Quick Challenge-driven, Human-centered Co-Creation mechanism for INDUStry-Academia Collaborations

Project Information

INDUSAC

Grant agreement ID: 101070297

DOI

10.3030/101070297

Project closed

EC signature date 14 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 31 August 2025

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 1 999 843,75

EU contribution

€ 1 999 843,50

Coordinated by

INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN
Slovenia

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INDUSAC (Quick Challenge-driven, Human-centered Co-Creation mechanism for INDUStry-Academia Collaborations)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

INDUSAC’s main objective was to develop and validate an Industry Academia collaboration (IAC) mechanism for quick, challenge-driven, human-centred co-creation, and facilitate a simple, user-friendly co-creation process developing solutions addressing the needs and interests of companies, students, and researchers in the EU, with special attention to widening and associated countries. INDUSAC was based on two pillars: (1) a methodology developed by applying human-centred design principles and (2) an online platform connecting stakeholders from the industry-academia ecosystem and supporting them throughout their co-creation journey. The methodology provided the guidance and tools needed to power the process, whilst the platform represented a networking space for the methodology’s operational support. Through the experience of enabling publication of around 250 industrial challenges and supporting around 160 international co-creation teams throughout the project’s lifetime, the INDUSAC mechanism and its two key components were successively improved until the project end, and delivered a tested mechanism ready for replication and upskilling. INDUSAC also created a community of industry-academia stakeholders, including more than 270 companies, 180 researchers and 950 students, and having reached out to more than 28,000 companies and 550,000 students and researchers.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main achievements of the project were defined as individual milestones. The first milestone (MS.1 - Communication strategy ready) was to ensure efficient communication within the consortium as well as towards the major stakeholders and general public; achievement was represented by the deliverable D4.1 – INDUSAC Communication Strategy and Materials. Setting up the two major pillars of the project, the methodology and the platform, represented the next two milestones (MS.2 - First operational version of the methodology ready, including PCAs, and MS.3 - Platform officially launched); achievement was demonstrated by their respective deliverables (D1.6 M14 – Methodology and D2.6 – INDUSAC Platform: First Version). Both the methodology and the platform were updated throughout the project depending on feedback from piloting activities. The latter represented the fourth milestone (MS.4 - Launch of the piloting phase on time) including publishing Challenges, receiving Motivation Letters, carrying out the co-creation projects, and awarding financial suport to student members of the teams. Updating the methodology culminated in the updates to the deliverable D1.6 M35 and represented the achievement of the fifth milestone (MS.5 - Final operational version of the methodology ready). Updating the platform functionalities to the final operational version included in the deliverable D2.7 – INDUSAC Platform: Final Version demonstrated the achievement of the sixth milestone (MS.6 - Final version of the platform available). In the efforts to reach the seventh milestone (MS.7 - 300 co-creation teams supported by project end) intense piloting activities resulted in publication of around 250 challenges and supporting around 160 international co-creation teams, demonstrating the promising potential of the established IAC mechanism.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Since the impact may depend on universities adopting the mechanism delivered by the project into their curricula, the extensive outreach to universities, students, researchers and companies has proven a good baseline to work towards this impact. We kept putting effort into involving more universities and students and to focus exploitation efforts towards them to maximise future impact.
Progress in delivering scientific impact was developed (1) by facilitating co-creation projects which may involve participation by researchers, thereby involving developed scientific approaches to solving company challenges, and (2) promoting the project by publishing major (non-confidential) findings in journals accessible to the scientific community.
Progress in delivering impact in economic, societal, industrial fields was being developed by (1) presenting companies with new forms of developing their ideas through collaboration with creative minds of students and young researchers, and (2) presenting a novel incentive for students to initiate international socialising in the form of cooperation in solving a company’s challenge.
Regarding impact on the industry side, stronger industrial ecosystems in Europe through reinforced IAC are expected by engaging 5,000 companies by 2028. The developed methodology was the basis for the Call for companies that enabled companies to post their challenges and students / researchers to solve them.
Enhanced use of the European pool of talent and skills supporting European industry is expected to deliver innovative solutions: The developed INDUSAC mechanism will improve the way companies recruit students and researchers, going beyond the existing mechanisms. Over 200 EU universities / public research institutes were engaged during the project, giving INDUSAC access to more than 550,000 students and researchers. In the subsequent months those students and researchers were invited to assemble co-creation teams and solve companies' challenges.

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