12 / 03 / 2025
EARTO Policy Event and Innovation Awards Ceremony 2024 – 23 October 2024
EARTO organised its Policy Event and Innovation Awards on 23 October 2024 which took place at the BIP Museum in Brussels. The Policy Event gathered more than 160 representatives from more than 30 countries worldwide (RTOs, EU institutions, industry as well as other key R&I stakeholders).
The programme featured several keynotes’ speeches from:
- Ms Ekaterini Kavvada, Director for Secure and Connected Space, DG DEFIS, European Commission
- Mr Thibaut Kleiner, Director for Policy, Strategy and Outreach, DG CNECT, European Commission
- Ms Maria Cristina Russo, Director Prosperity, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
- Mr François Jacq, EARTO President & CEO, CEA
The topics covered at this year’s Policy Event were wide-ranging and gathered around the central theme “Geopolitics & Technology – What are the Implications for EU Competitiveness & the Role for European RTOs?”, which sparked the interest of the R&I community through valuable speeches and panel discussions.
The 16th edition of the EARTO Innovation Awards Ceremony was held right after the Policy Event. Six RTOs’ innovations were rewarded by Mr François Jacq, President of EARTO on two categories: Impact Delivered and Impact Expected. EARTO member VITO, received the award in the Impact Delivered category for the development of Blue Foot Membranes, enabling industrial and municipal users to transition from wastewater discharge to reuse, thus closing the water loop on-premises. EARTO member INESC TEC received the award in the Impact Expected category for the development iLoF, an AI-powered photonic technology to select the right patients for the right clinical management by extracting unique digital fingerprints based on key biological micro and nano targets.
On the same day, EARTO has published the 2024 edition of its Innovation Awards online brochure, a collection of 40 innovations featuring EARTO members, which gives a flavour of the wide range of RTOs’ work. The brochure includes articles on all RTOs that took part in this year’s competition, as well as articles on RTOs International Network (RIN), with a special focus on the six finalists which are, in addition to the two winners: TNO, CEA, VTT and Tyndall.
–Video of Impact Delivered Finalists
