The present and future of the EIT: An interview with longtime director Martin Kern

At the recent EIT Summit in Brussels, we sat down with the organisation's Director, Martin Kern, to discuss what's cooking over at the European Institute of Innovation & Technology.Kern, who's been part of the EIT leadership for almost a decade after a long career stint at the European Commission, told us more about the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (the so-called KICs), which are essentially Europe-wide networks centered around addressing a specific societal challenge, from sustainable energy to climate change, healthy food and green transport. Keen observers will have noted that this is not dissimilar to our approach in defining 10 market sector opportunities in the deep tech space.In the 14 years since it was started, the EIT has supported and helped grow more than 8,000 startups, and built up an innovation network with more than 2,400 partners from top business, research and education organisations across Europe. Kern discusses the work the EIT is doing in more detail. In the interview, we cover more ground, including the EIT Deep Tech Talent initiative that aims to train 1 million people in various deep tech areas, the European Solar Academy that was launched at the event, and the EIT's evolving relationship (and the difference) with the European Innovation Council (EIC). Also make sure to check out our interview with EIT Urban Mobility CEO Maria Tsavachidis!