This proposal describes the planned delivery of the European Innovation Council key account management (KAM) activities and enhancement of innovation management capacity services (EIMC) in Switzerland in 2019. KAM and EIMC activities will be based on the existing support activities delivered in 2017 and 2018, and on the experience that the Swiss EEN advisors have built during these two years. The activities, and particularly the EIMC, will be more integrated into existing policy initiatives and delivered with a better programmatic approach. With respect to 2017, the KAM activities will be extended to Swiss SMEs winners or part of consortia winners of Fast Track to Innovation and to FET-Open projects, now integrated within the European Innovation Council. A pilot KAM has already started with a Lausanne-based company involved in a FET-Open successful project and is ongoing.

The SME Instrument of Horizon 2020 can be considered as an important complement to innovation promotion available in Switzerland. Despite its intense competitive nature, it will rapidly become an attractive source of support for highly innovative and fast growing Swiss SMEs, in particular for start-ups. Also, before long , Swiss SMEs will probably be successful in securing funding and support. Thus, Switzerland plans to offer competent support to those SMEs that fit the criteria for the SME Instrument and are willing to meet the challenge. In 2017-20018, the Swiss EEN consortium will provide Key Account Management (KAM) service to each SME Instrument beneficiaries (about 40 packages in 17-18). It will also support selected companies with Enhancing the Innovation Management Capacity (EIMC) service packages (about 35 packages in 17-18). the years 17-18 will be a pilot phase for te EIMC approach. Firstly, different tools and methodology will be assessed. A concept will determine what the precise needs of Swiss SMEs are in this context, what criteria should be used to select candidates and how the service process should be conducted. At the end of 2018, a careful evaluation of the process will be carried out. KAM and EIMC services will be offered by well trained and highly experienced EEN advisors presently located at Euresearch and Switzerland Global Enterprise. At present, these two institutions are members of the EEN consortium and cover, with their specific fields of activities, the entire innovation chain. They will work closely with innovation experts in the Swiss regions (Regional Innovation Systems) and of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (also member of the EEN consortium). This collaboration will insure that SME Instrument beneficiaries have preferred access to other innovation promotion instruments and expertise available in Switzerland or at the international level.

The National Contact Points perform valuable services in guiding and supporting national applicants in preparing proposals for Horizon 2020 funding. We expect that through an enhanced transnational cooperation and networking between National Contact Points for research infrastructures, a higher quality of their consulting services and thus of proposals and projects can be achieved. Therefore, the specific objective of RICH (Research Infrastructures COnsortium for Horizon 2020) is to facilitate trans-national co-operation between NCPs for research infrastructures with a view to identifying and sharing good practices and raising the general standard of support to programme applicants, taking into account the diversity of actors that make up the constituency of the Research Infrastructures Part. By involving 11 formally nominated National Contact Points RICH will be able to will extensively involve the NCPs that have decided to become “associated partner” also thanks to the setting up of a liaison office. Concretely, activities of RICH towards this goal include, amongst others, multi-level trainings and tripling schemes, experts seminars, simposia and wide promotion of Transnational Access and Service (TAS) as well as a wide range of other communication and dissemination tools and platforms. RICH work programme is designed to achieve an improved and professionalised NCP service across Europe, thereby helping simplify access to Horizon 2020 calls, lowering the entry barriers for newcomers, and raising the average quality of proposals submitted.