ATLANT-KIS Good Practices

A SELECTION OF SUCCESSFUL GOOD PRACTICE IMPLEMENTATION - CASE STUDIES

The sharing, transfer and implementation of Good Practices between the partner regions was a

successful and important aspect of the Atlant-KIS project. This edition of the newsletter demonstrates

the practical application of GPs illustrated using case studies from partner regions.

The ATLANT-KIS Project

The ATLANT-KIS Project is a trans-national cooperation project co-financed by the Atlantic Area

Programme under Priority 1: Promotion of transnational entrepreneurial and innovation networks.

The project commenced in June 2009 and its goal was to contribute to the development of KIS

(Knowledge Intensive Services). This was achieved by promoting interaction and networking of KIS

providers across the Atlantic Area, contributing to the development of enabling policies, transferring

good practices between regions and bridging gaps between the demand and the supply of KIS services

in the 7 regions involved in the Consortium.

Good Practice Activity

The goal was to identify 60 good practices in ATLANT KIS partners regions and describe and analyse

them to facilitate the selection of best practices to Transfer In during activity 5; Transfer of Best

Practises and new models on the promotion of KIS. To this end AtlantKis partners selected 59 good

practices and completed a short description sheet, with a “minimum” level of information in order to

ease GP selection by other regions.

Metrics

The table below shows the Best Practice transfers between the regions.

Co

achin

g for

High

Gro

wth

-

DC

BC

Research

Vo

uch

er -

BM

W

Ideagen

- SERA

Inn

ovatio

n

Man

agemen

t

Trainin

g - BM

W

RED

E XIG

A -

Galicia

ICT C

luster -

Navarra

Navactiva -

Navarra

Ow

ner

Man

ager

Netw

ork - SER

A

Intl C

o-

op

eration

pro

jects

Mayo

Ideas

Lab - B

MW

PR

DT -

Bretagn

e

Navarra

Bretagne

DCBC

Galicia

Portugal

SERA

BMW

Implemented GP

CASE STUDY 1

Good Practice: PRDT

Partner Region - Transfer in: BMW

Partner Region – Transfer out: Bretagne

Roscommon Innovation House is a client-centred innovation support initiative for rural enterprise in

Co. Roscommon.

The Need...

An audit of the innovation system in the BMW Region, which included a survey of innovative enter-

prise, raised a number of key issues which required attention, including low levels of innovation and

problems accessing KIS.

Learning from the Good Practice of other partner regions including Bretagne and adapted to the local

region, the Roscommon Innovation House Concept was born, in collaboration with local partners.

The Concept...

The provision of innovation advice and support is regarded as an important step for improving the

innovation capacity and capability of micro-enterprises so that they can achieve their growth potential.

Roscommon Innovation House aims to address these issues in a pro-active manner using a partnership

approach across participating agencies, including WESTBIC, Roscommon LEADER Partnership and

Roscommon County Enterprise Board

The Purpose...

The objective is to provide the best possible innovation advice and support from experienced

professionals for new/existing entrepreneurs, in a seamless one-stop-shop format across all relevant

agencies, utilising existing resources where possible as well as providing access to new innovation

experts where necessary.

The Results...

The overall aim is to foster the development and growth of new and existing enterprises through

focused innovation support.

To date 30 enterprises have benefited from support through Roscommon Innovation House. Initially

10 entrepreneurs were supported through the pilot phase of the project in 2011. This has been

followed by a further 20 enterprises in a follow-on mainstreaming phase in 2012.

For further information, contact James Donlon, Tel 090 6625196, email jdonlon@westbic.ie

CASE STUDY 2

Good Practice: Innovation Management Training

Partner Region - Transfer in: Devon & Cornwall

Partner Region – Transfer out: BMW

CKT had identified an exciting opportunity to become a major supplier of key engineering systems to

the fast growing unmanned air vehicle (UAV) market. This opportunity was seen as an ideal growth

strategy building on their in depth knowledge and engineering expertise gained from providing

specialist exhaust and engine systems for major car and light aircraft brands such as Aston Martin,

Britten Norman aircraft and Cosworth engineering.

Tim Piper, Director, attended the Innovation Programme looking to discover new ways that CKT could

innovate and how they could learn new best practice techniques and approaches to improve their

market access and position the company for growth and possible future external investment.

Since attending the Innovation and Growth Programme CKT have developed their market plans,

secured a new client, are in talks with a potential private investor and are now pursuing

a major international contract.

Tim said “the event provided me with access to new ways of thinking and practical tools and tech-

niques that are usable on a daily basis. The networking with other like-minded people facing similar

problems and challenges was extremely useful and has led to us now undertaking business with

another company who attended the course providing them with a quality engineering solution for

their hydro power business. Overall I found the course to be an extremely beneficial experience that I

would highly recommend for business leaders looking to inject new growth into their businesses.”

For more information about CKT visit www.cktengineering.com

For more information contact Ben Rhodes on +44 (0)1752 251188 or email ben.rhodes@dcbc.co.uk

CASE STUDY 3

Good Practice: NAVACTIVA

Partner Region - Transfer in: BMW Ireland

Partner Region – Transfer out: Navarra

MetricIreland will provide a single point of contact for the Medical Technology Industry to gain access

to the world class physical and intellectual capacity of five of Ireland’s higher educational institutes.

This represents a response to the findings of the report produced by the BMW Regional Assembly in

May 2011 ‘An Audit of Innovation System in the BWM Region: An Evaluation of a Knowledge Economy’

which was funded through the ATLANTKIS project.

MetricIreland represents a new consortium, involving five founding HEI members, Athlone Institute of

Technology (AIT), Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Institute of Technology, Sligo (ITS),

National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) and University of Limerick (UL) and two Associate

Members, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and the Global Centre for Medical

Innovations (GCMI), both based in Atlanta, Georgia along with the BMW Regional Assembly as

facilitators of the initiative.

MetricIreland mission is to provide rapid and effective access to the physical capacity and capabilities

within the Consortium, the Associate Membership and the broader HEI sector for enterprises and

entrepreneurs, in a professional, focused and industry responsive manner. The Consortium will enable

the business community in Ireland and internationally to engage in seamless multi-institutional

research and development, industry support services, as well as education and training. MetricIreland

services will be crafted and tailored to meet the specific challenges of industry, to design, develop,

manufacture, and market new Medical Technologies, products and services, and to enhance existing

products and services.

More details is available at www.metricireland.com