Budapest to be home of European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Budapest has been selected as the site for the new European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

The Hungarian capital was chosen over Wroclaw (Poland), Jena (Germany), Sant Cugat del Valles (Spain) and a joint candidature for twin city headquarters submitted by Vienna and Bratislava (Slovakia).

The brainchild of EU president Jose Manual Barroso, the European Commission launched the project in 2006, presenting it as a means for showcasing EU innovation and competitiveness in the world. The EIT will enable the EU to match the US in research terms and will up the competitiveness stakes.

Designed to be the European equivalent of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the EIT project has come in for criticism from various member states and particularly from the UK.

Drawing on public and private funds, the institute will have a budget of some Euro 2.4bn to cover its first six years of operation. The EU is due to contribute €308.7m.

The governing board of the Institute is due to select higher learning and research institutes as well as private companies that will sign agreements in order to make up Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The Communities will consist of comprise at least three partners, including at least one public institution and one private company, located in at least two member states.