Capitalising the full potential of on-line collaboration for SME

innovation support

H2020-INNOSUP-2015-2

Context and Objectives

Info-sessionBrussels, 26/01/15

Business partnering is…

Existing tools • Challenge: Identifying suitable partners for innovation

activities • In the real world• (a) the provision of networking space for personal meetings

('clusters') either as one-off meeting (‘brokerage events’) combined with

• (b) the definition of ‘cooperation profiles’ (‘technology offers’, ‘partner search profile’ etc.) that are distributed through networks of intermediaries

Physical meetings are well appreciated by SMEs – services are well targeted – but outreach is limited

Existing tools (platforms)

• Other commercial offers like ‘linked in’ or various crowdsourcing platforms have a very wide outreach but do not regarding themselves as innovation platforms for SMEs

• The British ‘_connect’ platform: a protected space for companies to display their competences, interest and skills, to reach out to a large number of peers, to make them personal contacts etc.

Hypothesis: Only a small number of enterprises using such open collaboration platforms have already the skills to fully benefit from the opportunities offered

Is the “brokerage function” missing?

• Many SMEs establish contacts on the platform – which could eventually eliminate the ‘brokerage function’ that is so

far provided by many intermediaries – but they unable to maintain the group of contacts or to draw on their skills in the preparation of innovation projects

• In that respect they could benefit from a new generation of support services that assist to create value with the group of contacts (“assistance to online collaboration for innovation”) 

Call scope: • To address the described gaps by tackling one or more of the

following aspects:

• How would such services look like?Develop and test new service designs for ‘assistance to online collaboration for innovation’ for SMEs in diverse sectors

• Could services reach entrepreneurs / SMEs not yet benefitting from (traditional) support?Make such new services accessible for enterprises in sectors that are typically not yet benefitting from innovation support

• Which new qualifications / skills do those offering the new services require? Develop and test a qualification profile, curriculum or training courses for staff currently providing brokerage services

Objective • Development of a ‘new service offering'

(provided by humans not by machines) that assist SMEs to make better use of the big online communities that already exist (linkedin, skipso, _connect, virtual clusters, discussion forums etc….).

[Such a service would / could be formulated as additional module / function of an existing platform. It would even be very advisable to have the new service connected to / integrated in an existing platform to allow for testing.]

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Impact

Horizon2020 part "Innovation in SME" shall enhance the innovation support to SMEs for example by 'policy learning' among agencies. It is not a support to the innovation projects of SME (like the SME instrument).

Impact is expected inter alia on:"efficiency of innovation support services – for example those of the EEN""Qualification profile and training material [for the staff in agencies] published under a creative commons license"

Services to be designed

• Service designs and qualification profiles shall be formulated independently from a particular collaboration or social media platform

• Tests of services shall be undertaken on platforms that are open and bring together already a critical mass of enterprises and innovation stakeholders

• Establishing such platforms will not be supported

Dos

• What could be proposed: A new combination of 'real world services' & 'on-line services' and / or innovation in one or both of them.

• These services should be tested during the project and analysed with respect to the 'required skills of those providing this new service‘

• The 'tool' should be understood a very generic term describing the 'service', its supporting software and the people.

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Don’ts

• No new platform to be set up, which would then have to start to look for SME subscribing

• Not just an 'international extension' on an existing platform without any innovation in the services the platform is describing

• Thank you for your attention

• Sven Schade• European Commission, DG Grow/Unit F.2     •