Division 3.3 Engaging with stakeholders

Active exchange and mutual learning with other initiatives should be a cornerstone of the EIT's efforts in testing out new innovation models. The EIT therefore needs to tap into existing best practices and external expertise in order to become the reference body for innovation it aspires to. It is therefore indispensable for the Governing Board to take its decisions informed by the insights and needs of the innovation actors on the ground, and in the context of the wider European framework. By embracing a culture of openness and external engagement, the EIT can actively promote the take-up and acceptance of new innovations by society at large.

To this end, the EIT will directly engage with Member States and other stakeholders from across the innovation chain, generating beneficial effects on both sides. In order to render such dialogue and exchange more systematic, the setting up of an EIT Stakeholder Forum, bringing together the wider community of stakeholders around horizontal issues, could be an appropriate tool to facilitate a two-way, interactive communication.

Stakeholders will include representatives of national and regional authorities, organized interests and individual entities from business, higher education, and research, cluster organisations, as well as other interested parties from across the knowledge triangle.

Member States' representatives shall meet in a special configuration, within the Stakeholder Forum, to guarantee an appropriate communication and flow of information with the EIT, and be informed of the achievements, give advice to, and share experiences with, the EIT and the KICs. The special configuration of Member States' representatives within the Stakeholder Forum shall also ensure appropriate synergies and complementarities between EIT and KIC activities with national programmes and initiatives, including the potential national co-financing of KIC activities. The organisation of the Stakeholder Forum has been incorporated in the modified Regulation (EC) No 294/2008.

Moreover, active consultation with other Union institutions, in particular with relevant services of the Commission, from early on in the process will help to maximise synergies and mutual learning with other Union initiatives.

The EIT will

• Set up a regular EIT Stakeholder Forum, and its special configuration of Member States' representatives, to facilitate interaction and mutual learning with the wider innovation community from across the knowledge triangle, and including national and regional authorities. In this context, the web-based platform can further help foster interaction between participants.

• Make systematic use of existing associations of universities, business and research organisations and cluster organisations as platforms for the exchange of knowledge and dissemination of results.

• Establish a mechanism, such as an annual meeting between the EIT, the KICs and relevant services of the European Commission, to further facilitate synergies between the EIT and the KICs on the one hand, and other Union initiatives on the other.