Meeting the 2023 EEPA Jury – Gilles Vandorpe

Each year, as part of the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA), we take the opportunity to introduce you to our esteemed jury members. They are responsible for selecting the most innovative and exciting competition entries and, ultimately, for choosing the winner of the Grand Jury Prize.

Following our interviews with jury members Thomas Cooney and Elisabeth Backteman, it is now the turn of Gilles Vandorpe, who represents last year’s Grand Jury Prize winner, UNIZO, the organisation that champions the interests of SMEs and entrepreneurs in the Flemish and Brussels regions of Belgium.

As Chief of Staff and Director for Entrepreneurs, Gilles oversees UNIZO’s operational activities and manages a portfolio of products and services. With a Master's degree in Economics and European Business, he has a deep understanding of the challenges entrepreneurs encounter and the positive impact they can have on society. Gilles is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs, and his experience and expertise in this area will contribute significantly to the 2023 EEPA evaluation process.

Read on to see what advice Gilles has for this year’s participants.

What do you think makes this competition unique in Europe?

The EEPA competition is unique because it brings together insights about entrepreneurship from all over Europe. In this way, it offers inspiration to all those who work on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs.

What advice would you give participants on how to make their application stand out from the rest and include the information that you need in order to evaluate the project?

If you want your project to stand out, you have to think out of the box, leave the well-trodden paths but always keep the interests of entrepreneurs in mind. The results are ultimately what counts. How can the project make a difference? And how does it effectively give entrepreneurs a push to pursue their dreams?

What, specifically, do you think the jury members will be looking for in the 2023 EEPA competition?

Innovative and creative projects, with a focus on how entrepreneurs can be helped to accelerate their business operations in the field of sustainability and digitisation.

Which are the top three qualities you will look for in a winning project?

As I said in my previous answer: acceleration of sustainability, innovation and digitisation.

We will introduce you to the other members of the 2023 EEPA jury soon – so be sure to visit the Promoting Enterprise portal regularly and follow us on LinkedIn,  Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news.