WIREDGOV

Ms Mariya Gabriel yesterday delivered a keynote Speech, via pre-recorded video message, at the 4th Polish Academic and Economic Forum.

"Check against delivery"

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to address the participants in the 4^th Polish Academic and Economic Forum. I would like to send a message of support to you all.

Europe is facing difficult challenges. From digitalisation and climate change to covid-19 and the reconfiguration of our labour market. Nobody can address these issues alone.

Which is why Fora like this one, bringing together universities and other economic actors, are so important.

After all, universities are key actors not only in researching new ways of tackling these challenges, but also delivering the skills so that our work force can put them to practice. At the same time, our industry has first-hand experience implementing much of this research, putting innovative ideas on the market.

If we want to address these challenges, we need more connections and points of dialogue between universities and industry. That way, we can deliver the skills our employers need, and make sure that companies benefit from the amazing work of our researchers.

At the European Commission, we have heavily invested in this connection for a long time, now.

Our flagship programme for education, Erasmus+, has long supported universities and businesses working together. This is the case of our Alliances for Innovation, where higher education and business work together to address skills mismatches and boost entrepreneurship for a greener, more digitalised society.

Second, we also created a self-reflection tool together with the OECD, HEInnovate, for universities to assess how they are doing in delivering entrepreneurship skills and the competences to innovate. Poland already had 38 institutions taking part!

And third, supporting practical connections between the business community and higher education, we find the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, or EIT, supported by Horizon Europe.

The EIT supports innovation ecosystems, promoting innovation in areas like fighting climate change, more sustainable energy, or urban mobility. All while promoting smart specialisation across our regions, so that every European, no matter where they live, can benefit from the innovative potential of our human capital.

The EIT has even recently launched a new pilot initiative to help higher education institutions implement the insight of the HEInnovate tool. We have 90 million euro over the next three years, ready to support your institutions to become more innovation-friendly and entrepreneurship-driven.

All these opportunities could make a difference in helping your institutions better contribute to the European Green Deal. I can only encourage you to take a look, and see how you can benefit.

That, of course, along with enjoying what promises to be a great forum!

I wish you all many fruitful discussions!

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