Securing the innovation management capacity of Flemish SMEs thourgh KAM and EIMC services within the Enterprise Europe Network

Project Information

VEBIN SME 3.0

Grant agreement ID: 831285

DOI

10.3030/831285

Project closed

EC signature date 29 January 2019

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 31 December 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 153 750,00

EU contribution

€ 153 750,00

Coordinated by

VLAAMSE GEWEST
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VEBIN SME 3.0 (Securing the innovation management capacity of Flemish SMEs thourgh KAM and EIMC services within the Enterprise Europe Network)

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

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

"The H2020 project has two main specific objectives i.e. continuing the EEN services for the enhancement of the innovation capacity of SMEs in Flanders and the Key Account Management for the beneficiaries of the SME Instrument in Flanders. As was already the case in 2018, particular attention is given to the integrated management of these two services and the organisation of smart signposting of clients within the VEBIN consortium in charge of the overall activities of EEN in Flanders, including the interaction with the NCPs for H2020 in Flanders, more specifically the NCP for SMEs and the NCP for Access to Finance. Also important is the interaction with the local support ecosystem for SMEs in Flanders, and in particular the innovation support services that operate in the region of Flanders, as well as the access to finance support services. Important milestone and major achievement in 2019 is that thanks to the ongoing efforts of the VEBIN team we managed to convince our host organisation, acting on behalf of the Flemish Government, to review the rules for co-financing projects that go beyond the R&D stage (starting from TRL7) and are more market oriented. Moreover, given the huge amount of Seals of Excellence in Flanders, especially for Phase 2 - a number that is higher than the EU average),the VEBIN consortium has continuously kept these cases on the radar so that eventually in December 2018 the regional decision has been made that these cases should benefit from a type of ""red carpet"" treatment when they are signposted in the regional ecosystem in order to see if co-financement -within the existing regulatory framework- can be considered. At present modalities are under construction to enable this new 'fast track to co-financement'. Smart signposting, high quality service delivery with a clear European added value are the focus in the present project. Special attention is also given to embedding the project activities in the overall framework of activities of the Flemish consortium of the Enterprise Europe network (VEBIN). In that way we secure that H2020 clients of the SME instrument get also familiar with the other services of EEN: there is a continuous interaction between the team in charge of KAM and EIMC services and the account management of EEN so as to discover synergies and new opportunities for the Flemish SME clients."

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

In WP1 (KAM services) all cases (7) signposted by the EASME for needs analysis with regard to coaching and further follow up of the grantees have been realised. For the first time we had also a Fast track to Innovation case. For the WP2 (EIMC) 65 SMEs have been served, which is more than expected. Many of these cases are Seal of excellence holders for the SME instrument for which extra efforts have been done in catering for their needs with regard to investment and market readiness. Signposting to other EEN services has been done also systematically whenever necessary. The communication on the KAM and EIMC services if fully integrated in the overall EEN communication and is also shared with the NCPs in Flanders. At regular intervals the VEBIN KAMs report to the respective EEN account managers in Flanders about their activities with clients of their consituency so that further synergies and co-operation in service delivery can be optimised.

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)

"Important milestone and major achievement in 2019 is that thanks to the ongoing efforts of the VEBIN team we managed to convince our host organisation, acting on behalf of the Flemish Government, to review the rules for co-financing projects that go beyond the R&D stage (starting from TRL7) and are more market oriented. Moreover, the VEBIN consortium has continuously kept these cases on the radar so that eventually in December 2019 the regional decision has been made that these cases should benefit from a type of ""red carpet"" treatment when they are signposted in the regional ecosystem in order to see if co-financement -within the existing regulatory framework- can be considered. At present modalities are under construction to enable this new 'fast track to co-financement'.

The role of EEN in the H2020 SME instrument is fully recognised in FLanders by stakeholders and SME clients, in close cooperation with the NCPs. Further cooperation to the benefit of our SME clients is also set up with ERA-Nets, Eurostars, and Eureka, more specifically with the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Austria.

The economic impact of these cases start to become visible. Clients are constantly followed up so that we can keep track of the impact of our services. A survey among the clients learned that many improved their internal management, hired new staff, enhanced their market share in and outside the EU and improved their business model."

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