Nine cities compete to become the European Capital of Innovation 2016

Nine cities with outstanding success in boosting innovation have reached the final stage of the European Capital of Innovation Award 2016. The shortlist is announced today by the European Commission.

Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: “The applications for this year’s European Capital of Innovation award are really inspiring. The achievements of each of the nine shortlisted cities are all outstanding in their own right and will encourage many others to invest in their innovation ecosystems. These pioneer cities show how bright the future can be.”

The nine finalists are:

• Amsterdam (NL)
• Berlin (DE)
• Eindhoven (NL)
• Glasgow (UK)
• Milano (IT)
• Oxford (UK)
• Paris (FR)
• Torino (IT)
• Vienna (AT)

The finalists have been selected by a jury of independent experts on the basis of new initiatives launched since 1 January 2012 and on their ideas for developing innovation capacity in the future.

The first prize of €950,000 will go to the city building the best “innovation ecosystem”, connecting citizens, public organizations, academia, and business. The prize money will help the winner to scale up its innovation activities. The winner and two runners-up will be announced in spring 2016.

Background:

The 2016 European Capital of Innovation award was launched in July 2015. 36 cities from 12 countries applied to this year’s competition to succeed Barcelona, the winner of the first European Capital of Innovation award in 2014. The contestants are cities with over 100,000 inhabitants from EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon 2020, the European research and innovation programme.

More information:

• The European Capital of Innovation Award – iCapital

Press contacts:

• EC Spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation