Brussels, 26/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Thirty young leaders from the worlds of business, academia and research exchanged their ideas with policy-makers and business executives at the Annual Innovation Forum organised in Brussels on 26 March by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Foundation. These young professionals, entrepreneurs and students presented ideas for business opportunities in areas ranging from healthcare to energy production and market information. European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiliou, who is responsible for the EIT, opened the annual forum. She said: “High quality education is key to unlocking the talent which is at the heart of innovation. I congratulate these young leaders - they are proof that Europe has talent in abundance (…). We can and must drive innovation through support for entrepreneurial, collaborative and multi-disciplinary education.”
European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes also attended the event. She welcomed the springboard provided by the EIT to young people to develop their ideas because “they have the drive and talent to turn Europe around and deliver a better future”.
The programme that the EIT Foundation has put together for young leaders seeks to discover a new generation of talented entrepreneurs who can drive the development of sustainable innovation in the EU. These young leaders are following an innovation and entrepreneurship training programme, including seminars in the United Kingdom and Belgium, as well as online sessions with academic content provided by Imperial College London. Over the course of this year, the Foundation will also launch a programme offering traineeships within its founding organisations to help young people develop entrepreneurial and innovation skills. (IL/transl.fl)