Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AD-ASTRA (Aerospace Districts: Acceleration of the Strategic Transfer of Regional Advancements)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-09-01 do 2023-08-31
AD-ASTRA (Aerospace Districts: Acceleration of the Strategic Transfer of Regional Advancements) is a project about the positive interconnection among innovation ecosystems, with a focus on aerospace sectors. The project aims at the development of a connected, competitive, interregional innovation ecosystem between five European (EU) regions (Emilia-Romagna, Madrid, Occitania, Puglia and South Holland) with:
a shared interest in fostering aerospace sectors, enhancing the cross-contamination to and from other innovative sectors (e.g. automotive, biomedical, agri-food, big data);
different innovation readiness levels;
aerospace districts with different levels of maturity and consolidation.
“Diversity generates wealth”: the collaboration of these markedly diverse regions, furthermore represented by partners from different spheres of the Quadruple Helix, will be a growth opportunity. The establishment of a solid and long-lasting collaborative EU network, able to exploit complementary skills, experiences, territorial and industrial vocations, will contribute to create a “critical mass” in EU strategic sectors such as innovation and aerospace, where global competition leads to a confrontation with actors of increasing size and requires innovative models and approaches.
a shared interest in fostering aerospace sectors, enhancing the cross-contamination to and from other innovative sectors (e.g. automotive, biomedical, agri-food, big data);
different innovation readiness levels;
aerospace districts with different levels of maturity and consolidation.
“Diversity generates wealth”: the collaboration of these markedly diverse regions, furthermore represented by partners from different spheres of the Quadruple Helix, will be a growth opportunity. The establishment of a solid and long-lasting collaborative EU network, able to exploit complementary skills, experiences, territorial and industrial vocations, will contribute to create a “critical mass” in EU strategic sectors such as innovation and aerospace, where global competition leads to a confrontation with actors of increasing size and requires innovative models and approaches.
This ambitious goal of the project will be achieved through an iterative process:
Starting from the collection, analysis and systematization of the experiences (competencies, technologies, networks) of the partner regions with reference to their aerospace districts;
Analyzing the future evolutions of the ecosystems, in response to technological, economic, political, and social megatrends;
Correcting or validating hypotheses and evolution models with the support of stakeholder groups;
Defining an action plan for the development of each of the regional aerospace ecosystems, valuing experiences and good practices stemming from other regions and strengthening spin-in and spin-out processes to and from other industrial sectors and territories.
This is the on-going process. At present, the collection, analysis and systematization of the experiences has been performed for all the regions involved, collecting information in a dense excel file with information on competencies, technologies, capabilities, infrastructure and networks; then a deep analysis on megatrends and how these are shaping in a unique way each ecosystems has also been performed, starting from the global analysis of megatrend. Now, the partnership is working on co-creation workshops, which are active working groups to discuss with local stakeholders about the characteristics of each ecosystem and how some of them might be improved and optimized, based on the experiences coming from other ecosystems. At present, 2 out of 5 co-creation workshops have already been performed and first inputs are collected. In parallel also SWOT analysis is performed by each ecosystem, in order to increase the knowledge of it and understanding which ecosystems may help others in bridging some gaps.
In the second year of the project the other 3 co-creation workshops will be organized and from all the info, the joint action plan will be finally drafted by the consortium.
Starting from the collection, analysis and systematization of the experiences (competencies, technologies, networks) of the partner regions with reference to their aerospace districts;
Analyzing the future evolutions of the ecosystems, in response to technological, economic, political, and social megatrends;
Correcting or validating hypotheses and evolution models with the support of stakeholder groups;
Defining an action plan for the development of each of the regional aerospace ecosystems, valuing experiences and good practices stemming from other regions and strengthening spin-in and spin-out processes to and from other industrial sectors and territories.
This is the on-going process. At present, the collection, analysis and systematization of the experiences has been performed for all the regions involved, collecting information in a dense excel file with information on competencies, technologies, capabilities, infrastructure and networks; then a deep analysis on megatrends and how these are shaping in a unique way each ecosystems has also been performed, starting from the global analysis of megatrend. Now, the partnership is working on co-creation workshops, which are active working groups to discuss with local stakeholders about the characteristics of each ecosystem and how some of them might be improved and optimized, based on the experiences coming from other ecosystems. At present, 2 out of 5 co-creation workshops have already been performed and first inputs are collected. In parallel also SWOT analysis is performed by each ecosystem, in order to increase the knowledge of it and understanding which ecosystems may help others in bridging some gaps.
In the second year of the project the other 3 co-creation workshops will be organized and from all the info, the joint action plan will be finally drafted by the consortium.
The achievements of the project primarily result from effective cooperation, valuing diversity and complementarity among the ecosystems and relative stakeholders. The first year focused on building a common knowledge base for each ecosystem, engaging partners and stakeholders in dialogues involving the quadruple helix actors - industry, academia, policy makers, and civil society. Cross-fertilization among different ecosystems is ongoing. In the short term, the project has already initiated discussions on new education curricula, co-development, and training opportunities to address skill shortages in the aerospace sector; on how to leverage future megatrends and sharing best practices; how to identify key development axes and foresight of future needs.
In the short term, results from the project's activities are visible, particularly in ecosystem network analysis. These are results already obtained (in this first year) in terms of flagship innovation sectors and technical capabilities identified for each region, inter-regional shared development priorities, key regional development drivers, inter-regional connections (also at an international level), key innovation curricula, etc.
In the long run, quantifying the project's impacts remains challenging, as it requires evaluating the joint action plan's implementation in each of the five ecosystems. Anticipated impacts include increased business connections, societal advancements, policy achievements, and collaboration agreements among ecosystems. These outcomes will manifest over time, creating lasting effects on various aspects, such as business, education, and policy. Indeed, in the second year of the project the path is quite clear on how to continue collaborating within the consortium, in order to reach a shared, operative and useful joint action plan. What will make the difference and what can bring the results much beyond the state of the art, would be to see this joint action plan, actually applied by the policy makers of the 5 ecosystems involved, in a coordinated and harmonic way, in order to effectively bridge the gaps and make the overall system growing. This is something that will be put in practice after the end of the project, but dialogue with the policy side is already ongoing.
In the short term, results from the project's activities are visible, particularly in ecosystem network analysis. These are results already obtained (in this first year) in terms of flagship innovation sectors and technical capabilities identified for each region, inter-regional shared development priorities, key regional development drivers, inter-regional connections (also at an international level), key innovation curricula, etc.
In the long run, quantifying the project's impacts remains challenging, as it requires evaluating the joint action plan's implementation in each of the five ecosystems. Anticipated impacts include increased business connections, societal advancements, policy achievements, and collaboration agreements among ecosystems. These outcomes will manifest over time, creating lasting effects on various aspects, such as business, education, and policy. Indeed, in the second year of the project the path is quite clear on how to continue collaborating within the consortium, in order to reach a shared, operative and useful joint action plan. What will make the difference and what can bring the results much beyond the state of the art, would be to see this joint action plan, actually applied by the policy makers of the 5 ecosystems involved, in a coordinated and harmonic way, in order to effectively bridge the gaps and make the overall system growing. This is something that will be put in practice after the end of the project, but dialogue with the policy side is already ongoing.