H2IF action is focused on defining a methodology to accompany promising R&I results to industrial readiness. In the first reporting period, this was done through different streams of activities:
- Preliminary assessment and roadmaps: the consortium focused on the evaluations of R&I projects’ and industrial partners’ maturity required for the next steps of the process. This was included: i) dedicated in-person and online meetings with each technology owner to get hold of the status of their technology, ii) detailed analysis of the information collected from each partner, vis-à-vis the Innovation Fund evaluation criteria, and related preliminary assessment, and iii) drafting of a dedicated roadmap for each prospective applicant, planning in detail the steps required to reach IF readiness, based on their current status. Subsequent activities included updates to said roadmaps (with intermediate checkpoints and follow-ups) and drafting of supportive guidance documents (see below)
- Support in the preparation of IF applications: H2IF partners started a close cooperation with the technology developers previously selected and assessed as explained above, in order to prepare them to apply to the IF. These activities aim not only to help them to increase the maturity of their technology and successfully apply to the IF, but to allow all consortium partners to learn what are the main struggles and best practices in this process. This stream of activities is closely linked to the roadmaps drafted and updated in the previous step, as well as to the collection of main takeaways described below;
- Kick-off of the activities aimed at the capitalisation of lessons learnt and at the definition of an innovation pipeline: consortium partners started collecting key insights of this process, to discuss them, share them with sister projects and analyse them. The final results will define the innovation pipeline and will be published and made available to all concerned stakeholders. As of the first reporting period, H2IF consortium already: i) defined and applied a detailed selection methodology to identify promising Horizon-funded projects, ii) drafted related guidance documents including step-by-step guidance on the IF application, tailored considerations for the ES and H2 sectors, a dedicated self-evaluation tool for stakeholders and annotated templates for Business Plan and Feasibility Study, and iii) conducted preliminary analyses of the main learnings collected so far, identifying the main challenges in selecting successful R&I projects, their main hurdles to access the IF and, more in general, to find a pathway to deployment and market access;
- Collaboration with stakeholders: H2IF has established and maintains strong links with i) industry stakeholders, both internal and external to the consortium, through participation to events and extensive network of partners, with the aim of mobilising them to apply to the right funding to upscale their results, ii) institutional stakeholders, through events, regular meetings, consultations and informal interactions with referent contact points, and iii) sister projects, through regular joint activities and sharing of lessons learnt, to find synergies and collaboration opportunities.
