Enterprising Students Accreditation Platform for Europe

Project Information

EU ESA

Grant agreement ID: 696671

DOI

10.3030/696671

Project closed

EC signature date 1 September 2015

Start date 1 October 2015

End date 31 March 2016

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

FIND INVEST GROW
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EU ESA (Enterprising Students Accreditation Platform for Europe)

Reporting period: 2015-10-01 to 2016-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Enterprising Students Accreditation (ESA) is a UK-based accreditation programme that promotes, recognises and rewards enterprising activity within all university student groups. The ESA has had significant success in the UK and, following initial research, we concluded that the business opportunity for the ESA across Europe warranted further investigation. Our overall objective for this innovation project is to build, deploy, test and expand the ESA Platform into all viable European markets.

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

Our initial activity involved an in-depth market study of all EU member states to assess the business opportunity for the ESA. We researched the size of the serviceable market, the cultural compatibility, the structure of the higher education system, the commercial opportunity and a wider economic analysis. We conducted desk based research, a focus group of students representing 14 EU countries, interviews with HEIs and produced weighted rankings based on our results. The outcome described a very positive business opportunity across Europe and a prioritised list for initial market selection.

Secondly, we identified, contacted, and visited potential pioneer partners. With minimal resource we secured ideal pioneer partners in four countries who provided useful feedback and insight for the platform development, business model and business plan. Achieving these high quality relationships has accelerated our time to market and confirmed the business opportunity.

Our business plan was written with information produced from the market study, PDS, research into compliance and regulatory issues and risk assessment. We now have a compelling, exciting and viable business plan making us ready to secure the finance needed for its implementation.

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)

Our PDS contains innovative technology that enables far greater functionality, efficiency and impact for the ESA. Most importantly, it provides the ability to scale effectively, giving the capacity to extend our impact across the EU quickly. The platform is essential and will be built, deployed, tested and refined in the first implementation phase of our business plan.

We expect to replicate the impact of the ESA in the UK in 18 EU countries after five years, which will positively influence young people’s life chances, aspirations and youth unemployment of up to two million young people.

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