Industrial cooperation across continents

Project Information

GNSS.asia2

Grant agreement ID: 641615

DOI

10.3030/641615

Project closed

EC signature date 4 December 2014

Start date 1 January 2015

End date 31 December 2016

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Space

Total cost

€ 1 154 957,50

EU contribution

€ 1 153 707,25

Coordinated by

SPACETEC CAPITAL GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GNSS.asia2 (Industrial cooperation across continents)

Reporting period: 2016-01-01 to 2016-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

GNSS.asia2 engages on pre-marketing activities and business development support for European Industry and EGNSS in the Asian region: GNSS.asia2 is building on GNSS.asia1 (FP7) which has established the foundations for concrete collaboration between European and Asian industry with already significant results in India, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

GNSS.asia1 has built an effective team by blending industrial cooperation professionals with GNSS experts, it has developed a toolbox of GNSS communication instruments in local languages and it has established an industrial relationship platform through numerous workshops, seminars, round tables and communication activities. Furthermore, GNSS.asia1 has enabled unique networking opportunities for European companies to showcase their products in Asia, facilitated the introduction of GALILEO in Asian industry players’ products and provided transparency on Asian markets, while engaging key GNSS stakeholders in Asia.

Industrial collaboration in the GNSS downstream sector is becoming increasingly important as Galileo hits the market and services are scheduled for testing. Half of the world’s population lives in Asia and Asian high-tech companies are the leading suppliers of GNSS-electronics. Therefore, the differentiators of Galileo need to be underlined in the multi-GNSS hotspot Asia and European industry needs to be supported in the establishment of industrial partnerships with Asian companies. GNSS.asia2 therefore has three objectives: Firstly, to create and deepen industrial relationships between European and Asian businesses involved in the GNSS sector. Secondly, to promote EGNSS differentiators in Multi-GNSS applications and thirdly to raise awareness for EGNSS in Asia. GNSS.asia2 will improve on GNSS.asia1 by extending the geographical reach of an improved service to Australia and South-East Asia.

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

In 2015 and 2016, the GNSS.asia team has successfully continued the legacy of the first GNSS.asia project. Capitalising on the community of GNSS-related businesses established in GNSS.asia1 GNSS.asia2 has succeeded in facilitating 16 partnerships between Asian and European companies, predominantly between SMEs. The business relationships formed under GNSS.asia’s support, are diverse and encompass R&D collaborative agreements, distribution agreements and sales agreements.

In pursuing its objectives, GNSS.asia has promoted Galileo and the European GNSS industry at over 50 events in India, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe to an international audience of stakeholders. GNSS.asia has extended its international community to over 110 businesses from the entire GNSS value chain in Europe and Asia and managed to establish itself as a trusted brand for EU-Asian cooperation. In addition to playing an instrumental role in fostering industrial cooperation, the GNSS.asia events have provided the GSA and the European Commission with a bridgehead to Asian GNSS decision-makers. GNSS.asia actively supported the conclusion of the EU-Korean Science & technology agreement and the EU-Japan cooperation arrangement between the European GNSS Agency and the National Space Policy Secretariat Cabinet Office of Japan.

Project highlights included the participation to DG GROW's Mission for Growth to Taiwan, the co-organisation of the 7th and 8th Multi-GNSS Asia (MGA) Conference and a strong presence at the key industry events in Asia, e.g. the China Satellite Navigation Conference (CSNC), ITS World Congress, Telematics Taiwan, ITS Shenzhen Expo, Telematics India, Korean GNSS Society conference, COMPUTEX and many more. In doing so, the team has successfully raised awareness of EGNSS among stakeholders and acquired a better understanding of the cooperation interests of local GNSS communities. On several occasions, the team has also supported the European GNSS industry during their activities abroad. Furthermore, via outreach through the GNSS.asia newsletter and other web-based communication channels, the project has managed to continuously expand its base of stakeholders, which is also reflected in the increased number of visitors on the project.

In addition to its foreseen actions, the consortium successfully launched the GNSS.asia Challenge, a regional prize within the European Satellite Navigation Competition. The challenge provides the opportunity for participants with GNSS ideas from Asia-Pacific to find European partners, thereby further fostering EU-Asia cooperation. In addition to playing an instrumental role in fostering industrial cooperation and understanding in the target economies, the GNSS.asia events have provided the GSA and the European Commission with an exceptional stage to promote Galileo & EGNOS to an international audience of stakeholders. In 2016, the GNSS.asia Challenge has managed to establish itself as the most successful ESNC region, in terms of participants. A total of 60 entrants from Asia handed in innovative concepts for GNSS applications, aimed at solving problems in the developing and industrialised world.

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)

In summary, GNSS.asia has managed to establish itself as a credible and competent service for European GNSS-related businesses seeking industrial collaboration opportunities in Asia. Leveraging its vast network in Asia, GNSS.asia has effectively lowered the entry thresholds for European businesses and encouraged Asian counterparts to adopt EGNSS in a variety of applications. The GNSS.asia project has encouraged Asian companies to seek business opportunities in Europe, thus providing tangible and growing value for the European economy.

Cooperation with prominent GNSS associations has resulted in the successful organisation of numerous GNSS.asia seminars and other outreach activities. These events have proven to be instrumental in building strong relationships with local multipliers and gaining access to a broad GNSS audience, as they enable direct contact with GNSS businesses, institutional stakeholders and leading associations. By cooperating closely with the most relevant Horizon 2020 projects, e.g. JUPITER, BELS, e-KnoT, the consortium has managed to create additional outreach synergies that allow European stakeholders to benefit from the established GNSS.asia network. It is becoming evident that the great investment in these events is beginning to pay off with the materialisation of concrete business agreements that are an indirect or direct result of B2B meetings, workshops and seminars. GNSS.asia has resulted in success stories of industrial collaboration, e.g. Teleorbit, Nottingham Scientific Limited, T-Systems, Thales and many more. GNSS.asia has systematically exploited its Asian and European networks for the purpose of corroborating the many loose business commitments that have been made and to document the successfully forged agreements.

Furthermore, the mapping of European-Asian cooperation schemes in the GNSS sector has highlighted a considerable number of projects, platforms or initiatives which promote cooperation between European and Asia-Pacific stakeholders. Several of these schemes provide interesting opportunities for the GNSS.asia project to benefit from synergies or multiplier effects, be it in outreach, joint activities or industry impact. In conjunction with an in-depth analysis of the GNSS landscapes in the Asian target regions, this information serves as the crucial knowledge base for further successful matchmaking.

GNSS.asia logo