In the wake of the last learning camp, the main issue of the Bretagne's stakeholder meeting was: how to improve our support to innovative companies to apply for H2020 collaborative projects?
The today’s issue was: how to improve our support to innovative companies to apply for H2020 collaborative projects?
During the last learning camp, Marina Garcia-Martinez from the Spanish government explained their strategy to improve the number of companies involved in European projects. One of the factors of spanish success was the integrated network informing and training companies to apply for.
A network gathering all the institutions helping companies and laboratories to participate in the European projects is a good way to apply in Bretagne in order:
- To mutualize our efforts (universities, clusters, CCI, economic agency)
- To forge links between academics and SMEs
- To share information about call of projects, events, B2B meetings
- To have continuus training about EU project monitoring
The role of Pole of Competitiveness has to be reinforced to have a better access to technological companies and collaborative projects. The technopole is in charge of helping innovative companies to apply for European tools.
The ability to have a real-time observatory about the EU project regional dynamic is a key point. BDI is in charge of collecting data from companies, while the Federation of Universities collect data from academics. The purpose of this observatory is to have a better S3 strategy monitoring. The success rate being low, this observatory would be a relevant way of following where we have to improve ourselves. Technopoles and Pole of Competitiveness could bring their own datas to the common platform.
A mutualized platform exists for Academics ; around 115 projects proposed and 90 validated. Regarding the companies support, the value-chain has to be clarified among the institutions (technopoles, poles, economic agency, etc.):
- Technopoles and clusters are in charge of helping companies to have access to European funds (H2020 projects, Eurostars, Instruments PME, Cascade, etc.) in each technopole.
- Pole are responsible for drawing collaborative projects with the supports of the technopole as first level advisor.
All the institutions are used to looking for european potential partners. All the chanels can be used. The best approach could be to build couple of institutions to support companies. The technopoles tag companies to big laboratories used to win importan calls of project, such IFREMER, which have its seat in Bretagne. It is more complicated with centers of research whom the main seat is located in Paris. This kind of shared strategy is however very efficient to win calls of projects.
Starting with small european tools is the best way to sensibilize companies with the methodology of monitoring projects, before let them apply for H2020 collaborative projects.
One of the INKREASE Action Plan task will be to launch a network with mutualized tools and common training of officers, with a lobbying and information exchange aspects. The network will select a pool of companies from each S3 sectors in Bretagne to support firstly. Mapping all the european networks would be more efficient at a national level.
