
RESULTS
The workshop took place in Brussels on February 19, 2109. It brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including supported SMEs and their Innovation Associates, Programme Committee members, representatives of Commission Services, representatives of policy initiatives on national and regional level, representatives of National Contact Points, EEN partners and EU-level associations related to SME and innovation.
A workshop summary report with the main findings from the group discussions is available under “Download Documents” in the top menu of this page.
The presentations from the workshop are displayed below and a zip-file with all of them is also available under “Download Documents”.

The lack of access to skills and to latest knowledge, as well as the incapacity to manage the innovation processes effectively, have been identified as major barriers for innovation in SMEs. Individual SMEs are at a disadvantage to recruit specialised knowledge as they often lack Europe-wide networks and in contrast to larger enterprises, do not have established brands. The Horizon 2020 pilot action “European SME Innovation Associate” is an innovation capacity building initiative which aims to address these issues. The pilot action supports visionary SMEs and start-ups to recruit post-doctoral research associates from other countries to jointly develop creative business ideas into concrete innovations.
The main objectives of the workshop are to:
- Display the results of the EU pilot initiative – examples of successful projects
- Exhibit comparable policy initiatives on regional/national and EU level
- Present preliminary findings and recommendations from the evaluation of the pilot action
- Discuss the best means to implement the action in the future with key stakeholders, bearing in mind other related policy initiatives
The Workshop is organised in the context of a study aiming to provide the European Union with an assessment of the experimental H2020 pilot action. The study is conducted by a consortium consisting of CARSA, Ramboll, LE Europe, DIW Econ and Ecorys. Further details are available in the support letter provided by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME).


AGENDA
19th of February, 2019
09:00 – 16:30 CET
-
09:00 - 09:30
Registration and welcome coffee
-
09:30 - 09:35
Welcome
Ieva Savickaite
CARSA -
09:35 - 10:00
Introduction
Giacomo Mattino,
Head of Unit, Enterprise Europe Network and Internationalisation of SMEs
European Commission, DG GROW
Natalia Martínez Páramo
Head of Unit, COSME
European Commission, EASME -
10:00 - 10:15
Innovation Associate Programme
Idaira Robayna Alfonso
EASME project adviser and call coordinator INNOSUP-2-2019
European Commission, EASME -
10:15 - 10:30
Interim findings and preliminary recommendations of the accompanying study
Thorsten Lübbers
Ramboll -
10:30 - 10:45
Developing innovation management skills
for and in SMEs: Practical experience in
implementing the Innovation Associate
training programEva Diedrichs
IMP3rove - European Innovation Management Academy -
10:45 - 11:00
COFFEE BREAK
-
11:00 - 12:00
Successful projects from the first call of the SME Innovation Associate pilot action
Three examples of successful projects will be presented.
Elio Brunetti - Intraview project
Intrapore GmbH, Germany
Sander Ouburg and Anne Ammerdorffer - Proze project
TubaScan Ltd, The Netherlands
Sandro Calmanti and Sara Dal Gesso - CaseXtreme project
Amigo Srl, Italy -
12:00 - 13:00
Presentations of comparable schemes
National level schemes:
Philipp Aiginger
Program manager of Impact Innovation Program, FFG (Die Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft).
Dieter Goossens | Benedicte de Buck
Head of the team | Project advisor of SME-growth Subsidy, VLAIO (Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship)EU level scheme:
Martin Mühleck
Policy Officer, Unit C2, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions,
European Commission, DG EAC -
13:00 - 14:00
LUNCH BREAK
-
14:00 - 14:15
Introduction to the group sessions
Pär Weström
CARSA
MORNING PLENARY SESSION
-
14:15 - 15:15
Group discussions
Group 1 - Moderator: Pär Weström, CARSA
Group 2 - Moderator: Thorsten Lübbers, Ramboll
Group 3 - Moderator: Patrice Muller, LE Europe
Group 4 - Moderator: Anselm Mattes, DIW Econ
Group 5 - Moderator: Ricardas Juskevicius, Ecorys
-
15:15 - 15:40
COFFEE BREAK
AFTERNOON PARALLEL GROUP SESSIONS
-
15:40 - 16:10
Reporting of the group sessions
Group representative or Group moderator
-
16:10 - 16:30
Closing remarks
Daniel Gassman
Head of sector A1.2 Business services, European Commission, EASME
Janos Schmied
COSME, Unit 2, Programme Officer, European Commission, DG GROW
CLOSING PLENARY SESSION
END OF WORKSHOP

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