On the 15th and 16th January 2019, the kick-off meeting of the Future Ecom project took place at Coventry, UK, hosted by the coordinator – Coventry University Enterprises Ltd. The Future Ecom consortium is composed of nine partners from eight different EU regions in the UK, Germany, Portugal, Finland, Italy, Denmark, Greece and Lithuania.
During the first day the meeting started with a welcome message by the coordinator together with a presentation of the Future Ecom project goals. All partners followed with their introductory presentations including partners’ roles and expectations. The meeting continued with discussions about the Future Ecom six work packages (WP) and links between the thematic workshops. Finally administrative issues including management and financial guidelines were presented to the partners.
The second day introduced the first theme of the project, WP1: Innovation and product/service development. Partners were presented UK national and regional initiatives supporting small and medium enterprises (SME), including e-commerce, to innovate. These presentations were followed by a disruptive innovation session utilising LEGO methodologies. The partners were asked to reflect on current regional practices and to build models of their ideal regional support. All partners shared their experiences and knowledge for 2 days and left the UK ready to take on the challenges ahead, kicking-off the Future Ecom activities in their respective regions.
