Western and Eastern Europe partner up for aeronautics research
The BEAWARE(opens in new window) (Bridging East West for aerospace research) project's mission was to increase the participation of Eastern European regions in pan-European research activities through Horizon 2020 in the field of aeronautics and air transport. BEAWARE mapped regional capacity to identify the potential R&D project coordinators and partners from Eastern European countries. The competencies of 296 organisations involved with aeronautical research in 11 aerospace regions (including nearly 250 from Eastern Europe) were surveyed. Familiarity and trust were fostered between industry and academia, in both Eastern and Western European countries via workshops, over 300 B2B meetings and seven factory tours. Regions and industries in the new European Member States were given the opportunity to present their capabilities to their peers across Europe. BEAWARE identified 20 small and medium-sized enterprises in the target regions with a high potential to integrate into the innovation chains of existing original equipment manufacturers. Ten new project consortiums (50 % coordinated by an Eastern actor) and one project funded by the European Commission were identified. The mapping database contains public information about key technologies, skills and competencies, as well as recent innovations of the respondents from the target regions. The information has been made available to the BEAWARE partners from the leading Western aerospace clusters (Aerospace Valley, Pole Pegase, and Hamburg Aviation) and the database effectively serves as a tool for partner search. The feedback forms of the BEAWARE events confirmed a high level of satisfaction of the attending companies and research organisations with the workshops and B2B sessions. The project also contributed to the development of regional supply and innovation chains in Eastern Europe.