Scaling up deep tech ecosystems

Today’s urgent challenges are inherently complex and systemic and will not be solved by individual actors or territories in isolation. Fostering enabling innovation ecosystems across the European Union (EU) requires a systemic approach that is inclusive and collaborative, involves diverse actors, institutions and territories, maximises the value of innovation to all, and ensures equitable diffusion of its benefits.

As highlighted in the European Commission Communication on a New European Innovation Agenda^[1], by increasing the inclusion and interconnection of less represented regions and actors into a more strongly integrated European ecosystem, the EU can capitalise on the experience, needs, visions, and perceptions of an increasingly diverse range of people, companies and territories. In doing so, it can also take forward a uniquely inclusive European innovation model that is sustainable, guards against substantial labour market and wage gaps, and associated threats to territorial and social cohesion.

Moreover, such well-connected and diverse ecosystems provide innovative companies with the necessary support and conditions to thrive, i.e. through additional capabilities, data, customers, knowledge, and talents. Network connectivity within and between innovation ecosystems greatly contributes to sustainable business growth with high societal value. Therefore, the actions of this destination aim at strengthening and expanding cooperation between innovation players to better support the next generation of innovative companies whose solutions will lead the shift towards a more competitive EU and a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient world.

Besides stronger innovation performance, increased competitive sustainability, and more rapid transitions to a green and digital society, ecosystem integration can provide ecosystem actors and companies with access to new resources, markets, customers, and contribute to disruptive and innovative solutions. By being actively engaged in their local, regional, national, and European networks, companies can increase their overall growth potential.

This destination offers a holistic package of actions that:

• Strengthen innovation ecosystems across the EU through fostering more efficient, inclusive, gender diverse, and connected innovation ecosystems, by accelerating the development and deployment of innovation, including deep tech^[2] innovation and encouraging co-planning, co-implementation, and co-investments around European strategic priority areas;
• Ensure the inclusion of all key innovation players from across the quadruple helix^[3], and all EU territories;
• Mobilise policies, funding instruments (EU, national, regional) and fostering synergies between them;
• Improve public and private buyers’ capacity to procure innovative solutions and enhance coordination on innovation procurement initiatives within Member States and Associated Countries;
• Promote interregional collaboration and investments with a view to improving territorial cohesion;
• Ensure openness and cross-fertilisation of the innovation ecosystem within and beyond the EU's borders.

In particular, the actions under this destination should promote the creation of links:

• Ensure inclusiveness and diversity with the involvement of varied innovation actors from the quadruple helix, for example, individual inventors, industry, startups, scaleups and SMEs investors, innovation hubs, business associations, clusters, public and private buyers of innovative solutions as well as citizens and civil society organisations.
• Among ‘innovation leaders’ and ‘strong innovators’ with ‘moderate’ and ‘emerging innovators’^[4] across the EU and Associated Countries^[5] to increase innovation cohesion^[6];
• With networks such as National Contact Points, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), and European Innovation Council (EIC) communities, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), clusters and Euroclusters, European university alliances, Missions, pan-European platforms such as Startup Europe, public and private regional or local innovation actors, in particular incubators and innovation hubs (e.g. European Research Area hubs and Digital Innovation Hubs);
• InvestEU financial instruments and advisory services bridging access to finance and de-risking projects beyond their upscaling phases, or
• any other EU programme that could interconnect innovators.

Where appropriate, the applicants should consider and actively seek synergies with possibilities for further funding from other relevant EU, national and/or regional innovation programmes, including Cohesion Policy funds, the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the EU's External Action instruments, the Growth plan for the Western Balkans^[7], the Growth Plan for Moldova^[8] and the Ukraine Plan^[9], and other public and private funds or financial instruments.

Expected impact

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to strengthening robust interconnected innovation ecosystems and creating a favourable environment to promote the scalability potential of businesses, including in the deep tech sector, and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:

• Interconnected, inclusive, and more efficient innovation ecosystems across the EU that draw on the existing strengths of European, national, regional, and local ecosystems and engage new, less well-represented stakeholders and less advanced innovation territories, including rural areas, to set, undertake, and achieve collective ambitions tackling challenges for the benefit of society, including green, digital, and social transitions, and advancing the European Research Area and the New European Innovation Agenda;
• Enhanced cross-border network connectivity and inter-regional collaboration for better innovation performance in the EU with reinforced connections between more and less innovative regions building on strategic areas of regional strength and specialization to create and renew European value chains in areas most relevant for the sustainable green and digital transition and the EU’s open strategic autonomy, including the five “burning challenges”^[10] as defined in the New European Innovation Agenda;
• Enhanced capacity building, experience sharing and cooperation fostering wider implementation of innovation procurement, to shorten the time-to-market for innovative solutions that respond to concrete procurement needs and societal challenges.
• Increase innovation co-investments, fostering synergies and other funding leverages;
• Improved innovation policy coordination and networking activities of the Member States and Associated Countries through the EIC Forum.

[1] A New European Innovation Agenda, COM(2022) 332 final

[2] Deep tech is referring to technology that is based on cutting-edge scientific advances and discoveries and is characterised by the need to stay at the technological forefront by constant interaction with new ideas and results from the lab. “Deep tech” is distinct from ‘high tech’ which tends to refer only to Research & Development intensity.

[3] A model of cooperation between industry, academia, civil society and public authorities, with a strong emphasis on citizens and their needs.

[4] Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), GlobalInnovation Index (GII).

[5] Associated countries are described in General Annex B.

[6] The work programme will act in complementarity with the “Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area” work programme

[7] COM(2023) 691 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2023:691:FIN

[8] COM (2024) 470 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52024DC0470

[9] COM (2022) 233 final https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52022DC0233#:~:text=In%20its%20conclusions%20of%20March%202022%2C%20the%20European,assistance%20to%20help%20Ukraine%20to%20implement%20necessary%20reforms

[10] Reducing the reliance on fossil fuels, increasing global food security, mastering the digital transformation (including cybersecurity), improving healthcare and achieving circularity

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