What are Technology Infrastructures?
Technology Infrastructures (TIs) are important tools for industry to lower the costs and risks arising during the technology development, testing, prototyping, validation and upscaling phases. Due to their functions and importance for our industry, TIs are essential for Europe’s technological sovereignty, strategic autonomy and competitiveness.
TIs were first described in European Commission Staff Working Document (SWD 2019/158).
With the European strategy on research and technology infrastructures, they are defined as facilities, equipment, capabilities and resources required to develop, test, upscale and validate technology. They include, amongst others, test beds, pilot lines, pilot plants and demonstration facilities, cleanrooms, and living labs. Their primary purpose is to enable and accelerate technological innovations towards societal/market adoption, boosting industrial competitiveness. The key added value of technology infrastructures lies in allowing companies to derisk their R&D&I investments before market introduction and to have ideas and concepts tested and validated for faster uptake at commercial scale.
They are usually hosted and operated by Research and Technology Organisations and technical universities. Companies can also offer Technology Infrastructures.
Why are Technology Infrastructures important?
TIs play a vital role in driving European innovation, in accelerating the green and digital transition goals promoted in the Policy Agenda for the European Research Area (ERA), and in enhancing Europe's strategic autonomy, technological sovereignty and competitiveness.
Technology Infrastructures provide tailored services as well as advanced technical expertise and facilities to support industry including SMEs and start-ups in research and innovation, technology development, testing and upscaling.
In this role, Technology Infrastructures also:
- Help businesses reduce their investment risks by mitigating the uncertainties in testing new ideas, technologies and production processes;
- Accelerate deployment of research and innovation results and strategic technologies in industrial ecosystems and research and innovation ecosystems;
- Shorten time-to-market and enhance commercialisation;
- Offer cost efficient solutions to companies by minimising the requirement for specialised in-house equipment, along with access to expertise for evaluating technological and business opportunities;
- Ensure compliance with existing safety standards and certification requirements.
The development of Technology Infrastructures and their long-term sustainability requires public investment and highly skilled technical staff to remain at the forefront of innovation and technological excellence. Key-challenges need to be addresses, such as limited accessibility and visibility of TIs to industry, in particular SMEs, fragmentation of the Technology Infrastructure landscape and lack of coordination of services and investments.
European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures
The European Commission has published a European strategy on research and technology Infrastructures, a central pillar of the Choose Europe initiative. The strategy sets out how Europe will reinforce and invest in this unique ecosystem, ensuring that infrastructures remain globally competitive, more accessible, and better connected to the needs of researchers, innovators and industry.
The Strategy enhances the sustainability, accessibility and effectiveness of Europe’s Research Infrastructures and Technology Infrastructures, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of scientific and technological advancements. It ensures that researchers, innovators and industry in Europe have access to these cutting-edge facilities and services that support scientific and technological excellence and industrial competitiveness.
These measures aim to secure Europe’s place as a global leader in excellent science and innovation, while underpinning competitiveness and technological sovereignty. More information about the Strategy’s key actions is available on the dedicated website.
The development of the Strategy strongly benefited from:
- The structured input and recommendations of the Expert Group on Technology Infrastructures (EGTI).
- The results of a call for evidence.
- The outcomes of the 2025 Conference “Technology Infrastructures: A Strategic Asset for European Competitiveness” co-organised by the European Commission, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the Łukasiewicz Research Network.
Why the Commission is doing this?
Following the Commission Communication on a New ERA for Research and Innovation, the Commission has launched concrete work on a coordinated European approach to Technology Infrastructures to support European industry, especially SMEs and startups.
This was launched under the ERA Policy Agenda (2022-2024) and specifically under Action 12 “Accelerating the green/digital transition of Europe’s key industrial ecosystems”, developed under the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe. It continues under the ERA Policy Agenda (2025-2027), under the action 16 “Accelerating R&I investments for Europe’s industrial transformation and competitive sustainability”.
This ongoing work is further implementing the Council Conclusions on Knowledge Valorisation (23 May 2024), which called for a definition of Technology Infrastructures, a mapping of user needs, and the development of an EU strategy.
European Commission Expert Group on Technology Infrastructures
The Commission has been advised on the key elements of its European approach to Technology Infrastructures by the Expert Group on Technology Infrastructures (EGTI), which started its work in February 2024.
The Expert Group’s final report “Towards a European Policy for Technology Infrastructures: Building Bridges to Competitiveness", alongside its analytical report on user needs for Technology Infrastructures, published in February 2025, offer critical insights and recommendations for advancing the accessibility of TIs across Europe. With more than 300 answers collected directly from industrial users, it allowed to gain a deeper understanding of their needs for Technology Infrastructures and their services, as well as the barriers they may face to accede them.
Publications
Held on May 6th and 7th in Warsaw (Poland), this Conference, co-organised by the European Commission, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, and the Łukasiewicz Research Network, brought together policymakers, industry leaders, research and technology organisations, academia, and innovators to discuss the strategic role of Technology Infrastructures in enhancing European innovation and competitiveness. It also served as an opportunity to gather insights and recommendations to inform the upcoming European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures.
This report presents the findings of the Commission Expert Group on Technology Infrastructures (EGTI), established in November 2023 to analyse, support, and provide recommendations for improving technology infrastructures (TIs) in Europe.
This analytical report complements the Expert Group on Technology Infrastructures report “Towards a European Policy for Technology Infrastructures, Building Bridges to Competitiveness”. The report gathers extensive evidence on user needs for TIs, presenting the findings of the Expert Group, mainly gathered through a public survey addressed to enterprises, as well as a comprehensive collection of inputs and analyses of other relevant bodies and initiatives.
This report presents the results of the study “Policy Landscape Supporting Technology Infrastructures in Europe”. It consists of a thorough landscape analysis of all strategies, policies, programmes, instruments, public and private investment plans and funding streams supporting Technology Infrastructures (TIs) in Europe. It provides background information to support the discussions on the development of a more strategic and coordinated approach to Technology Infrastructures at the European level in the context of the European Research Area (ERA) Action 12.
This report presents the results of the study “Policy Landscape Supporting Technology Infrastructures in Europe”. It consists in a thorough landscape analysis of all types of strategies, policies, programmes, instruments, public and private investment plans and funding streams supporting Technology Infrastructures at regional, national and EU levels.
- Le paysage politique au soutien des infrastructures technologiques en Europe - Résumé
Projects and results
Research project database (CORDIS)
The Commission's primary portal for results of EU-funded R&I projects. Here you can find projects related to Technology Infrastructures.
Examples of Technology Infrastructure projects
- RITIFI:Stimulating European research and technology infrastructure growth
- Convert2Green: Converting Facilities Network for accelerating uptake of climate neutral materials in innovative products
- Exploit4InnoMat: An Open Innovation Ecosystem for exploitation of materials for building envelopes towards zero energy buildings
- CLEANHYPRO: Open Innovation Test Bed for Electrolysis Materials for Clean Hydrogen Production
- H2SHIFT: Services for hydrogen innovation facilitation and testing
Contact
Want to find out more about the Technology Infrastructures or want to contribute?
Email us at: RTD-TECHNOLOGY-INFRASTRUCTURES
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (RTD-TECHNOLOGY-INFRASTRUCTURES[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
