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News

3 New Members On Board!

25/1/2021

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We are thrilled to announce that 3 new members have joined our team. We look forward to getting to know them better in our upcoming General Assembly, scheduled next week.
 
iplus | F, France & Spain
iplus | F offers services related to public financing, European public R&D funding, tax deductions and innovation strategy. Its team of economists, engineers, physicists, and experts in innovation and finance has vast experience at both national and international levels.
 
KiNNO, Greece
KiNNO offers knowledge and innovation support services that aim to strengthen the innovation capacity of SMEs, private firms and Research & Technology Organisations (RTOs) and also supports industry players, investors, business actors and public bodies seeking to exploit new technologies, systems and ideas, bridging the gap between research and innovation.
 
OECON, Greece
OECON, established in 2003, is specialised in providing Business Development Consulting Services that concern a wide range of activities, from Export Management and International Business Relations to National Funding programmes.
 
At EAIC, we are excited about this new collaboration and we are pleased to know that they share our vision of innovation.

Are you interested in joining our team of Innovation Consultants? Check out our membership application form.
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EAIC Welcomes 2 New Members

7/1/2021

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To mark the beginning of this new year, we are celebrating the arrival of 2 new members:

DORUCON, Germany
DORCUN offers services related to economic and technical topics, supports H2020 application processes, as well as tech funding and innovation consulting. Its team is composed of technical and innovation enthusiasts: physicians, engineers and business economists.

Project Management Solution (PMS), Romania
PMS provides professional information and consultancy about financing opportunities from Romanian and European sources, through complete management solutions. Its mission is to bring added-value to clients' projects and activities to obtain visible changes in the economic environment in the region.

We are pleased to have them on board - welcome to EAIC!

​View our full list of members here.
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New Members Announcement

7/12/2020

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We are pleased to announce that 7 members have joined us this month! We would like to introduce you to
  • Blue Room Innovation, Spain
  • Culmentor, Finland
  • Impulso, Spain
  • Inncome, Spain
  • Nubica, Spain
  • Responsum, Lithuania
  • Sustainable Innovations, Spain

Like all EAIC members, they have committed to our Code of Conduct, which aims to promote best practices, mutual respect and basic competition rules among EU Innovation Consultants. We currently count over 178 Manifesto signatures and 49 members from over 19 European countries.

Looking forward

Now that 2021 EU budget negotiations have progressed, we are hopeful that R&I funding programmes will be launched in a timely manner, and we particularly look forward to the launch of Horizon Europe. The next couple of weeks will be decisive for the EU’s long-term budget 2021-2027 and recovery package, which we will be monitoring closely.
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Despite the uncertainty we face, 2020 has us convinced, more than ever, of the importance of R&I, particularly in addressing the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and in the EU’s socio-economic recovery.
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New Member Announcement

19/11/2020

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This month, a new member has joined us: IDConsortium.

IDConsortium was founded in Spain, in 2009 with the aim of helping researchers and businesses to internationalise and showcase their R&D by joining international consortiums to pursue different lines of research, development, and innovation.
IDConsortium provides strategic advice in the following areas: Industrial Biotechnology, Advanced production systems in Agriculture, Livestock and Aquaculture based on Industry 4.0., and Innovative systems while promoting active, healthy, and sustainable aging.

We are delighted to have IDConsortium's expertise as a part of our team of European Innovation Consultants.
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Press Release "New Association kicks off to boost European research and innovation investments"

6/11/2020

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The most relevant European companies in innovation consultancy join efforts to boost the competitiveness in the research and innovation ecosystem.
Download Press Release
On Thursday, 5 November, 2020, the European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) was launched. Created at the initiative of the French Association of Innovation Consultants (ACI) as an informal gathering in a working group back in September 2019, the creation of the EAIC was formalised yesterday by its 42 members active across Europe. A board of 8 members as well as a president was elected.
​

The Association is now being established as a formal entity, its objective: to become the voice of European consulting companies specialized in Research, Development & Innovation (RDI) financing and management.

The Association aims in particular to: 
  1. Create synergies between members to promote the added value their professional services bring to RDI collaborations in Europe and carry out actions of common interests and benefits for its members. ​
  2. Enhance a positive image of European professional innovation consulting companies by ensuring and maintaining high professionalism and ethical values among members.​
  3. Represent the EAIC towards European institutions and stakeholders to defend the specific expertise and professionalism of EAIC members and acknowledge the increased project impact they deliver to the European research community
  4. Identify common issues and goals of its members and pursue them in a coordinated manner on a national level by contributing to national concertation and enhancing direct dialogues with the different representations of the EU Member States. ​
  5. ​Facilitate knowledge sharing on best practices and information between members on the latest evolutions in the European RDI ecosystem. ​
  6. Foster the participation of the private sector to European RD&I programmes for stronger impact and exploitation of results. ​

​Since September 2019, when they first decided to work together as an unformal working group, the members of EAIC initiated several actions such as
  • The launch of a Manifesto to support Professional project management in Horizon Europe to better recognise the added value of innovation consultants. It has already been signed by over 168 organisations;
  • The adoption of a Code of Conduct, signed by all members to promote ethical behaviour in the sector;
  • The development of two EIC Accelerator position papers to provide feedback on the planned evolutions of the programme under Horizon Europe
 
The EAIC recently elected 8 board members. Their role is to ensure progress towards the structuration of EAIC’s activities.

The 8 Board members are:
  • Luc Ragon – Benkei, France
  • Virginie Robin – Euronovia, France
  • Alejandro Alvarez Alvarez – FI Group, Spain
  • Nilay Yalcinkaya Yoruk – Intract, Turkey
  • Diego Soro – Soros Gabinete, Spain
  • Pekka Koponen – Spinverse, Finland
  • Marie Latour – Zabala Innovation Consulting, Belgium
  • Xavier Aubry – Zaz Ventures, Belgium

On the occasion of its first meeting, the Board elected the EAIC’s President, Pekka Koponen.
Welcoming the decision, Pekka said: “Innovation consultants play an important role as the glue and catalyst between European innovators from largest enterprises to growth companies and academic organizations. We transfer the latest information on public funding to our clients, help them build and raise funding for their innovation and manage resulting projects and ecosystems professionally for new business, other impact and finally, competitiveness of European industry that keeps the whole innovation system running.  EAIC also stands to make sure that our members do their work with strictest code of ethics and professionalism, always walking the extra mile needed for success.”
 
About EAIC
The European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) gathers active Innovation Consultants in the field of European research and innovation projects. The group aims to facilitate exchange and promotion of best practices and success stories, as well as to uphold professional skills and expertise in European RDI projects. Today the group gathers 42 members, active in more than 18 countries around Europe.
 
www.eaic.eu
 
Contact
Marie Latour - +32 4 73 89 63 74 – info@eaic.eu
Pekka Koponen - +358 40 545 0008 – pekka.koponen@spinverse.com
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Green Deal, the way to a climate-neutral Europe

22/10/2020

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Author: Rodrigo Sanz, Manager European Funds at Euro-Funding 

Climate change and environmental degradation are the existential threats facing Europe and the rest of the world today. To overcome these challenges, Europe needs a new growth strategy to transform the Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. The European Union will therefore respond to these challenges through the Green Deal call, based on sustainable growth that aims to end net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 so that economic growth is decoupled from resource use.

The EU strategy is based on a transition towards fair and inclusive sustainability, putting people first and bringing citizens together in all their diversity. This is done through a model of cross-cutting measures that supports behavioural, social and cultural changes wherever they are most needed so that no one is left behind.

This call is also in charge of addressing the urgent challenge of contributing to Europe's recovery from the crisis generated by the Covid-19, by participating directly in the EU Plan Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation, EC COM -2020-

In this context, the topics of the Green Deal work programme have recently been published, organised into 10 thematic areas, 8 reflecting the main lines of the European green pact and two focused on strengthening citizen knowledge.

Area 1: Increasing Climate Ambition: Cross sectoral challenges
  • LC-GD-1-1-2020: Preventing and fighting extreme wildfires with the integration and demonstration of innovative means
  • LC-GD-1-2-2020: Towards Climate-Neutral and Socially Innovative Cities
  • LC-GD-1-3-2020: Climate-resilient Innovation Packages for EU regions
Area 2: Clean, affordable and secure energy
  • LC-GD-2-1-2020: Innovative land-based and offshore renewable energy technologies and their integration into the energy system
  • LC-GD-2-2-2020: Develop and demonstrate a 100 MW electrolyser upscaling the link between renewables and industrial applications
  • LC-GD-2-3-2020: Accelerating the green transition and energy access partnership with Africa
Área 3: Industria para una economía limpia y circular
  • LC-GD-3-1-2020: Cerrando el ciclo industrial del carbono para combatir el cambio climático – Viabilidad industrial de rutas catalíticas para alternativas sostenibles a los recursos fósiles.
  • LC-GD-3-2-2020: Demostración de soluciones sistémicas para el despliegue territorial de la economía circular.
Area 4: Energy and resource efficient buildings
  • LC-GD-4-1-2020: Building and renovating in an energy and resource efficient way
Area 5: Sustainable and smart mobility
  • LC-GD-5-1-2020: Green airports and ports as hubs for sustainable and smart mobility
Area 6: Farm to Fork
  • LC-GD-6-1-2020: Testing and demonstrating systemic innovations for sustainable food from farm to fork
Area 7: Ecosystems and Biodiversity
  • LC-GD-7-1-2020: Restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services
Area 8: Zero-pollution, toxic free environment
  • LC-GD-8-1-2020: Innovative, systemic zero-pollution solutions to protect health, environment and natural resources from persistent and mobile chemicals
  • LC-GD-8-2-2020: Towards better regulation of chemical and pharmaceutical mixtures: from science to evidence-informed policies
Area 9: Strengthening our knowledge in support of the EGD
  • LC-GD-9-1-2020: European Research Infrastructures capacities and services to address European Green Deal challenges
  • LC-GD-9-2-2020: Developing end-user products and services for all stakeholders and citizens supporting climate adaptation and mitigation
  • LC-GD-9-3-2020: A transparent & accessible ocean: Towards a Digital Twin of the Ocean
Area 10: Empowering citizens for the transition towards a climate neutral, sustainable Europe
  • LC-GD-10-1-2020: Empowering citizens for the transition towards a climate neutral, sustainable Europe
  • LC-GD-10-2-2020: Behavioural, social and cultural change for the Green Deal
  • LC-GD-10-3-2020: Enabling citizens to act on climate change and environmental protection through education, citizen science, observation initiatives, and civic involvement

The deadline for submitting proposals to this call began on 22 September 2020 and will remain open until 26 January 2021.

Read more here.
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EWGIC Signs the EU Manifesto for Open Access of COVID-19 Research

13/10/2020

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The European Commission’s DG for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) has launched a Manifesto for EU COVID-19 Research, which aims to maximise the accessibility of COVID-19 research results that benefit from EU funding.

Today, EWGIC has signed this manifesto and commits to sharing research results related to COVID-19 prevention, testing and treatment.

By signing this manifesto, EWGIC and its members commit to

  • Make the generated results, whether tangible or intangible, public and accessible without delay, for instance on the Horizon Results Platform, on an existing IP sharing platform, or through an existing patent pool.
  • Make scientific papers and research data available in open access without delay and following the FAIR principles via preprint servers or public repositories, with rights for others to build upon the publications and data and with access to the tools needed for their validation. In particular, make COVID-19 research data available through the European COVID-19 Data Platform.
  • Where possible, grant for a limited time, non-exclusive royalty free licences on the intellectual property resulting from EU-funded research. These non-exclusive royalty free licenses shall be given in exchange for the licensees’ commitment to rapidly and broadly distribute the resulting products and services under fair and reasonable conditions to prevent, diagnose, treat and contain COVID-19.

​This initiative is in line with the Coronavirus Global Response, launched by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EC, as well as with the Solidarity Call to Action, established by the World Health Organisation.

Read the full Manifesto here.
More information here.
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Research ministers agree on budget cut - Parliament still needs to agree

1/10/2020

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Author: Marie Latour, Head of Office, Zabala Brussels

This week, the EU research ministers have agreed on the final details of Horizon Europe:

To begin with, they agree on a linear cut across its programmes to reflect the outcome of the July budget summit (from €94.4 billion to €80.9 billion in 2018 prices) this represents a decrease of more than 14% from the European Commission's (EC) original proposal. In current prices, this is equivalent to a budget of €90.9 billion, of which €5.4 billion comes from the Next Generation EU budget, as part of the recovery plan.

However, under pressure from Germany and Austria, the ministers decided to increase the funding for Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions by €200 million over the next seven years, with money coming from the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) budget (which sees its budget cut by 2%). Spain and Ireland were opposed to a further cut of the EIC budget or to guarantee the grant part of EIC.  

The ministers gathered last Tuesday, also agreed on the possibility to use EU structural funds to finance industrial research partnerships in the future.

They agreed that Horizon Europe should follow “a very flexible approach” in spending the top-up from the recovery fund. The idea is to prioritise projects with high TRL levels that address the health and economic effects related to the coronavirus pandemic.

With regards to Europe’s technology sovereignty, the rules for non-EU countries to participate in Horizon Europe were adopted, including a new provision intended to protect Europe’s technological sovereignty. The provision will limit the participation of legal entities established in the EU, or in associated countries, if the commission and member states find “justified and exceptional reasons.” This is to balance between openness and the need for protection of strategic European interests. The EC could start negotiations with individual countries in 2021 at the earliest, and will have to consult with the Council before making any decision.

Now Horizon Europe’s budget and adoption is the hands of the European Parliament (EP) which will have the final word. While the EP was advocating for a budget of €120 billion in the initial phases of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations, the position from most active EP members is to maintain the initial budget proposed by the EC in 2018. Some EP members have proposed that Horizon Europe could be topped up with money raised by new taxes levied by the EU. The debate on EU’s own resources is not over.

Read EWGIC’s position paper on the MFF.
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European Commission publishes Recommendations on A Robust Innovation Ecosystem for the Future of Europe

30/9/2020

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Yesterday, the European Commission published the results of a stakeholder consultation in the report “A Robust Innovation Ecosystem for the Future of Europe.”

The report summarises the outcomes of 8 workshops held between October 2019 and February 2020, attended by approximately 350 participants. Resulting in a conference “A Robust Innovation Ecosystem for the Future of Europe” held in Brussels on the 18th of February, 2020, the report was produced by the Directorate General for Research and Innovation, European Innovation Council (EIC) Task Force and the Unit of Innovation Ecosystems. It gathers the insights from various stakeholders, including investors, companies, start-up communities, universities, local, regional and national authorities linked to innovation policy. Recommendations from the report will be considered by policy makers shaping EU innovation ecosystems.
 
In view of enabling the development of Horizon Europe, and in addition to collecting and analysis the feedback from the consultation phase, the report aims to
  • identify the challenges faced by specific stakeholder groups,
  • encourage exchange on good practices and successful strategies and,
  • pinpoint how the EU can achieve the most substantial impact on the innovation ecosystem.

​Online questionnaire results on challenges identified in the innovation ecosystem can be found in the report. These challenges are grouped in 3 major pillars: connectedness of stakeholders, competence and talent, and capital.
 
To provide an overview of the challenges and main action lines for Horizon Europe’s implementation, throughout the report, stakeholders’ feedback is analysed, structured, and summarised into many interesting insights on the European innovation ecosystem.

Read more here.
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EWGIC CELEBRATES ITS 1ST ANNIVERSARY!

24/9/2020

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One year has passed since fifteen European Innovation Consultants united during the R&I days in Brussels on the 24th of September 2019, launching what has now become the European Working Group of Innovation Consultants (EWGIC).

At EWGIC, we are proud to say that over the course of the past year, although life has changed drastically with the current global health crisis, we have stayed busy and grown, accomplishing several milestones, some of which we would like to recap here:

  • 24 September 2019: creation of EWGIC with 15 members
  • 25 September 2019: Manifesto release, to support Professional project management in Horizon Europe
  • 21 November 2019: launch of EWGIC’s LinkedIn account
  • 27 March 2020: launch of EWGIC’s website www.ewgic.eu
  • 31 March 2020: launch of EWGIC’s Twitter account
  • 7 April 2020: publication of “EWGIC Calls for an EIC Airdrop” Position Paper
  • 11 June 2020: publication of EWGIC’s Code of Conduct which promotes best practices, mutual respect and basic competition rules among European Innovation Consultants
  • 24 July 2020: publication of “EU Recovery Needs Innovation” Position Paper
  • 8 September 2020: publication of “EIC Accelerator: 15 recommendations to reduce the part of luck vs skills in the selection of future European deeptech champions” Position Paper

​In addition, EWGIC currently counts
​
  • 41 member companies and organisations, representing over 18 European countries
  • Over 160 Manifesto signatures
  • 3 Position Papers that include challenges and recommendations related to the Innovation ecosystem in Europe.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our members and all those that have supported and contributed to our work with innovative ideas and professional insight.
This year has been challenging but we are excited about the future and looking forward to launching new initiatives.
​Is your company a consulting firm active in Innovation funding somewhere in Europe?
Would you like to contribute to making the voice of Innovation Consulting better heard and
recognised by our European Innovation funding institutions?
If you are not yet an EWGIC member, join us!
​We are looking to expand our membership further across Europe!
​
Read more about EWGIC here.
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New Member Announcement

15/9/2020

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We are pleased to announce our latest member from Spain: Vector Horizonte has just joined us, following our monthly call this September. Welcome to EWGIC!
Is your company active in the field of European research and innovation projects?
Are you looking to join a forum in which best practices, mutual respect, and basic competition rules are promoted? 
If so, head over to our Code of Conduct and sign our Manifesto. Membership applications are reviewed on a monthly basis and registration is free!
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Press Release - New Position Paper "EIC Accelerator: 15 recommendations to reduce the part of luck vs skills in the selection of future European​Deeptech champions"

8/9/2020

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This week EWGIC released its position paper on EIC Accelerator under Horizon Europe in view of the ongoing Horizon Europe negotiations. Created in 2014 under the “SME instrument” name, the EIC Accelerator has become the largest and most competitive public funding scheme for deeptech startups in Europe.
 
With success rates falling rapidly below 1% (over 5,000 submissions expected in October 2020 vs funding available for 30-40 companies), the EIC Accelerator has fallen victim to its popularity. Today, success in this programme requires a very high-quality application, and a fair amount of luck (represented by the subjective opinion of third-party evaluators).
 
To address these issues, the EIC Task Force has suggested to implement a radically new evaluation process with a pre-screening stage (short application), a regular written stage (full application) and an interview stage. The scoring scale (out of 15) is replaced with a simple “go / no go” approach. Most importantly, only two submissions would be allowed at each stage before a 24-month cooling off period.
 
Overall, these changes are likely to be favourable to the best applicants as they will reduce the application “noise” (sub-par applications that will not go through the pre-screening) and reduce the number of resubmissions overall. The EC will thus provide higher quality evaluations of a smaller set of full stage applications, and therefore reducing the “luck factor” of the evaluation process.
 
However, the approach will also put a higher responsibility on a smaller number of evaluators which, as a result, must be carefully selected and trained in the context of 3 main challenges:

·         Challenge 1: reducing oversubscription 
·         Challenge 2: supporting a fair evaluation with clear evaluation criteria
·         Challenge 3: recruiting skilled and trained evaluators

With its members having supported over 1000 successful applicants in the programme, EWGIC is proposing 15 possible improvement areas that should result in a fair and transparent evaluation process (read them here).
 
Will the new EIC Accelerator reduce the impact of luck vs skills in the selection of the European deeptech champions? 
 
EWGIC believes the suggested changes are supporting a more transparent and fair evaluation, but only when combined with clear and consistent evaluation criteria, as well as a thorough overhaul of the expert pool recruitment and training processes. 
 
Access the short version of the position paper here (4 pages)
Access the full version of the position paper here (12 pages)
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Provide your input on Horizon Europe's priorities

2/9/2020

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The European Commission (EC)  is launching a survey on Horizon Europe’s first Strategic Plan, which will guide the work programmes and topics for the next four years. All stakeholders with an interest in EU research and innovation are invited to participate in this consultation, which will end on 18 September 2020.

In view of Horizon Europe's launch in 2021, this Strategic Plan is being developed through a co-design process, for which over 9000 people have contributed, making it the largest consultation ever led by the EC.

The survey’s results will be discussed in the virtual European Research and Innovation Days on 22-24 September 2020, and we look forward to hearing your feedback there.

Find out more here.
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EWGIC Members will take part in the Resesarch & Innovation Days

1/9/2020

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On September 22-24, the European Commission invites stakeholders to debate and shape the future research and innovation landscape through a virtual event.
 
During this annual flagship event and through interactive sessions, participants will provide input on the EU’s research and innovation policy.
Participants include policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and citizens, who will debate the role of funding and research and innovation policies in the EU’s recovery. As a response to the global pandemic, the EU must now enable a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient transition.
 
This 3-day event will be the occasion to contribute to policy co-designing, thought-provoking panels and participate in matchmaking opportunities.
 
At EWGIC, we expect this event to be instrumental in the coordination of excellent science and beneficial for Europe’s recovery, as we also look forward to Horizon Europe’s launch event.
 
Visit this link for more information and to view the full programme.
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4 new members on board!

30/7/2020

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Following our monthly calls of June and July, our total number of members has increased!
We are delighted to announce 4 new members on board.
  • Aristos
  • Invent Baltics
  • Nordic Innovators
  • Novanexia
 
Are YOU interested in contributing to our work and joining our team? Check out our Membership Form here.
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Position Paper "EU Recovery Needs Innovation"

24/7/2020

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download the position paper
The Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 is undergoing intense negotiations within the European Institutions. Horizon Europe’s budget has been decreased by 5 billion euros, straying away from the European Commission’s initial ambitious plan. The European Council and Parliament (EP) have just a few months left to complete their negotiations.

EWGIC, the European Working Group of Innovation Consultants, welcomes the European Council’s agreement on the MFF and the Next Generation EU budgets, but regrets the treatment of European research and innovation funding especially related to Horizon Europe.

EWGIC supports Parliament’s stance that the Council’s budget deal needs to be transformed to a more future-oriented approach. We are now calling the European Parliament to ensure Horizon Europe will get back at least to the original proposal that the EC made in 2018 of 83.5 B€ (2018 prices). So that R&I can actually contribute to our continent's recovery and allow for the development of added-value products and solutions developed in Europe.
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The European Innovation Scoreboard 2020

25/6/2020

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On 22 June 2020, the European Commission released the Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2020, which demonstrates Europe’s improving innovation performance.

According to the EIS, on average, the innovation performance of the EU has increased by 8.9% since 2012, with performance having increased the most in Lithuania, Malta, Latvia, Portugal and Greece.

Sweden continues to be the EU Innovation Leader, followed by Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. This year Luxembourg (previously a Strong Innovator) joins the group of Innovation Leaders, while Portugal (previously a Moderate Innovator) joins the group of Strong Innovators.

At a global level, it is the second year that the EU surpasses the United States. The EU also continues to have a performance lead over China, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and India. Since 2012, the EU’s performance gap with South Korea, Australia and Japan has increased, while the EU’s performance lead over the United States, China, Brazil, Russia and South Africa has decreased.

Background

The EIS functions as an assessment of the performance of research and innovation in EU countries and identifies “performance leaders” in specific areas of innovation. It covers the EU Member States as well as Iceland, Israel, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
The EIS contains 4 “performance groups:”
  • Innovation Leaders – Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden perform significantly above the EU average;
  • Strong Innovators – The innovation performance of Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, and Portugal is above or close to the EU average;
  • Moderate Innovators – Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain show an innovation performance below the EU average;
  • Modest Innovators – The innovation performance of Bulgaria and Romania is below 50% of the EU average.

The innovation performance is measured based on 27 performance indicators, within 10 innovation dimensions and in 4 main categories.
  • Framework conditions capture the main drivers of innovation performance and cover three innovation dimensions: human resources, attractive research systems, and innovation-friendly environment.
  • Investments include public and private investment in research and innovation, distinguishing between external finance and support, and own-resource investments.
  • Innovation activities capture the innovation efforts at the company level, covering three dimensions: innovators, linkages, and intellectual assets.
  • Impacts illustrate how innovation translates into benefits for the economy as a whole: employment impacts and sales effects.
 
Source: ec.europa.eu
 
Click here to view the full Q&A document published by the EC on 23 June 2020.
Visit this page for more information on the EIS.
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The European Working Group of Innovation Consultants commits to excellence

11/6/2020

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We, the members of EWGIC, are determined to inspire and ensure that trust, integrity, responsibility, fairness, and impartiality are all preserved by European Innovation Consultants during the execution of their professional activities.

To do so, we have adopted a comprehensive Code of Conduct, which aims to promote best practices, mutual respect, and basic competition rules among Innovation Consultants. Through this Code of Conduct, we commit to excellence, and seek to guarantee and demonstrate the highest professional standards in the sector of EU consulting.

The following standards of conduct, behaviour and attitude are detailed in our Code:

1. Trust & Integrity
  • Act at all times in the legitimate interest of the client;
  • Provide all services with integrity and in accordance with the principles of good faith, legality and the rules of good professional practice;
  • Not fail their client's trust nor serve interests that are in conflict with those of the client in the development of a project or service;
  • Maintain an honest and diligent relationship with the companies in the sector, the clients, the European Commission, any European, national or regional RDI funding agencies, the Administration, and all those entities with which they have professional contact, keeping confidential everything they know about third parties in the exercise of their activities.
 
​2. Responsibility
  • Be committed to providing service to the client, and to communicate, respecting the conditions of confidentiality, all the information that they consider could have an impact on the choices and decisions of the client;
  • Advise the client on the limits of the services acquired, specifically the chances of success of a given grant proposal, and represent truthfully the client input when developing a grant proposal;
  • Ensure that their total support fees charged for advisory services to develop new RDI projects shall never be charged to the project post Grant Agreement and to do best efforts to encourage their clients to adopt the same good behaviour:
  • In their capacity as specialists, undertake to constantly maintain the knowledge and skills of their teams at the required level, considering the evolution of applicable regulations;
  • Ensure compliance with the rules on intellectual property and data protection.
 
3. Fairness to others
  • Neither carelessly nor intentionally do anything to injure the reputation or business of others;
  • Neither directly nor indirectly attempt to take the place of another consultancy, already appointed for a specific work;
  • Ensure that its employees or independent contractors (including freelancers supporting proposal writing) respect the present Code of Conduct.
 
4. Impartiality
  • To avoid conflicts of interest, the EWGIC members shall preserve their independence against all kinds of interference and against their own interests or that may affect impartiality and professional judgement;
  • Inform the client of any potential conflict of interest that might arise in the performance of services to the client;
  • Ensure, specifically in but not limited to the context of specific RDI funding programmes (such as Fast-Track-To-Innovation / FTI, EIC-Accelerator) and to avoid conflicts of interests, that none of their staff and independent contractors supporting EIC / FTI-project proposal development act as EC evaluator for those funding programmes;
  • Document the capabilities of the project, their team and partners in truthful manner;
  • Not accept remuneration which prejudices honest judgement.

This Code is in line with the EWGIC’s key missions
 
The first mission is to create synergies between European consulting companies specialized in Research, Development & Innovation (RDI) financing and management to promote the added value their professional services bring to RDI collaborations in Europe and carry out actions of common interests and benefits for its members. ​

We intend to enhance a positive image of European professional innovation consulting companies by ensuring and maintaining high professionalism and ethical values among members.​

We also aim to represent the EWGIC towards European institutions and stakeholders to defend the specific expertise and professionalism of EWGIC members and acknowledge the increased project impact they deliver to the European research community. ​

The working group identifies common issues and goals of its members and pursues them in a coordinated manner on a national level by contributing to national concertation and enhancing direct dialogues with the different representations of the EU Member States. ​

​Our activities facilitate knowledge sharing on best practices and information between members on latest evolutions in the European RDI ecosystem. ​

Finally, our group fosters the participation of the private sector to European RD&I programmes for stronger impact and exploitation of results. ​
 
All EWGIC’s members subscribe to and believe that the principles underlined in the Code of Conduct are fundamental for recognition from the European institutions and key stakeholders of the RDI ecosystem towards European Innovation Consultants.

The Code of Conduct was finalised and adopted in May 2020 and will serve as a roadmap for EWGIC’s daily activities.
 
Download EWGIC’s Code of Conduct here.
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EWGIC is proud to welcome 4 new members!

3/6/2020

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 During our monthly call, held last week on Thursday, May 28, 4 new members were approved:

- EuroSuccess Consult
- Fonduri-Structurale
- In Extenso
- Innovasturias
 
View the full list of EWGIC’s Members here.
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The EC announces a "high demand for the EIC Green Deal Call"

26/5/2020

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The European Commission announced yesterday that over 2,000 sustainable innovation companies from 38 different countries have applied for financial support of €7.8bn from the one-off EIC Accelerator Green Deal call. We can expect a 4% success rate for this call, a similar level as for the October 2019 cut-off.

When Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined Europe’s “green recovery” plan to the European Parliament last week, it was understood that the Green Deal would be placed at the centre of the EU’s recovery effort.

The Green Deal has the capacity to help the EU economy recover from the COVID-19 crisis, with proposals of this specific call focusing on the following aspects:
- climate mitigation
- the transition to a clean & circular economy
- zero pollution ambitions
- toxic free environments
​
Read more here.
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EWGIC welcomes 12 new members

18/5/2020

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EWGIC is pleased to welcome 12 new members from all over Europe! During its monthly call on April 23, the following new members were approved:
  • An Radharc Consulting (Ireland)
  • EurA AG (Germany)
  • Euro-Funding (Spain – Poland)
  • Innovarum (Spain)
  • Intract (Turkey)
  • KPMG SROC (Portugal)
  • Leyton (Belgium)
  • LGI (France)
  • My EU Consulting (Belgium)
  • SNAP! (Portugal)
  • Soros Gabinete (Andorra – Spain)
  • WelcomeEurope (France)
 
A conference call was held on May 15 to welcome these new members, with participants introducing themselves after viewing a detailed presentation on EWGIC’s mission and objectives, governance structure, and membership criteria, amongst other topics.
​
Each month, the EWGIC continues to expand as well as the support for the EWGIC’s Manifesto, signed by over 160 consultants, all proud to represent the management of European research & innovation projects.
The next monthly call will be held on May 28, during which the latest membership applications will be reviewed, so stay tuned!
 
View the full list of EWGIC’s Members here.
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Position Paper "EWGIC calls for an EIC Airdrop"

7/4/2020

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Will COVID-19 kill the EIC Accelerator?
Or will the EIC Accelerator be the medical ventilator of distressed European SME champions?
Download position paper
We face the most serious healthcare crisis of the last 100 years, a crisis that is highly impacting all components of our economic infrastructure. Through the release of this new Position Paper, the EWGIC calls on the EU Parliament and European Commission to take immediate action, through implementing an EIC Accelerator Airdrop that can offer liquidity to start-ups and innovative SMEs affected by the current crisis.
 
This position paper focuses on SMEs and the role that the European Commission must play to protect them, via the Horizon 2020 EIC Accelerator programme.
The EWGIC has summarised the most urgent problems to solve, with regards to the EIC Accelerator Programme, highlighting the following challenges to address:

  1. Oversubscription will have serious adverse effects on the programme unless the effort is made to increase budgets or curb the number of submissions,
  2. evaluation criteria must be clarified to ensure fair treatment of all proposals,
  3. running EIC projects must be protected, with additional pre-financing and simplified periodic reporting, and
  4. it’s time for an #EICAirdrop !

The EC, along with EASME, REA and the EIB, all have a strong influence on the future of European SMEs, which is why the EWGIC now urges them to save our European SME champions.
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Press Release "European Innovation Consultants Working Group ​Accelerates its Outreach with Website Release Today"

27/3/2020

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Today the website of the European Working Group of Innovation Consultants (EWGIC) was released, with now 20 members across 18 countries, this new initiative is taking a new step in its formal structuration.

The European Working Group of Innovation Consultants (EWGIC) gathers experts in the field of European research and innovation projects. The group aims to facilitate exchange and promotion of best practices and success stories, as well as to promote professional skills and expertise in European RDI projects. Today the group gathers 20 companies and two national associations, active in more than 18 countries around Europe. It is growing every month.

One of the first actions undertaken by EWGIC has been the publication of a Manifesto to support project management in Horizon Europe. The proposed measures include:
  • Recognising the impact of management expertise by allowing the participation of other partners, not just the Coordinator; and allowing the subcontracting of management tasks;
  • Promoting good project management practices such as the early delivery of a project management plan; the dedication of the management activities to a skilled workforce; the use of collaborative project management tools; and the preparation of the impact assessment and the project results exploitation.
The Manifesto has been presented by EWGIC to the European Commission at the occasion of the RDI Days. Today, it has been signed by over 150 organisations across Europe, including consultancies, leading RTOs, public authorities, technology transfer organisations and leading industrial associations.

In the particular context of the current COVID-19 Crisis, members of EWGIC have helped in filing a significant number of applications to the Horizon 2020 programme and especially the EIC Accelerator March deadline, which many start-ups in the area could not have reached without professional help.
​
The website is accessible at www.ewgic.eu . You will find the objectives of the initiative; recent news about EWGIC, the list of members, a link to the Manifesto and the possibility to support it by signing it online, a registration form to request membership to the Working Group

For more information about EWGIC:
Visit our website at www.eaic.eu     
The current list of members is the following: https://www.eaic.eu/members.html   
Follow our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-association-of-innovation-consultants
Follow us on Twitter: @eu_innovconsult
 
Press Contacts
  • For any written enquiry: info@ewgic.eu   
  • Phone enquiries:  Marie Latour + 32 473 89 63 74
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EWGIC's current members

16/3/2020

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EWGIC's current members are:
​
• French Association of Innovation Consultants (ACI)
• Spanish Association for the promotion of R&D (AFIDI)
• Absiskey (France, Poland)
• DRIAD (UK)
• Efund Group (France and Bulgaria)
• Euronovia (France)
• European Fund Management Consulting (Estonia and France)
• Europroject (Bulgaria)
• Fi Group (Spain, France, Portugal)
• Magellan (Portugal, Belgium)
• Navigator Consulting (Cyprus)
• Neovia Innovation (France)
• PNO Consultants Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK)
• Polite Europe (Spain)
• Spinverse (Finland, Germany, Sweden)
• Syncate (Belgium)
• Trustech (UK)
• Zabala Innovation Consulting (Spain, Belgium, France, UK)
​• Zaz Ventures (Belgium, Switzerland, UK) ​
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EWGIC's new members

13/3/2020

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We are very glad to welcome 3 new companies in EWGIC's membership this week! These are

- 
PNO Consultants - Europe from the Netherlands with presence in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK.
- Efund Group
 active in France and Bulgaria
- 
Trustech from UK

We now have active 20 members of which 2 national associations! Altogether these members are present in 18 European countries, including Norway, Switzerland and UK.

How can you participate?
​

1. Sign our Manifesto – so far already over 150 people have signed it! 
2. Register to the Working Group – It is completely free! Your application will be reviewed during the next monthly call of the WG! And we are planning for a physical meeting in Brussels as soon as the COVID crisis will be over.

​We aim to represent as many countries in Europe as possible; we are currently missing members from Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia.
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