‘Milestone’ hailed for EU deep-tech talent scheme

Brussels: The EU’s initiative to train one million people in ‘deep tech’—R&D-intensive, advanced technologies—has reached the “milestone” of 75 organisations pledging to support it.

First announced in 2022 as part of the European Commission’s New European Innovation Agenda, the Deep Tech Talent Initiative is being led by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, an EU agency that works to boost innovation across Europe.

When the initiative launched just over a year ago, organisations were invited to pledge to help it reach its goal of training one million people in deep tech by 2025. The EIT hoped that education providers, companies and national as well as EU-level public organisations would commit to providing help such as training or financing.

On 25 October, the EIT said it had hit the “momentous milestone” of 75 organisations pledging support.

It did not name many of these organisations, but one is the US-based non-profit organisation Generation, which offers careers training in a range of areas, including technology.

Minh-Huy Lai, regional chief operating officer of Generation in Europe, said being part of the Deep Tech Talent Initiative “boosts our organisation’s visibility and credibility in the tech community”.

“We are confident that this pledge will help us to further tap into a network of cutting-edge technology experts, innovators and stakeholders to further increase the quality and quantity of our offerings,” he said.

Calling for more organisations to join, the EIT said that those that pledge their support can benefit from international exposure, opportunities to work with the EIT and networking.