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KIC - Knowledge Innovation Community

Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on Cultural and Creative Industries: IULM participation to ICE-Europe Consortium

The Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) are the main operational tool of the European Institute of Technology (EIT), an independent body created by the European Union in 2008 for pursuing its innovation strategies in all sectors. The EIT is one of the pillars of the Innovation Union, the flagship initiative of the European Union in the field of innovation, and is one of the main actions for achieving the objectives of the European Union Framework Programs.

The KICs currently in existence cover many key sectors of the European innovation system: Climate, Digital, Food, Health, Raw Materials, Energy, Manufacturing, Urban Mobility. The proposal to launch a KIC on Cultural and Creative Industries is the result of a long reflection by the European Commission on the importance of giving cultural production a central role in the future economic and social development strategies of the European Union, in order to make our continent the global innovation leader on the subject.

IULM has been involved since the early stages of project preparation as a center of expertise in the field of economics of cultural and creative industries, and has been proposed as coordinating subject in the research area for the entire partnership together with NESTA , the UK innovation agency.

KICs are based on the formation of consortia between companies (large, medium, small, start-ups), research centers and universities and higher education centers, in order to foster the development of an environment suitable for innovation and creative thinking in a specific area, so as to lead to the launch of innovative products and services in the relevant sectors, the creation of new companies and the consolidation of existing companies, and the incubation of a new generation of entrepreneurs. KICs are networks that cover the entire European geo-political sphere and cover all stages of the innovation chain, starting from training and specialization, to consolidating the transfer of research products to the market, and the development of innovation projects, to the creation of business incubators and accelerators. KICs are conceived as dynamic organisms capable of responding promptly and effectively to new socio-economic challenges and socio-environmental changes.