ESSPO project partner and leader, Poznan Science and Technology Park together with Marshal Office of the Wielkopolska Region were involved in peer review meetings organised on 24 - 26 October in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Elzbieta Ksiazek and Monika Matusiak from Poznan Science and Technology Park (Poland) together with Magdalena Jaśkowiak, Magdalena Maciejewska and Karolina Atraszkiewicz-Ruta from the Marshal Office of the Wielkopolska Region interviewed representatives of the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency which is the managing authority of the National Innovation Fund (NIF), experts from the Ministry of Economy responsible for the design of the National S3 strategy for Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Industrial Association as intermediary to SMEs and representatives of Bulgarian innovative companies as beneficiaries of the NIF sessions. The Polish partners provided the hosts from ARC Fund with feedback and recommendations on the National Innovation Fund as one of the instruments to support SMEs and SMEs collaborations in the country. Focusing on the areas of smart specialization for Bulgaria, the Fund has big potential to complement Structural Funds schemes in a synergetic way. It also evolves from an instrument with national scope to more region-oriented support mechanism open both for start-ups and mature companies. Improvements are still necessary for better matching the Fund’s portfolio to companies needs and for identifying barriers in the innovation process that can be further tackled by the Fund’s interventions.
ESSPO is Interreg Europes Programme’s project, designed to deliver specific solutions which will improve support services portfolios for Small and Medium Enterprises sector in European regions. It focuses on the effectiveness of SME innovation support and answers the sector needs with comprehensive Action Plans capable of visibly impacting the regional economies.
See also: www.facebook.com/ESSPOproject
