Jekaterina Novikova is a Deputy Head of Innovation Policy and Access to Finance Unit at the European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation.  Her ambition is to build robust, inclusive and interconnected  ecosystems in Europe. Her main policy focus is the New European Innovation Agenda and European Innovation Ecosystems, including the Regional Innovation Valleys initiative. Jekaterina works for European Commission since 2005, and has held positions of responsibility both in finance and policy domains. As the EU fellow, she spent a year in the US, at the University of California, Berkeley where she conducted research on how the US government, universities and industry facilitate transition of the research results to market. Jekaterina is a Certified Chartered Accountant and holds MA in European Affairs from Lund University, Sweden.