From Research to Enterprise
Looking at the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) and at European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) of 2007, none of the regions involved in the FREE project are among the Top-50 EU regional performers. Bearing this in mind and also the fact that investing more in knowledge and innovation is one of the goals of the renewed Lisbon strategy the project will support this priority by improving innovative capacity in business, supporting and qualifying technology transfers and cooperation networks among organisations and individuals.

This interrelation knowledge exploitation is a critical factor for EU’s international competitiveness. Especially the capacity of regional actors to turn knowledge and skills into sustainable competitive advantage is crucial at this stage, as innovation is most effectively addressed at regional level, where physical proximity fosters the partnership between actors.

FREE activities will be strongly based on already established/ongoing initiatives, both at regional and European level, so as to capitalise the efforts and valorise their outputs, focusing on those experiences providing concrete instruments and fitting the SMEs needs.