HORIZON 2020 – WORK PROGRAMME 2014-2015
Part III – Innovation in SME
A – Calls for proposals
Call title: Building a performing ecosystem for SME innovation support
[H2020-YYYY-CALL IDENTIFIER]
Both in the Europe and the US the net increase in jobs the economy can be attributed to small, innovative companies. So, SMEs’ innovation activities are in public interest and in order to overcome market failures specific to SME the public supports SME innovation with grants, subsidised loans and services. However SMEs receiving innovation support often remain dissatisfied with the services they receive; while at the same time the public expects a higher return from the support provided to SME innovation activities. While major new drivers, like online collaboration or reverse innovation, for SME innovation are hardly recognised by the public support provided, established support services assist mainly clearly defined technical projects within single enterprises. Public support pays much less attention to the creation of favourable ecosystem for SME innovation in which public enterprises, direct and indirect customers, end-users, suppliers and enterprises with complementary skills are encouraged to collaborate for radical innovation that may not yet be described and formulated as project.
The topics below, which are addressed by calls for proposals and tenders, are elements of a broader action to develop the ecosystem of innovation support to SMEs in Europe. Where appropriate a highly specialised support service may be established at European level to complement existing national and regional services. Generally the actions are designed to provide opportunities to member states and regions to enhance their services through collaboration, peer-learning and uptake of new approaches. The Enterprise Europe Network present in all European regions and co-financed by them and the Member States is expected to play an important role for catalysing such development processes.
1 - "Cluster animated projects for new industrial value chains"Specific challenge:
To boost Europe's industrial competitiveness and to create growth and jobs, SMEs must be provided with better support to fully exploit their innovation potential in an international business environment with increasingly interlinked industrial value chains. While SMEs are key source of innovation thanks to their ability to quickly and efficiently bringing new ideas to the market, many of them face size-related problems for accessing crucial competences and lack market power and necessary resources to implement radically different business solutions on a large scale.
SMEs thus need help to generate, take up and better capitalise on all forms of knowledge, creativity, craftsmanship and innovation – including for the application of existing cross-cutting or emerging technologies, ICT, eco innovation, new business models, service innovation and design. In order to increase the levels of innovation in SMEs, collaborations across borders and cutting across different sectors and value chains should therefore be encouraged. The aim is to use the transformative power of innovation in SMEs to shape new cross-sectoral industrial value chains that can develop emerging industries and boost the reindustrialisation of Europe through the development of internationally competitive goods and services. These value chains would integrate various types of SMEs and encourage eco-innovative solutions and green entrepreneurship, as well as actively support the implementation of resource efficiency of their enterprises and stimulate overall progress towards a resource-efficient, circular economy.
Scope:
New innovation activities of SMEs shall be promoted through facilitating cross-border and cross-sectoral collaboration and entrepreneurship across different regions and value chains. As SMEs usually have limited access and power to manage and change these value chains, cluster organisations and other intermediary organisations representing groups of SMEs shall be invited to act as catalysts of change and systems integrators to animate these innovation activities with SMEs having mutually reinforcing competences, in view of creating new industrial value chains that foster the development of emerging industries in Europe. In this respect, a systemic approach needs to be followed to build linkages between different sectors and to bundle resources that combine different tools and instruments.
To this end, the proposals shall foresee that the SME intermediaries set up collaboration and networking activities for SMEs and create a favourable "open space" for cross-sectoral fertilisation and value chain innovation to take place. The objective for each proposal should be, first, to identify and validate ideas for innovation projects driven by SMEs from different sectors and countries through this collaboration space. This shall bring together SMEs, knowledge institutions and business support organisations from different sectors to search for and explore radically new, business solutions and to facilitate cooperation beyond sectoral silos and existing value chains. This may include the creation of fora or the reinforcement of existing regional platforms, roundtables, workshops, matchmaking events, peer reviews, expert assistance, business panels, creativity competitions and similar methods These innovation projects shall not merely aim to support product or service innovation in isolation but to promote value chain innovation that combines competences from different sectors and value chains to spark innovation in related group of SMEs.
Each proposal shall then, secondly, foresee to channel different targeted entrepreneurial and innovation support measures directly to SMEs for the further support for the development, integration and demonstration of the resulting innovation projects in an integrated manner, e.g. by combining support for matchmaking, mentoring, coaching, innovation and technical assistance voucher schemes, intellectual property and innovation management support, knowledge transfer and technology integration, training and mobility activities, supporting the innovative use of ICT and e-skills in SMEs, service incubation or SME internationalisation as well as assisting enterprises to connect with research and innovation partners across different Member States or associated countries.
Expected impact:
This action will contribute to support industrial leadership in Europe by shaping new globally competitive value chains in strategic areas that integrate innovative solutions in SMES along and across existing value chains. Each proposal shall help to identify and validate a minimum of 25 ideas for concrete innovation projects driven by SMEs from different sectors and countries through the set-up of an open collaboration space, e.g. by peer reviews, panels and similar methods. Through these 25 value chains innovation projects, each proposal is expected to reach out and support overall at least125 enterprises in their innovation activities, of which at least 100 shall be SMEs. At least 75% of the total proposed budget shall thus be allocated to support innovation in SMEs directly.
Thereby, this action promises a high impact due to its integrated approach that combines different support tools and that makes use of cluster organisations and other SME intermediaries to reach out and focus upon groups of SMEs related to dynamic growth areas, rather than supporting isolated projects or SMEs. The coordinated approach in supporting innovation in SMEs is geared towards the combination and creation of new industrial value chains that have the potential to accelerate the development of emerging industries in Europe, which will boost industrial competitiveness and underpin future economic growth and jobs, and to stimulate progress towards a resource-efficient, circular economy.
The activities will further complement support for innovation in SMEs, which may be provided by national or regional authorities under the Cohesion funds. They will contribute in particular to smart specialisation strategies by capitalising upon regional competences for the development of new industrial value chains and emerging industries. Synergies with Cohesion Policy funds that may further support large-scale demonstration projects will also be actively encouraged, notably through the engaged SME intermediaries.
Form of funding: Collaborative Project (70%) – Two stage
The conditions related to this topic are provided along with the general conditions for this call .[Link to end of the description of the call]
2 – European IPR helpdesk
Specific Challenge:
Small firms and research organisations, face a challenge to adequately manage, diffuse and valorise Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) due to limited knowledge and resources. These challenges can be dealt with at regional and national level by general purpose research and business support. However, cross-border commercial or research activities may require a pan-European approach.
The European IPR Helpdesk should provide support in the management, diffusion and/or valorisation of technologies and other intellectual assets and in bringing technologies to the market. The activities may take the form of: 1. initial advice 2. improving capacity 3. running a user friendly source of information in their efforts to adapt, develop or use new technologies.
The actions of the European IPR helpdesk should be co-ordinated with those of other IPR helpdesks and IPR support measures.
The services offered by this helpdesk should follow closely the recommendations stemming from a Commission document prepared as a follow-up of the external evaluation of the Helpdesk. These documents will be published latest in December 2013 (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/industrial-competitiveness/industrial-policy/intellectual-property-rights/index_en.htm).
The helpdesk should use non-technical language and should follow the target group’s demand for initial IPR services as established e.g. through analysis of helpline requests, or feedback from trainings and from co-operating business services organizations.
Scope:
The target group would include EU small firms or research organisations that create intangible assets, but do not have the resources to manage IP efficiently. The actions of the helpdesk may include: 1. initial IPR advice, 2. on the spot trainings and webinars tailored to the target group’s needs, 3. User-friendly website and 4. promotion of the helpdesk to the target group.
To reach the target group the helpdesk should develop relationships with various business, innovation or research support organisations.
All intellectual property rights and other intellectual assets’ protection means should be taken into account.
All intellectual property rights pertinent to the materials, trainings, website and other actions developed by the helpdesk will be owned by the European Commission and will be shared with other EC funded IPR support measures.
Depending on the demand of the target group the activities may be provided in the most demanded EU languages. English versions are essential.
Expected impact:
Improve knowledge and capacity of the target group to access, diffuse and use IPR more efficiently. Help intermediaries and other relevant organisations to provide initial guidance to the target group. Update and complement the set of self-help materials and guides for the target group on IPR in commercial, technology transfer and/or research cross-border activities. This would require co-ordination with other IPR support funded by the European Commission. The activities of the current helpdesk (www.iprhelpdesk.eu) may serve as a source of inspiration.
It is expected that the future helpdesk builds on top of previous initiatives and reaches better the target group, both in quantity and quality. The helpdesk should be ready to adjust the quantity of advice, training, materials and promotion to the demand and to better reach the target group. In particular, the development should follow the recommendations of the document related to the evaluation of the helpdesk to be published by end 2013.
Form of funding:
Coordination and Support Action – Single stage [Pending the recommendations of an evaluation of the current IPR helpdesk the action might be implemented by a call for tender]
Duration: 48months
The conditions related to this topic are provided along with the general conditions for this call. [Link to end of the description of the call]
3 – IPorta 2 - Increasing the quality of IP advisory services to SMEs
Specific challenge:
Managing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is a difficult task, especially for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SME) or individual inventors. Such enterprises or individuals frequently do not have the knowledge or human resources to effectively use and manage IPR. Such entities would be able to better use their intellectual capital if: 1. they had more knowledge and guidance on how to better use professional legal consultants; 2. the professional consultants were better prepared to deal with SME specific challenges 3. cross-border information about IPR issues would be easily available on the internet and 4. the National Intellectual Property Offices (NIPOs) would provide better IPR services to SMEs.
The applicant needs to provide a mechanism to link and assist NIPOs to design and provide better services to SMEs. To reach the broadest target group the applicants should conceive a mechanism to involve as many National IP offices as possible from the eligible ones (EU Member States and Horizon2020 participating countries) and at least 25 of them. The involvement may consist of including the NIPOs in the consortium as beneficiaries or by re-granting of proportionate parts of the grant to NIPOs. Other forms of effective and measureable involvement of NIPOs are possible.
As appropriate, the activities should be provided jointly with business support service providers, without duplicating their current activities. This measure should also contribute to improve and expand their intellectual asset services in conjunctions with NIPOs.
Scope:
The activities should include the organisation of exchange of experience between National IP Offices on how to help SMEs or individual inventors and how to offer services to this target group. The initial pilot implementation of new services by NIPOs can be included as well as the update of the analysis of current SME needs for IPR support services.
The focus of the service should be on individual inventors and SMEs that are start-ups, innovators, invest in quality or are expanding internationally (within or outside of the EU). The support developed and provided should be in a business minded language and be provided in a user-friendly way. All intellectual property rights and other intellectual assets protection means should be covered by the services.
The activities should not duplicate the services provided by the business services providers (e.g. the Enterprise Europe Network, private consultancy) and the different IPR Helpdesks.
The future beneficiary consortium should take care of the joint website www.innovaccess.eu
All intellectual property rights to the materials created should be granted free of charge to the commission and the National IP Offices for further use, re-use and unrestricted modifications. The project leader will co-operate and exchange materials with other DG Enterprise and Industry IPR projects: IPR helpdesks and the transatlantic portal.
Expected impact:
Upgraded or new services and trainings for the target group will be provided by the national IP offices to be implemented either by the NIPOs themselves or by the business support providers (effective use should be measured – at least 1 action per year per country). Upgraded or new services and trainings should be provided according to the needs of local SMEs. Where needed professional legal attorneys should be trained to tailor their advice and to build IPR strategies matching the needs and resources of SMEs. The common website (innovaccess) should be maintained, kept up to date (max. 1 month delay, preferably real time between a national office website and the common one) and developed along the needs of SMEs.