Improvement of Support Capacities for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Agriculture and Agri-food Sector

Project Information

CollSupportSMEs

Grant agreement ID: 806588

DOI

10.3030/806588

Project closed

EC signature date 26 September 2018

Start date 1 October 2018

End date 30 September 2020

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 50 000,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

FUNDACION PARA LA INNOVACION AGRARIA
Chile

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CollSupportSMEs (Improvement of Support Capacities for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Agriculture and Agri-food Sector)

Reporting period: 2018-10-01 to 2020-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “Improvement of support capacities for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Agriculture and Agri-food sector” Agreement H2020-INNOSUP-2016-2017


The Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) is an agency governed by private law, and dependent on the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture. FIA has traditionally been focused on fostering a culture of innovation. Since the creation of its actual legal framework in 1996, its role has been to promote the transformation of agriculture and the rural economy through financing instruments, networks, training, and the generation and dissemination of information.

Despite the important work carried out by FIA, in 2017 the Budget Directorate (DIPRES) of the Ministry of Finance of Chile objected the offer of public instruments to promote innovation designed by the Foundation. Although this meant a budget reduction for the entire institution in 2019, the rejection made by DIPRES became the starting point of a profound process of institutional transformation.

Within the framework of this transformation process, in 2018 the Agreement H2020-INNOSUP-2016-2017 was signed between FIA and the Institute of Economic Development of the Principality of Asturias (IDEPA) and the Center for the Development of the Loire Valley (Dev´Up). Under the HORIZON 2020 program.

The objective of this collaboration agreement was to design a successful program to support innovation for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the agri-food sector in Chile.

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

To carry out the above, the agreement was executed in five stages: learning between the partner institutions (Stage 1), a tour to Spain and France to learn about experiences in the field (Stage 2), design of a support program for innovation for agricultural SMEs (Stage 3), generation of recommendations for agencies that support innovation and development (Stage 4), and execution of a plan for dissemination and exploitation of results (Stage 5).


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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 general terms, it is possible to point out that the work carried out made it possible to verify that the design of public programs and instruments to promote innovation must take a series of considerations that go beyond the sectoral scope in which they are carried out. In the case of FIA, and its institutional transformation process, the following were found as key elements:

1. Put the focus on the user: that is, the design of the public offer must be done understanding the user from all its dimensions.
2. Innovation policy by mission: that is, joining efforts towards solving ambitious challenges.
3. Leaving the comfort zone: that is, not taking institutional action for granted and including the “Learning Cycle” methodology as part of the design and improvement process.
4. Form diverse work teams with critical capacity: to advance in a public offering aligned with the needs of the citizens and the territories.

For more details, the following documents can be reviewed: Design Option Paper “A case of transformation: the Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) and its process of strategic updating” and Recommendations “How to design public programs / instruments using the learning cycle methodology and service design?”

For more information:
Visit: www.fia.cl
Write to: [e-mail] or cperezc@fia.c

Imágenes de los viajes de trabajo