Knowledge Innovation Center

The study "Space market uptake in Europe" published in 2015 by the European Parliament highlighted that the lack of specialised technical and scientific skills could also prevent private enterprises from exploiting the opportunities offered by space data. This is a key barrier for the market.

During the year 2016, synergies across Commission services were identified in order to set actions to boost skills and education allowing the uptake of Copernicus data. The Blueprint for Sectorial cooperation on Skills is one of the concrete results of this work as well as future cooperation with the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and the Knowledge Innovation Communities (KICs).

Complementary initiatives such as Copernicus Academy Network and Copernicus Relays complete the picture.

Blueprint for Sectorial cooperation on Skills

The Blueprint for Sectorial cooperation on Skills is a new framework for strategic cooperation between key stakeholders (e.g. business, trade unions, research, education and training institutions, public authorities) in a given economic sector.

It will stimulate investment and encourage a more strategic use of EU and national funding opportunities. The aim is to develop concrete actions to meet short and medium term skills needs to support the overall sectoral strategy.

Specifically, the Blueprint will design sector-specific skills solutions based on an industry-led three-step approach that will:

1. Collect evidence of skills gaps in the sector and their potential impact on growth, innovation and competitiveness (funded through Erasmus+ Sector Skills Alliances lot1);
2. Translate sectoral strategy into forecasts and actions on jobs and skills (funded through Erasmus+ Sector Skills Alliances lot 3 and possibly COSME Skills);
3. Roll out EU sectoral partnerships at national and regional level and expand to more sectors (funded through EU Structural and Investment Funds).

The Blueprint will initially be piloted in six sectors which meet the criteria outlined in the first step above. Earth observation is one of these pilot sectors (the others being "automotive", "defence", "maritime technology", "textile, clothing, leather and footwear" and "tourism").

Read more on Blueprint Initiative...

EIT and KICs

The EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) are partnerships that bring together businesses, research centres and universities, with the objective to allow:

• Innovative products and services to be developed in every area imaginable;
• New companies to be started;
• A new generation of entrepreneurs to be trained.

The KICs carry out activities that cover the entire innovation chain: training and education programmes, reinforcing the journey from research to the market, innovation projects, as well as business incubators and accelerators.

Read more on KICs...

The European Commission is in the process of building a proposal for a KIC dedicated to Space benefits & knowledge, which would target space benefit for societal challenges. It could be structured around different areas of business axis driven by EU space programmes. In particular, it could focus on the following areas of interest:

• Data and information services integration, outreach and exploitation;
• Knowledge & Technology Transfer from space and to space;
• Sectorial, transversal and interdisciplinary skills development and,
• Dual use for space data and technology.

Complementary Initiatives

As part of the Copernicus User Uptake Strategy, the creation of a Copernicus Academy Network contributes to ensure the guided development of training and networking initiatives allowing the matching of university curricula and industry professional profiles, vocational and cross sectorial training, research knowledge transfer business (spin-offs), networks empowerments, etc.

In close cooperation with the Commission and the Copernicus participating States, the Copernicus Relays act as multipliers and develop initiatives to promote Copernicus as a source of free, full, open and reliable data and information that can help develop business and boost growth. They will thus contribute to foster entrepreunarial skills.

The Copernicus Academy and the Copernicus Relays are supported by the Copernicus Support Office. Funded by the European Commission, the Support Office animates these two networks and ensures all the available instruments and material are put at the disposal of the networks, that best practices are identified, and, whenever possible, replicated if not scaled up.