The young professionals, entrepreneurs and students presented ideas for business opportunities in areas ranging from healthcare to energy production and market information. The EIT Foundation young leaders´ programme aims to discover a new generation of talented entrepreneurs who can drive the development of sustainable innovation in the EU.

The main theme of the Annual Innovation Forum is on how ´data-driven innovation´ can benefit society and the economy. In a nutshell, more data is generated today than ever before, but Europe needs to harness the full potential of this information to address the economic, environmental and societal challenges of our time. From better delivery of public services to more efficient energy use, data-driven innovation is seen as crucial for economic growth.

The young leaders, who are selected by the EIT Foundation, are following an innovation and entrepreneurship training programme which has included seminars in the UK and Belgium, as well as online sessions, with academic content provided by Imperial College London. Later this year the Foundation will also launch a programme offering internships within its founding organisations to help young people develop entrepreneurial and innovation skills.