EU appeals for industry help with its plan to tackle deep tech skills shortage

The EU’s Deep Tech Talent programme will be open to all as part of the region’s plan to educate 1m people over the next three years.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is calling on partners to get behind its new deep tech skills initiative.

The Deep Tech Talent initiative is being set up to address the current skills gap across Europe’s deep tech sector. The initiative aims to provide 1m people with the skills they will need for the EU to become an innovation and tech powerhouse.

It was launched today (11 October) at the conclusion of the EIT’s Innoveit Weeks – a series of events focused on European innovation.

The EIT is now appealing to industry stakeholders to get on board with its strategy and invest in European talent to get Europe to at least 1m highly skilled tech workers over the next three years.

The Deep Tech Talent initiative will be open to all, from secondary school students through to higher education students, professionals and entrepreneurs. It will be open to all education and training providers. It will have a particular focus and incentives ensuring a strong participation of women, as well as countries with lower innovation capacity.

“Fostering, attracting and retaining deep tech talents is crucial to enable the green and digital transitions and harness a new wave of innovation in line with the New European Innovation Agenda,” said Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

As one of the EU’s largest tech ecosystems, the EIT has a network of around 3,400 partners across Europe. According to Gabriel, this means it is “best placed to develop the deep tech education programmes the EU needs.”

“The initiative will ensure that Europe is in the vanguard of global cutting-edge technological advancements, and I encourage all European deep tech stakeholders, from educators and employers to Member States, to make a pledge to support it,” Gabriel added.

The pledge system is being set up to make it easier for the EIT to attract investment, as well as industry experts to identify where their investments would be best spent.

More information on the Deep Tech Talent initiative and the pledge can be found on its website.

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