Inclusive and Interconnected Ecosystem to Boost Paediatric Innovation in Europe-i4KIDS-EUROPE

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Innovation in paediatric health is critical to ensure that children, regardless of their age, health condition, socio-economic situation or place of birth, have access to the life-changing healthcare solutions they need to grow-up stronger and contribute to a better society. Children are not just small adults and they need targeted innovative solutions. However, paediatric innovation is still elusive. There are two main causes for this: i) Stakeholders perceive paediatric innovation as risky and they just try to adapt adult solutions to children. ii) Paediatric experts, innovators and other relevant stakeholders are scattered in a fragmented ecosystem across Europe failing to identify opportunities or deliver effective and harmonized action. Thus, the unexploited innovation potential is large, particularly in emerging and moderate innovator countries. To reduce barriers and exploit these opportunities, while ensuring equality across different countries, the establishment of a European Paediatric Innovation Ecosystem is of paramount importance. The i4KIDS-EUROPE project builds on an existing successful initiative (i4KIDS), and it will expand its activities towards Europe in order to enlarge the participation of diverse European paediatric stakeholders and territories. The project will allow synergies, avoid duplications, reduce differences between strong and emerging/moderate innovator territories and strengthen competitiveness to optimise the innovation potential of the European paediatric sector. To achieve this, we will analyse the landscape of paediatric innovation in Europe as well as the barriers that emerging/moderate innovator countries face. i4KIDS-EUROPE will offer an interconnected paediatric innovation ecosystem that will capacitate its underrepresented actors and make them participate in the design of the future European Paediatric Innovation Ecosystem.