Proposal of Consortium AURASME4 for the support services enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs within the Enterprise Europe Network Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes (EURORAA4)

Project Information

AURASME4

Grant agreement ID: 879665

DOI

10.3030/879665

Project closed

EC signature date 5 February 2020

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 December 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 309 981,25

EU contribution

€ 309 981,00

Coordinated by

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

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AURASME4 (Proposal of Consortium AURASME4 for the support services enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs within the Enterprise Europe Network Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes (EURORAA4))

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

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Consortium AURASME4 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.
The COVI19 crisis had an impact on SMEs’ priorities and the Consortium managed to adapt quickly its support services.
Concerning the KAM, the Consortium provide the service to all the beneficiaries in our region. Clients are very satisfied with the service.
For the EIMC, the consortium is in line with its objectives. It is difficult to anticipate as the advisors depends on the time frame of the SMEs.
Most of the companies involved have shown great interest in the action. However, the COVID19 crisis had an impact on the strategy of SMEs and the consortium made a strong effort to adapt quickly in order to shift the support planed towards resilience or strengthening the strategy.

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

During the 2020-2021 period, the consortium AURASME4 supported 73 different SMEs, 24 received a KAM support service and 49 an EIMC service. All the cases are closed.
The Consortium AURASME4 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 EISMEA and French Consortia in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Moreover, a community of practice was set up.
- Coordination, trainings (EIMC staff attended a decentralized training on “sustainability driven innovation management”) and exchange of experiences within the consortium and the Network.
- Strong link with Enterprise Europe Network COSME activities has been set up in particular for the promotion of the action (Infodays, leaflets…), advisory services (advice on the proposal, pitch sessions…) and partnering services (support to participate in brokerage events) …

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 AURASME4 supported 73 SMEs. The Consortium planned to support 95 SMEs, however, the Covid19 crisis and the changes in the KAM impacted the final results of the consortium.

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 SMEs 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 building.
- Improvement of market knowledge and positioning.
- For the other points, the KAM is able to propose other solutions to help SMEs work on their 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.
- For SOE, the impact is to identify new sources of funding.


The Direct impact on clients of EIMC services:
Most of the companies which received the EIMC services are showing an improvement in the management of their innovation processes. The impact is also to allow the SMEs to reflect on their strategy and identify actions to become more innovative and competitive. During the Covid19 crisis, the need of this service was even more highlighted as companies expressed their need to work on their strategy in order to be more resilient.

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