PROSME INN- Improving RO3 SMEs management of innovation

Project Information

PROSME INN

Grant agreement ID: 879110

DOI

10.3030/879110

Project closed

EC signature date 2 December 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 December 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 125 090,00

EU contribution

€ 125 090,00

Coordinated by

AGENTIA PENTRU DEZVOLTARE REGIONALA SUD-MUNTENIA
Romania

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROSME INN (PROSME INN- Improving RO3 SMEs management of innovation)

Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2021-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

As it is known SMEs in Romania are now starting to perceive the need to innovate, both in terms of products and services as well as processes. As more local economy domains become competitive, the innovation needs of the SMEs in order to increase productivity and added value of the products and services delivered are becoming critical. Also, the need for technological know-how is expected to rise significantly as the financial instruments for innovation in SMEs will become available from Structural Funds during the implementation of the present strategy.”

The objectives of this action were to :
- ensuring delivery of appropriate “Key Account Management” (KAM) support services of the EIC Pilot H2020 beneficiaries in RO3 region,
- to enhance innovation management capacity and processes, as defined by the CEN/TS 16555 standards, in client SMEs within the RO3 region;
- to develop PROSME-INN consortium partners capacities for delivering KAM consultancy services and, especially, innovation management consultancy services for SMEs in RO3 region.

The above-mentioned objectives are in line with PROSME consortium implementation strategy of EEN services 2015-2020 as well as the H2020-EEN-SGA4-2020-2021 objectives.

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 SGA4 2020-2021 PROSME INN consortium delivered 2 KAM services for companies which are active in the ITC business field, with special interests and applications.
Also, the capacity and competence building for the members of the consortium for delivering “Enhancing innovation management capacity and processes in client SMEs” services, using IMPROVE approach was improved during the present SGA;
Regarding the delivery of the service "Improving the capacity and processes of innovation management in client SMEs" was done for 50 companies in the RO3 region - which means a very good percentage achieved by 125% of the total estimated.
For the total number of mentored clients (KAM + EIMC services) we have again a very good percentage of 104% of the total estimated ones.

Given the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lock-down, which did not allow consultants to visit companies, we consider that the results obtained are very good and exceed any expectations.

In order to achieve these results, the following activities were carried-out: innovation management assessment and bench marking exercises followed by action plans development and implementation with a view to improve sustainable innovation activities and sustainable innovation management performance of the client SME.

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 Impact of the action in terms of the service packages delivered can be generally described as follows:
- for the service package on “Key account management” for the beneficiaries of the SME instrument a general positive impact can be described. During this reporting period, P05 CRIMM and P12 INPULSE had provided in 2020 2 KAM services. The first company develops a software solution for precision farming based on a real-time land monitoring system, adaptable to all types of crops, scalable for different agricultural areas and accessible for all types of farms, being a low-cost solution.
The second company is a blockchain technology application offering patients and medical doctors an immutable log of healthcare records with a view to ensure better health outcomes and lower costs. InPulse Partners unrolled in 2020 KAM services for one client, Setrio Soft, regarding “PatientDataChain - Blockchain approach to disrupt patient-provider medical records data exchange” project, enrolled in the EIC Accelerator Programme. InPulse Partners performed the company needs analysis, and, accordingly, ensured the process of finding the suitable coach for the project. The coaching plan envisaged topics like value proposition - technology and business impact, customer focus - addressable market, target accounts, segmentation, GTM strategy including sales and marketing, partner strategy and internationalization plan. The whole activity was described by the client as “a great experience approached by a very good framework pattern to see the business through different perspectives in order to clarify better the strategic approach”.
- for the service package on “Enhancing SME innovation management capacity” a general positive impact may be described, directly for the competitiveness and specific managerial and consulting knowledge of the actors involved, client companies as well as PROSME consultant, and indirectly for the RO3 SMEs, as potential beneficiaries of EEN PROSME services. In order to achieve these results the following activities were carried-out: innovation management assessment and bench marking exercises followed by action plans development and implementation with a view to improve innovation activities and innovation management performance of the client SME.

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