The EU has pumped about half a billion dollars into it, and finally the governing board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has held its first meeting in Budapest.
Its aim is to bring together research bodies, universities and business to bring about European technological advances, according to the BBC. Bringing in business will be a key component, said European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, "because the lack of business-funded R&D [research and development] explains almost 85% of the gap between the EU and the USA, for example."
The private and public partnerships, known as Knowledge and Innovation Communities, or KICs, will prioritize renewable energy and next-generation IT projects. The first KICs will be agreed upon by the end of 2009.
