EU names 48 new EIC Ambassadors to promote and advise on innovation
- ›Commissioner Iliana Ivanova introduced a new cohort of 48 EIC Ambassadors at the 2024 EIC Summit in Brussels.
- ›The community now includes 26 returning Ambassadors and 22 newly appointed individuals representing 30 countries.
- ›Ambassadors are voluntary advocates who speak about the EIC, engage with media and events, and feed back recommendations to the programme.
- ›The announcement highlights gender balance but leaves selection details and potential conflict of interest safeguards unclear.
New wave of EIC Ambassadors announced at EIC Summit 2024
At the European Innovation Council Summit in Brussels on 19 March 2024 Commissioner Iliana Ivanova formally welcomed a new cohort of EIC Ambassadors. The announcement frames the community as both a promotional network and an informal advisory channel for the EIC. Ivanova said, "The EIC is a great European success and needs to be known across Europe and beyond. The new Ambassadors have direct experience with the programme. I look forward to seeing them promote the EIC across the ecosystem and provide us with feedback on what we can do better."
Who the Ambassadors are and what the numbers show
The new cohort comprises 48 individuals. The announcement describes them as a mix of former EIC board members, high profile beneficiaries such as CEOs, and lead researchers from innovative companies and projects. Of these, 26 are continuing from previous cohorts while 22 are newly appointed. The organisers emphasised gender balance and geographic spread across the EU and associated countries.
| Item | Figure |
| Total individuals in new cohort | 48 |
| Returning Ambassadors from previous cohorts | 26 |
| Newly appointed Ambassadors | 22 |
| Gender split (as reported) | 27 males and 21 females |
| Countries represented | 30 |
Role and remit of the EIC Ambassadors
Profiles represented in the community
The community mixes different profiles to combine credibility in science, entrepreneurship and governance. The EIC highlighted the presence of former EIC board members, CEOs of beneficiary companies, lead researchers, programme managers and other ecosystem actors. Examples of names associated with the broader EIC Ambassadors community include researchers and entrepreneurs such as Rachel Armstrong, Jo Bury, Ana Maiques Valls, Jan Goetz, Constantijn van Oranje and Roxanne Varza. These examples reflect the sort of high profile profiles the EIC cites as its spokespeople rather than an exhaustive list of the newly appointed cohort.
Context: why the Commission uses Ambassadors
The European Innovation Council is a flagship EU instrument intended to identify and support breakthrough technologies and scaling deep tech companies. The EIC is implemented and managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, known as EISMEA. Appointed Ambassadors are part of outreach and ecosystem-building efforts designed to improve visibility of the programme and to surface practitioner feedback that might improve implementation and communication.
A cautious view on impact and transparency
Announcing ambassadors is a standard outreach move for large public programmes. It gives the EIC credible advocates with first hand experience. That said the announcement leaves some questions unanswered. The Commission’s short statement does not specify the selection criteria used for the new cohort, the exact responsibilities or expected time commitment for each Ambassador, nor the safeguards to manage conflicts of interest when Ambassadors are current or former beneficiaries or hold corporate roles.
What to expect next
According to the Commission, Ambassadors will promote the EIC across the innovation ecosystem and feed back on programme design and delivery. Observers and stakeholders should look for published minutes, a formal Ambassadors charter and conflict of interest rules to better understand how informal advisory input will be integrated into EIC policy and practice. The EIC has an Ambassadors Charter which frames the role but the March announcement did not add further procedural detail.
For the innovation community the appointment is useful if it improves two way communication between entrepreneurs, researchers and the EIC. For accountability the real test will be whether Ambassador feedback leads to visible, traceable changes in programme practice and whether selection and disclosure rules are sufficiently clear to avoid undue commercial influence.
Practical information and references
The announcement was made at the EIC Summit during the Research and Innovation Week in Brussels on 19 March 2024. The EIC and EISMEA websites host background pages about the EIC Ambassadors community and a charter that outlines the community purpose and voluntary nature. Interested stakeholders can consult those pages for lists of Ambassadors and for related programme information.