Meetings for innovation growth in smes: enhancing collaboration with innovative start-ups
The project wants to identify and design new programmes aimed at supporting the adoption of Open Innovation practices by SMEs, strengthening the collaboration between SMEs and innovative start-ups. In particular, the project will try to understand if and how Open Innovation (OI) tools used with increasing frequency and effectiveness by large companies to get closer to the start-ups world (e.g. collaborations with incubators and accelerators, running of call for ideas, B2B meetings) could be usefully implemented also by SMEs, or if other kinds of initiatives, still to be designed, could be more appropriate for these businesses. The project team will try to identify which role European innovation agencies could play in facilitating the adoption of OI practices by smaller companies.

Project partners will be involved in peer-learning activities, using the Twinning+ methodology. Through joint workshops and desk researches, existing programmes consistent with the project challenge will be peer-reviewed. On the basis of good practices and strength points derived from this analysis, project partners will try to identify improvements and new tools, testing their own hypotheses with pilot initiatives whenever possible. The result of the group activities will be a Design Option Paper, a document containing recommendations about the most suitable actions to be implemented by innovation agencies for designing effective SME innovation support programmes.

In accordance with the Work Programme, the project aims at strengthening the innovation support capacity of European innovation agencies. Peer-learning activities will help not only the agencies directly involved in Twinning+ in reviewing their service offerings, but also all the subjects interested in promoting the use of OI tools by SMEs. In fact, the DPO will be a useful public guide containing practical suggestions for delivering effective initiatives in this field, addressing all the elements of the Service Delivery System