Overall objective of this proposed project is to contribute to smart growth in the European Union, by supporting and developing the capability of European SMEs to turn their investments in research, development and innovation into growth and commercial success. Specifically, the project will contribute to identify and remove bottlenecks and weaknesses in the innovation capacities of SMEs hindering their current growth opportunities, and to enhance the SME’s innovation management capacities for more effectiveness and efficiency in future innovation projects. This will be achieved by the delivery of dedicated services packages to two different target groups: 1) SMEs in Bavaria that are beneficiaries of the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot or any potential successor programme under Horizon Europe, receiving “Key Account Management” (KAM) services. 2) Other internationally oriented SMEs in Bavaria with strong ambitions in innovation and growth, receiving “Enhancing Innovation Management Capacity” (EIMC) services. For implementation, KAM case tracker and need analysis will be used for delivering KAM services, and IMP³rove or Innovation Health Check methodology will be used for delivering EIMC services. For both services, the underlying understanding of Innovation Management System follows the specifications provided by the European Committee for Standardisation in CEN/TS 16555-1, and comprises a company’s complete innovation process from idea generation to generation of profit. It includes both internal enabling factors like leadership, management skills, financial situation, market knowledge etc, as well as practices and skills for external cooperation with third parties like suppliers, R&D partners, potential clients, and investors.

SCALE will enable and facilitate the mass deployment of electric vehicles and the accompanying smart charging infrastructure. To do so, SCALE will systematically assess customer expectations, identifying EV-users’ preferences, existing obstacles and potential incentives to charge smartly. By this, SCALE ensures co-creation and -optimisation, preparing for an open smart charging & V2X eco-system that equally benefits users, cities & regions, businesses, and society at large. SCALE brings together leading existing research & innovation initiatives and smart charging demonstration testbeds from across Europe forming a unique knowledge & collaboration platform. The consortium builds upon existing technologies, standards, and protocols as much as possible and focuses on research and developments of the missing and/or incomplete elements and links. The 29 project partners and associated organisations have been carefully selected and have all the necessary scientific, practical, and technical expertise to develop, test & validate and exploit smart charging & V2X solutions. Partners cover the entire value chain and comprise of leading European OEMs, DSO/ TSOs, CPOs, e-mobility service providers, public authorities, research & knowledge partners, EV user associations and European networks & multipliers. Multiple SCALE consortium partners are directly involved in EC’s European Alternative Fuels Observatory & other important European e-mobility initiatives (STF, Clean Bus Europe). SCALE creates a critical mass to develop the technological, regulatory, organisational and legal readiness that is needed for a mass-market. SCALE will initiate a Joint European Procurement for V2X chargers based on open standards, run by 5 European cities. The Open V2X Alliance ensures SCALE’s legacy during and after the project’s lifetime.

GreenOffshoreTech aims to support innovation in SMEs and fostering the development of the emerging Blue Economy industries by enabling the emergence of new cross-sectorial and cross-border value chains based on shared challenges and the deployment of key enabling technologies. This will result from the translation of advanced technologies among 8 sectors with strong synergies: offshore wind and other marine renewable energies, offshore and marine aquaculture, offshore oil & gas and waterborne transport, advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and environmental technologies. GreenOffshoreTech will facilitate the creation of new products, processes or services with the ambition to make offshore production and transport greener, cleaner and modern towards a resource-efficient economy and EUs Green Deal. GreenOffshoreTech’s consortium will provide a structured framework to implement this innovation action and undertake two kind of activities to support innovation to SMEs directly: 1) Direct financial support to SMEs through a competitive Call of Proposal for innovation projects in relevant topics; and 2) A range of dedicated and tailored Business Support Services to the winner SMEs. In addition, GreenOffshoreTech's consortium will establish an open space, with a mixture of virtual and physical tools, to connect and facilitate collaboration of clusters and SMEs across sectors, regions and countries during and beyond the project. GreenOffshoreTech will support at least 82 SMEs and 82 SMEs innovation projects targeting to develop new innovative products, processes or services. GreenOffshoreTech is a cluster-facilitated project, bringing together 9 of Europe’s leading clusters and SME intermediaries from 15 regions and 7 countries: Norway, Portugal, Latvia, Poland, Iceland, UK (Scotland), Germany. In addition, 1 RTD and 2 SMEs as inter-cluster experts to support the project implementation. The GreenOffshoreTech is highly linked to Regional Smart Specialization Strategies and S3 partnerships.

Overall objective of this proposed project is to contribute to smart growth in the European Union by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of investments in research, development and innovation (both private or public), and by contributing to a better and more efficient connection of actors along the value chain. Specifically, this proposal will contribute to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation projects in SMEs in the region of Bavaria. This will be achieved by the delivery of well-defined services packages to the SMEs, targeting specifically the enhancement of their innovation management capacity and the removal of potential innovation gaps and bottlenecks. Target groups of the service packages will be 1. SME beneficiaries in Bavaria participating in Phase 1 and/or Phase 2 of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument (“Key Account Management”) 2. Other internationally oriented SMEs in Bavaria with strong ambitions in innovation and growth (“Enhancing SME Innovation Management Capacity”) ‘Innovation management’, as addressed by this project comprises a company’s complete innovation process from idea generation to innovation result. It includes internal enabling factors like leadership, management skills, financial situation, market knowledge etc, as well as external cooperation with third parties like suppliers, R&D partners, potential clients, and investors. This understanding of innovation management follows the specifications of innovation management systems provided by the European Committee for Standardisation in CEN/TS 16555-1.

The P2P Digital consortium consists of four innovation support organisations from Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, who recognise the need for mutual learning on methods and systems to support digitalisation of SME. The four organisations will utilise the twinning+ method, running a series of workshops to learn from each others' experiences of providing innovation and digitalisation support to companies, including direct support to companies in the ICT sectors, as well as manufacturing companies which need to adopt digital technologies in order to remain competitive. The four organisations are from leading, innovative regions of Europe, and understand the need to provide relevant support to high-growth potential SME. The work will result in a Design Options Paper (DOP), which will be used as the template for learning within the consortium, as well as a conduit for further communication to other business and innovation support organisations. The P2P Digital team has in place, well-established communication platforms and can ensure a far wider dissemination that the consortium alone.