Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EEN SACHSEN (Specific activities in the context of innovation support (HORIZON 2020) in the Free State Saxony 2019)
Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31
The aim of the project was to contribute to the smart growth in the Free State of Saxony as an emerging region in the European Union by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of investments in research, development and innovation and by contributing to a better and more efficient connection of actors along the innovation chain. To achieve the above mentioned objectives the project
a) Identified bottlenecks to the creation of economic impact in companies benefitting from grants by Horizon2020's SME instrument and EIC Accelerator Pilot, respectively, and addressed these bottlenecks with the help of capable coaches. This service to beneficiaries of the SME instrument in the context of a given project is called “Key account management”' (KAM).
b) Increased the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation processes in small and medium sized enterprises with significant innovation activities that could potentially become beneficiaries of European support to research and innovation but would not have effective access to consulting services for innovation management. This service, which has been provided independently from a specific innovation project and focusing on a company's innovation management system, is called “Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs” (EIMC).
a) Identified bottlenecks to the creation of economic impact in companies benefitting from grants by Horizon2020's SME instrument and EIC Accelerator Pilot, respectively, and addressed these bottlenecks with the help of capable coaches. This service to beneficiaries of the SME instrument in the context of a given project is called “Key account management”' (KAM).
b) Increased the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation processes in small and medium sized enterprises with significant innovation activities that could potentially become beneficiaries of European support to research and innovation but would not have effective access to consulting services for innovation management. This service, which has been provided independently from a specific innovation project and focusing on a company's innovation management system, is called “Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs” (EIMC).
The project resulted in the completion of in total 31 service cases, 5 KAM and 26 EIMC services, respectively, in the geographical area of the Free State of Saxony (Germany). Further 18 service packages have been delivered in part, but not yet completed.
The specific challenge addressed by the project was the need of established and innovative SMEs with an ambition to develop, grow and have an international impact with respect to the improvement of their capacity in innovation management. Such enterprises have been identified and provided in-depth assessment services. Action plans derived from such a detailed analysis have been implemented and coaching was provided in order to fill the identified gaps. Thus, the successful implementation of the project has lowered the barrier for selected SMEs to quicker and better step into the international markets as well as to improve their competitiveness. In order to make the action sustainable, the Best Practice and the methodological know-how from the present project will be implemented into the everyday working practice of the future EEN activities under the HORIZON 2020 framework program.