Creating a Unified Digital Platform for Europe’s Innovation Network

The EIT Community operates across numerous sectors, countries and initiatives. Its existing digital presence reflected this complexity, making it difficult for users to understand the overall ecosystem and identify relevant programmes or opportunities.

Key challenges included:

• Unifying multiple communities, programmes and initiatives under a single digital umbrella
• Designing for diverse user groups, from policymakers and partners to students and startups
• Improving discoverability of funding, education and innovation opportunities
• Ensuring accessibility and compliance for a publicly funded EU institution
• Creating a scalable platform that could evolve with new initiatives and communities

The challenge was to simplify a highly complex organisation without losing nuance or depth.

Digital Strategy
We worked closely with EIT stakeholders to define a digital strategy focused on clarity, cohesion and impact. The platform was positioned as a gateway to Europe’s innovation ecosystem, rather than a collection of disconnected initiatives.

UX & Information Architecture
A clear, user-centred information architecture was developed to help visitors quickly:

• Understand what the EIT Community is and how it operates
• Discover relevant programmes, funding and learning opportunities
• Navigate between communities without friction

Content structures were designed to scale as new initiatives are introduced.

Design
The visual design balances institutional credibility with a contemporary, optimistic tone. Clean layouts, strong hierarchy and purposeful use of colour help users orient themselves quickly while reinforcing the EIT’s role as a driver of innovation.

Development & Accessibility
SOHO delivered a robust, accessible build aligned with WCAG best practices. Performance, responsiveness and maintainability were prioritised to ensure the platform could serve a wide European audience across devices and accessibility needs.

• Successful rollout across multiple European regions, supported by a scalable, multilingual-ready platform
• The new site provides a coherent digital entry point to one of Europe’s most ambitious innovation networks.