1st EIA Summit banner 27-29 June 2022

1st European Innovation Area Summit

Impact Innovations for a Sustainable Future

Climate Action Innovation Summit
  • 27 June 2022 15:00-17:00
    European Climate Action in times of War and Climate Change Acceleration: What if it is too late? Options or Imperatives in Science and Innovation to Deal with an Uncertain Future

    The historic Paris Agreement provides an opportunity for countries to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

    Goal 13, Climate Action, calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. It is linked to all 16 of the other Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    Negotiations on legislation related to the European Green Deal between the European Parliament, the Member States and the European Commission are ongoing and it is important to maintain ambitious targets if we want to avoid the breaking of planetary boundaries.

    The discussions will also look into the new insights on climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation from the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

1st EIAs Welcome Reception, Maria de Graça Carvalho, K4I Forum Chair
Chip's Act & Quantum Technologies - Accelerating Europe’s Position as Innovation Powerhouse
  • 28 June 2022 12:00-14:30
    Chip's Act & Quantum Technologies - Accelerating Europe’s Position as Innovation Powerhouse

    The EU Chips Act is a major push to reduce the EU’s strategic dependencies in the fields of micro-chip manufacturing and semiconductor supply-chain. Reflecting geopolitical interests and the drive for digital transformation, the Chips Act is structured around three pillars, (1) Technological Capacity Building: Development and deployment of cutting edge, next generation semiconductor and quantum technologies, (2) Investor friendly framework to establish production capacities in Europe, and (3) Coordination mechanism between member states to anticipate and respond to supply chain crisis.
    Another recent strategic development has been recognition of economic and geopolitical potential of quantum technologies – ranging from computing, sensing and communication – which have led to the EU Commission’s ambitious agenda to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty and leading role in quantum.
    Now it is the right time to discuss these critically interdependent wheels of digital transformation – which shares many similarities, e.g. there are processing overlaps in manufacturing of a quantum-chip
    and a semiconductor-chip. Quantum will not only benefit from but as well strengthen the CMOS capabilities, thereby opening up new era of innovation e.g. via Cryogenic CMOS-electronics.
    In this debate, we will zoom in on the close relationship between semiconductor and quantum, we want to bring together relevant experts from policy, industry and science to look ahead in view of quantum as an important innovation driver within the Chips Act. We would like to raise and address questions such as, how can quantum technologies lean on strengths of semiconductor industry? Can a shared foundry-infrastructure be established to foster and accelerate commercialization of quantum chips? What could be the role of national quantum initiatives and EU flagship for facilitating development and execution of the quantum chapter in Chip Act – focussing at a first-off fabrication facility?

Next Generation Women Leaders in VCs and Startups - Major Drivers of a Sustainable Future
Nature is our next technology - Towards a synthetic cells’ innovation ecosystem for green technology in Europe
  • 29 June 2022 12:00-14:00
    Nature is our next technology - Towards a synthetic cells’ innovation ecosystem for green technology in Europe

    Synthetic Cell Science and Technology, also called bottom-up synthetic biology, is about understanding how cell works by trying to reproduce their molecular mechanisms.
    It is a grand scientific challenge about understanding of how life works. At the same time it will allow us to develop a new, green technology based on mimicking the natural processes. It will allow us to produce all kind of chemical compounds in an environmental friendly way; to build materials that are 100% reusable, or that can heal themself when damaged; to harness CO2 like plants do and convert it in energy and zero-impact products for industry.
    Thanks also to ERC funding, European scientists are leading in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology, but the field is advancing rapidly and the worldwide race towards the development of technology has started. The objective of this event is to discuss with leading European politicians, European Commission policy makers, industry experts and researchers about how to convert this excellent knowledge in technology applications in Europe, and so maintain European leadership in this upcoming technological revolution.

1st EIA Summit Keynote with Commissioner Mariya Gabriel followed by a high-level Panel discussion
  • 29 June 2022 13:00-15:00
    1st EIA Summit Keynote with Commissioner Mariya Gabriel followed by a high-level Panel discussion

    The 1st European Innovation Area Summit is building on a series of EIA events from the past 18 months during which Commissioner Gabriel and many political members of the K4I Forum were actively engaged. Meanwhile many organisations and individuals have signed the EIA Manifesto and submitted ideas for actions.
    Coinciding with the unveiling of the European Commission’s New European Innovation Agenda, the Summit will help launch a new and dynamic era of innovation in Europe – one dedicated to delivering the world’s first climate-neutral continent.
    The European Union’s ambition to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 will hinge on its ability to scale innovations that can accelerate the journey to net-zero. It will rely on the strength and freedom of its Innovation.
    The EIA initiative is about strengthening innovation ecosystems at the local, regional and national levels and better connecting them across Europe. What we need in essence is a single market for innovation that can accelerate the types of solutions we need to become a climate-neutral continent by 2050.
    The EIA initiative and events bring together the MEPs, innovators, academics, corporations, organisations and startups with the biggest stake in ensuring the European Innovation Area is a success.
    By taking a decentralised co-creation approach we can develop a European Innovation Area which offers equal access to funding and where startups in one country can easily bid for public contracts in another, where startups and corporates work more closely together and where we have strong European associations bringing together all the actors of the European innovation ecosystems.

EIAS Closing Reception
  • 29 June 2022 18:00-19:00
    EIAS Closing Reception
Roberta Metsola
President of the European Parliament, EPP, Malta
Tom Berendsen
MEP, ITRE Committee, EPP, Netherlands
Stefan Hengesbach
CEO of the Dutch Quantum Computing company QuiX Quantum
Gustav Kalbe
DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
Thomas Skordas DDG
Deputy Director-General of DG CONNECT, European Commission
Adriana Cabrera
EU Project funded: Network of labs for women sustainable materials: Innovation Consultant
Irene Lopez de Vallejo
Co-founder DISCO.coop
Natalie Samovich
Co-Founder ResilientGroup, Enercoutim. SB, chair WG Energy AIOTI. Chair ETIP-SNET WG1. Advancing Energy Transition
Bram Wijlands
Managing Director at RWTH Innovation GmbH
Victoria Hernandez CaixaBank
Board Member (NED) at CaixaBank Payments & Consumer. Financial and Telecom Executive. C-level and Board serial member
Arnold Chatelain Signify
Director Digital Transformation and Innovation
Africa G. Zanella
Gender officer at Lifewatch ERiC, Civil Society Observer to the World Bank Climate Investment Fund, Focal Point for Gender
Michiel van Haersma Buma
Strategic advisor, University of Delft
Ivars Ijabs
MEP, ITRE Committee, Renew Europe, Latvia, Member of the K4I Forum
Simoneta Manfredi Oxford Brooks
Director of Research, Innovation and Enterprise , Professor at Oxford Brookes University
Sarah Casey Climate Council
Founder and CEO Climate Council Capital
Barbara Mounier Hydraloop
Head of Communications and Partner Strategy at Hydraloop Systems BV
Arvea Marieni from BainCapital
Partner & Board Member at Brainscapital
Nadine Nembach from EWMD
International Co-President of EWMD, Member of the Board at EWoB
Zygmunt Krasinski
President, Polish Chamber of Commerce for High Technology
Pekka Koponen
Founder and Chair of Spinverse, President EAIC
Jara Pascual
K4I Board Member, CEO-Founder, Author, Consultant
Marileen Dogterom
Chair Department of BioNano Science ERC Synergy
David Vermaas
Associate Professor Dr., Delft University of Technology
Behnam Taebi
Full Professor of Energy & Climate Ethics, Delft University of Technology
Russchenberg Herman
Pro Vice Rector Climate Action, Delft University of Technology
Marjolein van Esch
Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology
Maud Vinet
Quantum Hardware program director, CEA-LETI
Menno Veldhorst
Associate Professor, QuTech/TU Delft
Kristiaan De Greve
Scientific director and program director quantum computing
Markku Räsänen
Owner of H9i Partners, Advisor of IQM
Ana Isabel Gálvez Pérez
PhD Engineer in Energy and Environment Technologies, Transformation Director.
Jean-Christophe Baret
Professor, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS
Ilse Bakker - Infinium
Consultant at Nextwave-Infinium & Analyst & Project Manager at Nicoya Capital
Esther Thole
Science journalist and writer
Servaas Duterloo
Head of the EU Research Funding & International Programmes Unit of the Directorate of Strategic Development at TU Delft
Victor Negrescu
MEP, Vice-Chair of the CULT, S&D, Romania, Member of the K4I Forum
Lambert Van Nistelrooij
Former MEP and Honorary President of K4I Forum
Franc Bogovic
MEP, REGI Committee, EPP, Slovenia, Member of the K4I Forum
Lina Gálvez Muñoz
MEP, Vice-Chair of the ITRE, S&D, Spain, Member of the K4I Forum
Mariya Gabriel Profile Picture
EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth
Maria Da Graça Carvalho Profile Picture
MEP, ITRE Committee, EPP, Portugal, Chair of the K4I Forum
Bernd Schäfer
CEO, EIT RawMaterials
Photo of Tim Van Der Hagen - EIA Events Speakers
Rector Magnificus, President of the Executive Board, TU Delft
Event Details