EAIC: In the starting blocks for 2022!

EAIC members gathered last week, in Brussels, for the first ever in-person meeting held by the European Association of Innovation Consultants. Members of the Association met on the 23rd of November for a full day of workshops: 40 participants came to Brussels and over 20 others connected online to the various sessions organised by the Association.

The purpose of the meeting was to invite EAIC members to co-create and prepare the Association's action plan for next year. For the past 2 years, meetings were held online, mainly because of the sanitary crisis, but it was time for a physical meeting to be held to allow for more fruitful discussions and to provide the possibility for members to meet. The meeting was held the day prior to the EIC Summit, attended by many EAIC members. The EIC Accelerator has been a focal point of attention of the association for over the past year, and hence, it was the ideal time to organise this gathering.

Opening the event, Pekka Koponen, President of the EAIC, recalled some of the Association's most important achievements over the past 2 years, such as: the promotion of a Manifesto on professional project management, the adoption of a code of conduct, a constructive dialogue established with the EIC, the publication of our collective NGEU guide, strong visibility of the Association thanks to dynamic communication, the hiring of a Secretary General, Marie Latour, since October. Diego Soro, EAIC Board Member, presented the current membership structure and the objectives for growth for next year to ensure presence in all EU Member States; EAIC members are currently present in 25 European countries, of which 18 are EU Member States. Yiannis Geragotellis presented the results of an internal survey on new initiatives and project collaboration.

7 parallel sessions were held, in line with most of the EAIC’s active working groups, each of these led by one or several board members:

• European Innovation Council Task Force, led by Xavier Aubry, Louis Papaemmanuel and Emanuele Angione
• European Innovation Fund Working Group, led by Yorick Debeus
• Project Collaboration; led by Yiannis Geragotellis
• Communication strategy, led by Macarena Sanz
• Next Generation EU, led by Alex Alvarez
• New Initiatives, led by Virginie Robin
• New Funding sources and EAIC treasury, led by Louis Papaemmanuel and Luc Ragon.

Each working group defined its objectives, a work plan, various KPIs and their budget for next year.
In the final and closing session, all the leaders of the working groups presented the progress made and reported what had been discussed in the parallel sessions.
The complete and consolidated action plan will be presented to all members of the Association in the beginning of January 2022, in the monthly members' meeting.

It was a very productive gathering and networking was encouraged among members, who were able to share their experiences and concerns.