The overall aim of the action is to help to enhance and accelerate the economic returns from innovation in Europe, by increasing the innovation management capabilities of SMEs. The project sought to address and strengthen the area of innovation management for innovative SMEs in the region of Berlin and Brandenburg. As identified by the European Commission, innovation management is a key area for companies and the inability to manage these processes effectively is a significant barrier to SME innovation and their competitiveness. This was the context in which we attempted to enhance the innovation competence of Berlin and Brandenburg based companies.
The first objective was to provide beneficiaries of the SME Instrument (SMEI)under Horizon 2020 with specific targeted assistance to support coaching assignments addressing specific innovation weaknesses which may hinder the outcomes of the SME Instrument project proposed by the SME. The Key Account Manager in both organisations provided following services to the beneficiaries: - support to identify weaknesses in their innovation capacities, - help with identifying suitable coaches to address the identified weaknesses, - a moderation of the coach-client relationship - continued support to the beneficiary throughout the SME instrument project. Through the delivery of these work packages, beneficiaries would increase their chance of overcoming the obstacles to growth and enhance the probability of a successful exploitation of the innovation project. The second objective was to deliver a service designed to enhance the innovation management capacity of SMEs by providing in depth support services to SMEs in the area of innovation management. The beneficiaries of these services were to be SMEs with existing, significant innovation activities and which have a high potential for internationalisation.
