Kortrijk, Belgium, 16 December 2014 - InnoLife, a consortium of 144 European companies, research institutes and universities, has been selected by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) as the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) for EIT Health. With a total volume of EUR 2.1 billion it is one of the largest public funded initiatives for health worldwide.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an agency of the European Union that sustainably promotes research, innovation, technology and entrepreneurship since 2008. For this, EIT uses Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs): cross border communities with expert partners working together on a specific theme. 

On 9 December 2014, the EIT granted its formal support to the InnoLife consortium. InnoLife's goal is to promote entrepreneurship and develop innovations in healthy living and active ageing, providing Europe with new opportunities and resources by delivering products, services and concepts that will improve quality of life and contribute to the sustainability of healthcare across Europe.

Over the next seven years, health partners such as Barco, iMinds, Ghent University, KULeuven, GIMV, Intel, and Philips will develop innovative products, education and services addressing the challenge of demographic change in Europe.

Barco will play a key role in this project. "We are very proud to be part of this consortium as it confirms the position of Barco at the top of European healthcare technology companies," comments Tom Kimpe, Barco's VP Technology and Innovation for Healthcare. "But more than that, we are thrilled to be part of a community that will be leading innovation in healthcare."

To initiate and coordinate the numerous projects, the consortium partners will found a new company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Regional activities will be organized by Co-Location Centers in Heidelberg (Germany/Switzerland), Barcelona (Spain), London (England), Paris (France), Rotterdam (The Netherlands/Belgium) and Stockholm (Sweden /Denmark).

After signing a framework contract with the EIT, EIT Health expects activities to start by the mid of 2015.


About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with 4,000 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.158 billion euro in 2013.

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For more information, please contact Inge Govaerts
Corporate Communications Manager
Barco NV

Telephone +32 56 36 80 52
inge.govaerts@barco.com
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