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Create an innovation Strategy for your Small Business! Avail of 8 Free hours of One-to-One Coaching in Innovation Management

ACRONYM: 2inno.eu

PROGRAMM: LLL – TOI -  Transfer of Innovation 2013

PROJECT DURATION: 01.10.2013 – 30.09.2015

PROJECT IDEA:
 

"Innovation" is one of the current key issues on European level as well as in all partner countries. According to the aims of Lisbon strategy from 2000 EU is still losing ground on the United States and Japan in the field of innovation and R&D. Therefore, companies need to be encouraged to develop systemic approaches, new skills and competencies linked to the process of innovation, contributing to greater competitiveness, entrepreneurship and new employment possibilities. In 2007 the European Commission published its ideas on ‘Competitive European Regions through Research and Innovation’ and called on Member States and regions to make more effective use of the available funding instruments. In June 2010, the EU Heads of State and government endorsed the Europe 2020 strategy that aims to get the European economy back on track. At the heart of Europe 2020 is the conviction that we need R&D and innovation to create smart, sustainable growth and get Europe out of the current economic crisis.

Innovation is a systemic process for which the interactions between different innovation players (innovators, enterprises, education and training institutes, etc.) are vital. The EU therefore fosters these interactions, within regions and clusters, and their opening up. The European Commission provides support for innovation through a series of initiatives and actions aimed at better innovation support services for SMEs, notably start-ups, by developing and testing new forms of business support and facilitating transnational cooperation with a view to mobilizing more resources for the creation of a European Innovation Space. E.g. Europe INNOVA is an initiative which aspires to become the laboratory for the development and testing of new tools and instruments in support of innovation with the view to help innovative enterprises innovate faster and better. Another important service is offered by the Enterprise Europe Network, which comprises about 600 partners in 44 countries employing around 4 000 experienced staff helping to increase the competitiveness of EU businesses.

Due to its widespread effect, innovation is an important topic in the study of economics, business, entrepreneurship, design, technology, sociology, and engineering. In our society, innovation aids in comfort, convenience, and efficiency in everyday life. There is a huge amount of tools, methods and theoretical material available on the theme Innovation (Management). And: all this knowledge is easily accessible. But why is it – especially for small businesses – so difficult to put "innovation" into practice? We assume that there is a dangerous gap between the knowledge you need and the concrete action to "Do" innovation.  The main aim of our project is to fill this gap and to help owners of SME to find their own "culture of innovation". The way we suggest in the 2inno.eu project is the DUI-mode: "learning by doing, using and interacting mode". Many scholars claim that there is a great bias towards the "science and technology mode" (S&T-mode), while the "learning by doing, using and interacting mode" (DUI-mode) is widely ignored. For an example, that means you can have the better high tech or software, but there are also crucial learning tasks important for innovation. But these measurements and research are rarely done. This is the point of departure for our 2inno.eu project – Do Innovation now!

METHODOLOGY - The aim of 2inno.eu is to work with the owners of SMEs/MEs on a tailored innovation strategy/ innovation culture; the process follows three criteria:

1. Learning by doing: while implementing the innovation strategy the owners learn more about theoretical background, tools and methods.
2. Using innovation management:  owners will get concrete recommendations on how to use the innovation strategy in their daily work from their Innovation Coach.
3. Interacting: owners of SMEs/MEs learn how to interact with partners, how to build up future cooperation and how to share knowledge and ideas within a network.

AIMS & RESULTS:

The general aim of our project is to provide owners of SMEs/MEs mainly in the sectors Life Sciences and Mechatronics and IT with understandable and efficient information on innovation and with a modular short training programme responding to their work environment. At the end of the training these owners will be able to implement a tailored innovation strategy/innovation culture for their business and to "DO" innovation. To achieve these goals, we will:-

1. Build the "2inno-platform", to  where we transfer the main results from the "iModel" project of our Slovenian partner. The main results, e.g. the iModel booklet and the Innovation toolbox, will be transferred into this multilingual information platform and will then be adapted to the needs of SMEs/MEs in the sectors Life Sciences & Mechatronics in all partner countries. This "2inno-platform" will be a kind of meta portal where users will find articles on innovation, best practise examples as well as a collection of links on the theme "innovation" for each country.
    
2. Curriculum/Profile of competencies for "2inno Coaches": We will train at least 5 coaches per country on the iModel methodology in order to enable them to work – individually or in groups – with the owners of SMEs/MEs in the sectors Life Sciences & Mechatronics. Then these coaches will work with 5 - 10 companies per country in order to develop a tailored innovation strategy together with the owners and their key staff.
    
3. "2inno-diagnostics": This tool will help owners & coaches to define the starting point and to develop an implementation plan. The base for this "diagnostics" tool is the" Innovation Toolbox", which is the most comprehensive iModel result integrating many important elements of the project. On the basis of the feedback received from previous projects IIT-Korona (SI) will prepare an optimization of the Innovation toolbox, to meet country and sector needs with keeping in mind the “practical approach” of the 2inno.eu project. Then the "2inno-diagnostics" tool will be adapted to country specific needs.
    
4. Short-modular workshops (training) for owners and key staff following a blended learning approach: Workshops, Homework, Self-Study-parts, etc. up to max. 6 days (only if all modules are trained). Before the kick-off of the short-modules-training the Innovation Coaches together with the owners will use the "2inno-diagnostics" tool in order to define the starting point for the training and in order to develop an individual training plan. It is up to all partners and their Innovation Coaches if they would like to meet for individual training sessions with the owners or if they prefer to organize group workshops.
    
5. Virtual Networking space (open social media):  We will create a virtual networking space for all participating companies & coaches to give them the possibility to use this area as working space, to exchange ideas, to find partners, etc.
    
6. The Evaluation results of the training phase and a collection of best practice examples from the 2inno.eu project will be published on the 2inno-platform.
    
7. Final conference where we will invite all participating companies: interesting lecture on the results of the project, presentation of the awarded best-practise examples and a good possibility for all participants to exchange their experiences, innovative ideas and concepts.

All this measures aim to close the dangerous gap between the knowledge the owners need and the concrete action to "Do" innovation.  The entire "2inno.eu further training" concept follows the "learning by doing, using and interacting (DUI) mode" in order to guarantee for the successful and practical implementation of tailored innovation strategies in small companies.

MAIN TARGET GROUPS:

Sectors: SMEs/MEs mainly in the sectors Life Sciences, Mechatronics & IT
1^st step: Owners of these companies, who work with the "Innovation Coach"
2^nd step: To involve all staff in implementing the innovation process

PARTNERS:

P0 Hafelekar – AT
P1 IFES – ES
P2 Prompt – HU
P3 LEO DLR – IE
P4 Camporlecchio – IT
P5 Korono - SI

COORDINATOR

Hafelekar Consultancy Schober Ltd.
Karin Lackner
mail: karin.lackner@hafelekar.at