Bridging the FET Innovation Gap

Project Information

BRIEFING

Grant agreement ID: 824663

DOI

10.3030/824663

Project closed

EC signature date 19 September 2018

Start date 1 December 2018

End date 31 May 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

Total cost

€ 497 750,00

EU contribution

€ 497 750,00

Coordinated by

BWCON GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BRIEFING (Bridging the FET Innovation Gap)

Reporting period: 2019-12-01 to 2021-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

“BRIEFING – Bridging the FET Innovation Gap“ facilitates the translation of European research excellence into tangible innovative potential and therefore contributes to the renewal of the basis for future European competitiveness and growth.
The overall objective of BRIEFING is to leverage market uptake of research results from FET/EIC Path-finder projects by tackling the shortcomings in the FET programme as identified by the FET Advisory Group. In this respect, specific objectives of the BRIEFING project are:
1. Identifying the needs of FET researchers and design a tailored services portfolio based on them
2. Creating an online marketplace where technologies and business cases are exposed
3. Supporting researchers to identify innovation opportunities in FET projects
4. Delivering on-demand training for the exploitation of research results to FET projects
5. Stimulating the creation of the FET Innovation Community by facilitating mutual understanding between research and business world
BRIEFING is based on a flexible system of support tools and services that allows for a tailor-made approach to the diverse needs of the different stakeholder groups. In order to ensure this, the range of support services that is offered to FET researchers can be specifically tailored to the individual demands and includes IP and technology transfer and communication trainings as well as matchmaking tools and events, which altogether are administered through a dedicated online marketplace.
The BRIEFING consortium provides the manifold expertise to respond to the diverse stakeholder needs, bringing together innovation service providers backed by large SME networks with a renowned research institution. The partners’ experiences span the provision of innovation services and the dynamisation of innovation ecosystems as well as the involvement of relevant stakeholders from the research and business world. Three subcontracting clusters will append additional business expertise and involvement in key industries.

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

Key activities carried out within the scope of BRIEFING are divided into 4 work packages. Main activities carried out from the beginning of the project and the results achieved include:

• WP2 – Innovation Opportunity Discovery
Preliminary research to investigate: a) FET projects’ characteristics based on primary and secondary sources; b) variables to be taken in consideration for the assessment of projects’ technology and commercialization potential (D2.1).
In-depth study of FET Innovation Launchpad projects (through survey and interviews) in order to understand their needs and be able to re-design the BRIEFING services based on their feedback
Definition of a new format for the Innovation Opportunity Workshop
Definition of a new training framework (D2.3)
Creation of the Innovaton Playbook
Delivery of 12 Innovation Opportunity Workshop to FET/EIC Pathfinders consortia
Evaluation of results and recommendations for sustainability of the format


• WP3 - Communication and on-demand Training
Development of a concept for the communication training (D3.1) Business training concept (D3.2) and for the sector specific mentoring
15 business webinars uploaded on the BRIEFING marketplace
Introduction of the exploitation training program to respond to the needs identified within the study on FET Innovation Launchpad
17 online communication trainings performed
12 training sessions delivered within the Exploitation Training programme, among them:
- Eight online Business Training
- Three innovation and IP Strategies webinar
- One Operational Technology Transfer training
Three FET / EIC pathfinder projects receiving up to 8 hours of mentoring each
Evaluation of results of all training and development of recommendations for sustainability of the formats


• WP4 – Technology and Business Matching
Creation of the BRIEFING online marketplace
Creation of the Website and visual identity of the project (D4.2)
Definition of new services (peer-to-peer experience sharing and preliminary individual assessment) following the results of the study on FET ILP
Preliminary individual assessment with 80 representatives of FET/EIC Pathfinder project from 46 project and development of a service roadmap for them
Moderation and engagement on the BRIEFING online Marketplace, with over 160 users invited, 62 projects entries available under the “Technology Discover” dashboard and 50 institutions listed under “Cooperation partners”
New engagement and communication strategy to involve FET/EIC Pathfinder projects
Production of one BRIEFING image video and seven video testimonials from BRIEFING participants and experts
Organisation of two online matchmaking events: one in February 2020 with focus on Nanotechnologies and one in October 20020 with focus on Medical and Cancer Research
Two peer-to-peer experience sharing events engaging nine FET/EIC Pathfinders project
Organisation of three “Research Meets Industry” events focused on energy and environment in collaboration with the EIC Programme Manager for Green Technologies
16 Matching/cooperation between FET/EIC Pathfinders researchers and industry players started

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)

By the end of the project, BRIEFING aimed to play a role in improving the transfer of knowledge and technology generated by FET projects into products and services. The aim was not to turn researchers into entrepreneurs but it was about creating an ecosystem of researchers and business stakeholders that build the ground for a vibrant FET innovation system. In this respect, BRIEFING was particularly focusing in creating tangible business value out of high class research.
The following results and impacts were achieved by the end of the project:
• Supporting researchers to identify innovation and commercialization opportunities in FET projects: Through innovation opportunity workshop and tailored training for the exploitation of research results, BRIEFING supported FET researchers in identifying the innovation potential of their research. In dedicated training, researchers learned to identify customer’s needs and develop innovation & IP strategy that shall serve to bring results from the lab to the market.
• Creation of the FET innovation community: research and business often speaks a different language. By offering communication training to FET researchers, BRIEFING aimed to increase the understanding of the potential of a given FET technology for business stakeholders. This shall lead in turn to more interaction and cooperation between researchers and business stakeholders.
• Involving the market right from the start: BRIEFING aimed to involve the market at a very early stage. Through the online pitches and matchmaking, researchers had the chance to validate their use cases with stakeholders from the specific verticals. This first interaction may already lead to concrete cooperation or it allowed researchers to further adapt the use case based on the feedback received.
• Creation of a vibrant space where technologies and business cases are exposed: BRIEFING wanted to facilitate the mutual understanding between the research and the business world. The online BRIEFING marketplace served as a platform where technology can be exposed to business stakeholder to facilitate the matching between researchers and the industry and thus to transfer novel ideas from research to the market.

FET BRIEFING Logo