Periodic Reporting for period 1 - InnORBIT (Empowering innovation intermediaries to generate sustainable initiatives to incentivise and accelerate the commercialisation of space innovation)
Période du rapport: 2021-01-01 au 2022-03-31
InnORBIT will support start-ups and scale-ups to start and grow their commercial space activity, through sustainable local space innovation initiatives run by innovation intermediaries (clusters, hubs, industry associations etc.) in European countries with vibrant tech ecosystems. A Capacity Building Programme is designed to train innovation intermediaries on the space sector and on setting up and running local space initiatives such as incubators, accelerators, hackathons etc. A Business Support Programme complements and enriches local space initiatives to help space entrepreneurs in starting and scaling up their commercial activities in the space sector. The business support service portfolio for space entrepreneurs includes trainings, mentoring, networking, support to access finance and funding. InnORBIT services are made easily accessible through the InnORBIT Digital Toolbox.
The InnORBIT services, programmes and toolbox are developed based on space ecosystem insights, needs analysis and co-creation with space market actors and then piloted in 2 consecutive rounds by Eastern European innovation intermediaries well-embedded in their ecosystems, starting with 3 consortium members, ROMSPACE in Romania, Corallia in Greece, and Algebra University in Croatia. After receiving training, innovation intermediaries are supported to design their local space initiatives and engage local space innovators. Well-trained experts will support pilot participants to customize InnORBIT services to their needs and the local market. A monitoring and evaluation framework will support the collection of evidence on the performance of our solutions, improve them and follow up to train and engage 17 additional intermediaries in Eastern Europe in the 2nd pilot round. The lessons learnt and final methodology will be included into a replication guide to enable other innovation intermediaries to apply them and a set of policy recommendations to support decision makers in creating more supportive frameworks for space innovation.
Following previous analyses, an online co-creation workshop was designed involving 25 experts and market actors in a collaborative brainstorming exercise to design the most valuable services and training topics for the InnORBIT programmes. Based on the draft designs, a first version of the Capacity Building and Business Support Programme was developed, including the training topics and services offered to its users. Space training focuses on both business and technical aspects, complemented by services for mentoring, networking, matchmaking and skills building for innovators. 5 local space initiative types were outlined, including space incubators, accelerators, hackathons, cafés and sprints. The InnORBIT digital toolbox was developed to support the delivery of the InnORBIT programmes and space initiatives, comprising 7 tools, including e-learning, a community forum, database of local space initiatives, database of partnering events, a database of funding opportunities and an investment readiness self-assessment tool for space SMEs and startups.
In their role as innovation intermediaries, Corallia (GR), Algebra University College (HR) and ROMSPACE (RO) are the first to pilot the InnORBIT support programmes and tools in their region. They were first trained by InnORBIT experts and guided to design and deploy their local space initiatives. A space café initiative is launched in all three countries, complemented by a space hackathon in Romania and Greece.
Meanwhile, an open call was launched to gather interest of additional innovation intermediaries in Eastern Europe to participate in the 2nd pilot round. Prospective participants are guided through info days and dedicated calls to customise InnORBIT’s support to their organisations’ needs. Innovation intermediaries start the pilot in summer 2022, with the training phase and preparation of their local space initiatives.
Business models are developed for the local space initiatives of the 1st pilot round, as well as for the InnORBIT digital toolbox and the Capacity Building Programme. Market experts will validate them to ensure a good fit to the market before proceeding to the development of business plans. Potential synergies and collaborations are being crafted, from the beginning of the project, with key space institutions, networks, initiatives and projects, to increase the outreach of InnORBIT programmes and connect with other efforts supporting the growth of the European commercial space sector.