Proposal of Consortium AURASME3 for the support services Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs within the Enterprise Europe Network Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (EURORAA)

Project Information

AURASME3

Grant agreement ID: 831279

DOI

10.3030/831279

Project closed

EC signature date 27 November 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 31 December 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 146 173,75

EU contribution

€ 146 173,00

Coordinated by

CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE ET D'INDUSTRIEDE REGION AUVERGNE-RHONE-ALPES
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AURASME3 (Proposal of Consortium AURASME3 for the support services Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs within the Enterprise Europe Network Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (EURORAA))

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

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Consortium AURASME3 successfully implemented specific support services to help high potential SMEs to improve Innovation Management Capacity and increase efficiency in SME projects and foster their impact.
Concerning the KAM, the Consortium provided the service to all the beneficiaries in our region. Clients are very satisfied with the service. The Consortium received only beneficiaries from SME Instrument phase 1 and 2 but no FET Open and FTI.
For the EIMC, the Consortium is in line with its objectives considering cases closed and on going. It is difficult, to anticipate the number of case closed since it mainly depends on the time frame and priorities of the SMEs.
Most of the companies involved have shown great interest in the action and are very committed and satisfied with the support provided.

The Consortium AURASME3 has the following particularities:
-Strong experience and solid know-how of the staff allow the implementation of these high added value services and an accurate selection of SMEs.
-The methodology and tool CheckInnov, developed by partner 1, positively evaluated by EASME and French Consortia in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Moreover a community of practice was set up.
-Coordination, trainings and exchange of experiences within the consortium and the Network.
-Strong link with Enterprise Europe Network COSME has been set up in particular for the the promotion of the action (infodays, leaflets…), advisory services (advice on the proposal, pitch sessions…) and partnering services (support to participate in brokerage events, partner search profiles)…

In the short term, the impact of this action is to raise awareness of companies on innovation management capacity and foster the success of the SME instrument projects. The long term impact for SMEs is still difficult to measure. However, companies have shown a great interest and motivation, and the Consortium will continue to follow this impact in the next program. A strong link will be ensured with COSME especially within the client journey.

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

The Consortium AURASME3 closed 26 cases during this period: 15 KAM and 11 Enhance Innovation Management Capacities. Moreover, 37 cases were started : 17 for KAM and 20 for EIMC. A total of 63 cases were supported by the consortium during this program involving a total of 59 companies supported in WP1 (phase 1 and 2) and in WP2.
The methodology and different steps described in the proposal has been implemented successfully.
Concerning Enhance Innovation Management, all the SMEs supported have been assessed. For some of them, an action plan was set up and the full service was provided or signposted. Specific services have been identified and set up like creativity, knowledge management, technology watch, intellectual property management, business development... However, due to the lack of availability of several companies’ CEOs all of the services could not be implemented in some cases within this program. Their implementation will continue in the next period.

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)

The Consortium AURASME3 has high level of experts to provide KAM and EIMC service support. However, the consortium is in a continuous process of improvement in order to deliver the best quality services. Therefore, In order to improve its performance, the Consortium AURASME3 organized training sessions, participated in meetings at regional, national and European level and shared knowledge and experience within the consortium and with other network partners.
The Consortium organized an EIMC Training at national level with Improve Academy in the topic “Innovation Digital Quotient”. Almost all EIMC experts of our Consortium participated to this training. Thanks to case studies and interactive methodologies, EIMC experts could implement directly and capitalize on this training to provide support on innovation digital quotient to clients. Moreover, exchange between all French staff members was fruitful and allowed to share good practices.

Moreover, 4 KAM Experts of the consortium participated to the annual meetings of KAM organized by EASME. Information was shared in the consortium between all KAMS and a strong cooperation is noted between them at Consortium level but also at French and international level specially to identify coaches.
It is difficult to measure yet a direct impact of the services, however most of the companies involved have shown great interest in the action and are very committed and satisfied with the support provided.
The direct impact on clients of the KAM services:
-The first impact is directly linked to the coaching. The needs analysis performed by the KAM allows the SME to highlight their main strengths and weaknesses for the project implementation. The coaching offers a possibility to work on the main weaknesses with an expert. The project is structured and will allow considerable expansion by capacity increase.
-KAM can promote Business Accelerator services to the relevant companies. For example : Thanks to the KAM’s information our clients participated in dedicated events.
-Improvement of market knowledge and positioning
-For the other points, the KAM is able to propose other solutions to help them improve the weaknesses and maximize their chance to succeed. This enables the SME to gain time. The KAM plays the role of a connector to the regional, national or European innovation network.


The Direct impact on clients of EIMC services :

-Most of the companies which received the EIMC services are showing an improvement of the management of their innovation processes.
-The impact is also to allow the SME to reflect on their strategy and identify actions to become more innovative and competitive. The EIMC service is a real opportunity for SME to have an exterior and global view of their innovation management organization and to be supported by an experienced advisor able to challenge their point of view in order to increase and improve its capacity.

French Network in Helsinki national conference