[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6720\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEuropean taxpayers are changing lives, but people don\u2019t always know it - Commissioner Moedas\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpeaking in a Q\u0026amp;A session titled \u2018Can the benefits of publicly funded research continue to outweigh the costs?\u2019 at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on 8 November, he underlined the \u2018mind-blowing\u2019 but often unrecognised innovations brought to life with EU funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When I arrived (at the European Commission) in 2014, we had the big Ebola crisis and we were the first to actually do a vaccine for Ebola, at the European Union, with taxpayers\u0027 money,\u2019 he said. \u2018I think sometimes people don\u2019t know about all these things that we do that change the lives of people.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe said that one issue is that science and innovation aren\u2019t discussed at a high level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018One of the problems that we have to tackle is that today the political leaders in Europe, they\u2019re not talking about science, they\u2019re not talking about innovation, and that has a disconnect between the people and the political leaders.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpeaking on the sidelines of the Web Summit, an annual tech conference that this year featured a number of sessions on how to use technology to address pressing global issues, Commissioner Moedas said that one way of making the impact of research more visible is to offer cash rewards to people who come up with solutions to global challenges, known as inducement prizes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Prizes help us to connect more with people and that is very important in Europe \u2014 that people see what we are doing \u2014 and then prizes are a good way of giving the right incentives for people to innovate, because you have the challenge, you want to win that challenge.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Prizes are a good way of giving the right incentives for people to innovate.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003ECarlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAmbitious goal\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn 27 October the EU announced that it will put up EUR 40 million to fund six such prizes\u0026nbsp;\u2014 known as EIC Horizon prizes\u0026nbsp;\u2014 each of which sets an ambitious goal to solve a major societal challenge, ranging from creating artificial photosynthesis for producing synthetic fuel to developing affordable high-tech solutions for humanitarian aid.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimilar inducement prizes, known as Horizon prizes and worth up to EUR 3.5 million each, were already present in Horizon 2020, but Commissioner Moedas said the new level of prize money\u0026nbsp;\u2014 up to EUR 10 million each\u0026nbsp;\u2014 offers a large incentive for innovation and a connection with science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe prizes are one of four funding instruments that fall under the pilot phase for the European Innovation Council (EIC). This pilot phase will run for three years, with EUR 2.7 billion, and aims to help Europe\u2019s entrepreneurs and innovators scale up internationally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the EU is a world leader in terms of basic science, it lags behind other countries, particularly the US, when it comes to scaling up innovation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResponding to questions of how the EU can convince and assist entrepreneurs who may be wary of red tape, Commissioner Moedas said the EIC\u2019s \u2018one-stop-shop for European innovation\u2019 offered innovators simple funding and support access.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The EIC is exactly about that\u0026nbsp;\u2014 to open the doors and not ask questions, instead of telling people you should invent a new battery or go to the next flying car. I don\u2019t ask those questions, I want people to come with ideas and if the ideas are good \u2014\u0026nbsp; and more, if the innovator is good \u2014 then I will invest in that person,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVenture capital\u003Cbr\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAside from funding market-creating innovation and high-risk, high-reward ideas, the EIC pilot also aims to help connect European entrepreneurs with venture capital to boost their growth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Today, the problem is scale,\u2019 said Commissioner Moedas. \u2018You are a European company, you have a great idea \u2014 and we have so many of those \u2014 and (you) need (EUR) 10 million? Okay, you will find 10 million at Web Summit and all these venture capitalists, but if you need 50 or 60 million you can\u2019t find it and you have to go the US.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe said that raising the level of European venture capital could be helped by EUR 400 million of funding put up by the EU in a pan-European fund of funds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018So these founder funds that we are creating give the incentive for that, giving the opportunity to people to dream, create, build, to scale up and to stay in Europe. That\u2019s the only thing we can do. It\u2019s only a drop in the ocean but it\u2019s a big drop.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg class src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 alt width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-p4ohpp2jzl9ftmd-hlcvsxx-1tqfq61x-mwhn13dm2s\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-P4OhPp2jZL9FTmd_hlCVsxx_1tQfQ61X-MWhn13Dm2s\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]