 50 thousand people to acquire new skills
- To stimulate the creation of 360 new products and technological solutions
- To leverage a EUR 325 million investment through EIT Ventures - 60% of the manufacturing companies to adopt sustainable production practices
- To ensure that at least 30% of used raw material are recovered for further use
EIT Manufacturing, which is coordinated by the University of Patras (Greece), will start in 2019. In order to help the consortium – which will run for at least 7 years (renewable for another 7) – to establish itself and to be completely functional as soon as possible, EIT will provide funding right from the first year.
The consortium is composed of 27 companies, 15 universities and 8 research institutes from Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The consortium includes European companies that are leaders in their sectors such as SONAE, Siemens, Volkswagen, Volvo, Whirlpool, Aernnova, Fives, Festo, Atos, among others. In Portugal, other agents relevant for the innovation in this domain will be more and more involved, integrating competences of entities such as FEUP and INEGI.
Paris was the city selected as the headquarters of EIT Manufacturing. Additionally, five innovation hubs will be created in Europe: Bilbao (Spain), Darmstadt (Germany), Gothenburg (Sweden), Milan (Italy) and Vienna (Austria). The hub set in Bilbao will assist the partners from Portugal, Spain and France.
In Europe, the manufacturing industry directly employs about 30 million people and is composed of approximately 2.1 million companies. It is estimated that for each job in the industry, 1.5 more jobs are created in related services, which proves its socio-economic relevance.
Like all sectors of the economy, the European manufacturing industry has faced huge challenges, including a strong increase in competition at a global level and a shortage of raw materials. Besides that, increasingly demanding markets, rapid technological advances, environmental and social sustainability requirements are also creating profound changes in the European industry context.
That is why the EIT Manufacturing project intends to promote a transformation of the European industry, which goes beyond the so-called fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), making it more competitive and sustainable in economic, environmental and social terms.
With the approval of EIT Manufacturing, EIT has now eight projects in different areas of society – EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Digital, EIT Food, EIT RawMaterials (INESC TEC is also part of it, being the only Portuguese partner), EIT InnoEnergy, EIT Health and EIT Urban Mobility.
About the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT):
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) spurs innovation across Europe, by supporting its entrepreneurs, innovators and students in order to transform their ideas into realities with economic and social impact. More information may be found here: https://eit.europa.eu/
For more information:
Joana Coelho
Communication Service
INESC TEC
FEUP’s Campus
Rua Dr Roberto Frias
4200-465 Porto
Portugal
T +351 22 209 4297
M +351 919 119 271