Periodic Reporting for period 3 - REACH (EuRopEAn incubator for trusted and secure data value CHains)
Période du rapport: 2023-03-01 au 2024-02-29
The large consumer online platforms have shown that data is an asset that directly translates to value, and this value can be multiplied by fusing data shared among stakeholders in a value chain. However, this creation of value which makes possible the Data Economy is profiting today only the so-called GAFAM empire organisations, particularly in B2C scenarios. However, there is ample scope for Europe, there is no standardised digital platform controlling the B2B market. According to European Council conclusions (21-22 March 2019)2: “The EU needs to go further in developing a competitive, secure, inclusive and ethical digital economy with world-class connectivity. Special emphasis should be placed on access to, sharing and use of data, data security and on Artificial Intelligence, in an environment of trust”.
Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) are the key for overcoming these entry barriers for SMEs. A DIH is an orchestrator of the R&I actors in a specific geographical region that serves as a one-stop shop for SMEs to access services to pursue their digital transformation. DIHs can help in breaking the data silos in European industry, stimulating innovation where value is driven by data sharing, by providing technologies for digital trust, e.g. for compliance with the GDPR regulation. Providing access to public and publicly funded data, as well as providing companies with guidelines and technologies for sharing private sector data. REACH will leverage on the emerging networks of Big Data DIHs to foster the incubation process of datafuelled companies with the aim of bringing to market innovative data-driven products and services in data value chains, pursuing the following impact aims (IA):
● IA1. Contributing to the effort of unlocking the data-driven economy in several sectors such as retail, tourism, manufacturing, finance and insurance, media, healthcare, consumer support, transport, energy, public administration.
● IA2. Making Europe’s technology-/data-driven start-ups among the topmost world players in big data solutions and data-driven services.
● IA3. Developing new data value chains while safeguarding shared trust. We define in our context a “data value chain” as a multi-stakeholder data-driven business model where data is securely exchanged among parties, either persons or organisations, with the aim of creating value for all involved stakeholders. The data lifecycle occurs thus throughout different parties. Data is generated (recording and capturing data), collected (validating and storing it), analysed (processing and analysing the data to generate new insights and knowledge) and exploited (putting the outputs to use, whether internally or by trading them) by different partners. Multi stakeholder heterogenous data needs to be correlated to generate insights.
Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) are the key for overcoming these entry barriers for SMEs. A DIH is an orchestrator of the R&I actors in a specific geographical region that serves as a one-stop shop for SMEs to access services to pursue their digital transformation. DIHs can help in breaking the data silos in European industry, stimulating innovation where value is driven by data sharing, by providing technologies for digital trust, e.g. for compliance with the GDPR regulation. Providing access to public and publicly funded data, as well as providing companies with guidelines and technologies for sharing private sector data. REACH will leverage on the emerging networks of Big Data DIHs to foster the incubation process of datafuelled companies with the aim of bringing to market innovative data-driven products and services in data value chains, pursuing the following impact aims (IA):
● IA1. Contributing to the effort of unlocking the data-driven economy in several sectors such as retail, tourism, manufacturing, finance and insurance, media, healthcare, consumer support, transport, energy, public administration.
● IA2. Making Europe’s technology-/data-driven start-ups among the topmost world players in big data solutions and data-driven services.
● IA3. Developing new data value chains while safeguarding shared trust. We define in our context a “data value chain” as a multi-stakeholder data-driven business model where data is securely exchanged among parties, either persons or organisations, with the aim of creating value for all involved stakeholders. The data lifecycle occurs thus throughout different parties. Data is generated (recording and capturing data), collected (validating and storing it), analysed (processing and analysing the data to generate new insights and knowledge) and exploited (putting the outputs to use, whether internally or by trading them) by different partners. Multi stakeholder heterogenous data needs to be correlated to generate insights.
The REACH project carried out three incubation rounds during which the project supported 103 SMEs (OC1=32, OC2=32 and OC3=39). Once selected, the SMEs enter the EXPLORE phase of the incubation funnel. During this first stage, the SMEs benefited from a dozen webinars covering various technical and financial aspects, particularly concerning the attraction of investors. This phase, which lasted 2 months, ended with a datathon to evaluate the mock-ups and business plans to promote 10 SMEs by incubation round to the EXPERIMENT stage. During the second stage, the SMEs benefited from personalized support provided by coaches. Training sessions for the use of the technical means offered by the REACH consortium were organized remotely. This phase ended after 4 months with a Datathon to select 5 SMEs by incubation round for support in attracting investors during the 3 months EVOLVE stage.
- OC1: The REACH project transferred to the 32 SMEs of the first incubation round a total amount of €1,174,465, including €99,465 in the form of mission vouchers to participate in commercial events. The 5 SMEs that have reached EVOLVE stage are {CYC, CROPT, Greenlytics, HOPU, Tsenso} while CROPT was the winner of this first round.
- OC2: The REACH project transferred to the 32 SMEs of the second incubation round a total amount of €1,152,608.11 including €99,275.11 in the form of mission vouchers to participate in commercial events. The 5 SMEs that have reached EVOLVE stage are {Builtrix, CyStellar, Dative.io Sensinov, Urban Data Collective} while Urban Data Collective was the winner of this second round.
- OC3: The REACH project transferred to the 39 SMEs of the third incubation round a total amount of €1,210,639.09 including €105,879.09 in the form of mission vouchers to participate in commercial events. The 6 SMEs that have reached EVOLVE stage are {Amplify Analytix, CardGuard, Ideas Forward, OmegaLambdaTec, Urban Monkeys, Youbiquo} while CardGuard was the winner of this third round.
- OC1: The REACH project transferred to the 32 SMEs of the first incubation round a total amount of €1,174,465, including €99,465 in the form of mission vouchers to participate in commercial events. The 5 SMEs that have reached EVOLVE stage are {CYC, CROPT, Greenlytics, HOPU, Tsenso} while CROPT was the winner of this first round.
- OC2: The REACH project transferred to the 32 SMEs of the second incubation round a total amount of €1,152,608.11 including €99,275.11 in the form of mission vouchers to participate in commercial events. The 5 SMEs that have reached EVOLVE stage are {Builtrix, CyStellar, Dative.io Sensinov, Urban Data Collective} while Urban Data Collective was the winner of this second round.
- OC3: The REACH project transferred to the 39 SMEs of the third incubation round a total amount of €1,210,639.09 including €105,879.09 in the form of mission vouchers to participate in commercial events. The 6 SMEs that have reached EVOLVE stage are {Amplify Analytix, CardGuard, Ideas Forward, OmegaLambdaTec, Urban Monkeys, Youbiquo} while CardGuard was the winner of this third round.
The 30 SMEs having reached EXPERIMENT have improve their product by integrating new technical practices and attracted investment. At the end of the project, 37 companies supported by REACH through the three open-calls were able to attract 49.6 M€ of investment and deploy 40 new data value-chains created along the project.
- The REACH 4-stage incubation model is adopted by 4 DIHs
- 30 linked initiatives related to the Common European Data Space were initiated
- 40 new data value-chains created along the project
- 49.6 M€ investment raised by 37 SME supported by REACH project
- 24 data-fuelled products and services launched to market
- 29 fit-to-market MVPs are resulting from the three incubation rounds
- 58 economic sectors are covered by the 103 supported SMEs
- The REACH 4-stage incubation model is adopted by 4 DIHs
- 30 linked initiatives related to the Common European Data Space were initiated
- 40 new data value-chains created along the project
- 49.6 M€ investment raised by 37 SME supported by REACH project
- 24 data-fuelled products and services launched to market
- 29 fit-to-market MVPs are resulting from the three incubation rounds
- 58 economic sectors are covered by the 103 supported SMEs