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META Group has joined EAIC in February 2024!
Upon joining, Alessia Melasecche, META Group CEO, said “Our commitment to maximizing the impact of R&I finds a synergistic match with EAIC's dedication to enhancing professional skills and expertise in European R&I projects.” She added: “our participation in EAIC will allow us to contribute to and influence innovation policies, which is a core aspect of META’s mission." Welcome to META Group and its team! Find out more about their services here. Upon joining EAIC, John Crockett, joint Managing Partner Inveniam Group, emphasised “the vital role Innovation Consultants have in the European Innovation Ecosystem”. He stressed “they help to generate excellent ideas, make connections and collaborations happen, develop realistic projects and bring innovation to the users, where it has an impact”.
In a former capacity, John Crockett, was part of the informal group of innovationconsultants who initiated a foundational step for EAIC, i.e. the development of its Code of Conduct. Welcome to Inveniam Group and its team! Find out more about their services on our website here. EAIC advocates for the inclusion of tax incentives for Research and Development (R&D) within the BEFIT - Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation. EAIC Members are uniquely positioned to offer invaluable insights and expertise on how tax incentives can effectively catalyse R&D activities.
EAIC welcomes the opportunity to provide comments on the Proposal for a Council Directive on Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) (COM(2023)532 final). EAIC recognises the relevance to introduce a common corporate tax system within the EU and the opportunity that arises with the BEFIT framework. It is time to position innovation within the new framework for taxation at the European level. To do so, EAIC calls on the European Union decision makers to build on the formerly proposed CCCTB (Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base) to ensure that the European Union takes a leap in innovation. Due to the magnitude of the challenges Europe faces, and the geopolitical keys at play, the European Union must take advantage of this opportunity. The BEFIT is designed to create a more stable and predictable business environment in the EU. By reducing fiscal uncertainty, companies can plan long-term investment decisions and their R&D activities with more confidence. Therefore, it is important that the BEFIT proposal includes incentives for R&D, recovering part of the proposal for the CCCTB. This inclusion would allow BEFIT to offer an opportunity to improve the investment environment in Europe. EAIC recommends to:
Download EAIC response to the European Commission consultation here. Upon joining EAIC, Alexis Guillard, D&Consultants General Director and Pauline Gay, Senior Consultant emphasised: “We want to work collectively to ensure that our profession, our values and our assets are recognised throughout Europe, and always for the benefits of our customers, in support to European competitiveness, sovereignty and innovation.” Welcome to D&Consultants and its team! Check their services on our website here. New-I is the first EAIC member headquartered in Bulgaria.
Upon joining EAIC, Anton Todorov, CEO of New I, stressed “how thrilled New I team was to become part of the EAIC community and to get to exchange ideas, know-how and capacity in order to provide better practical solutions for both our clients and other Association members.” Welcome to New-I and its team! Find out more about New-I services here. Sensum is EAIC first Member headquartered in Croatia.
Upon joining Danijel Bertovic, CEO of Sensum, indicated “Joining EAIC is a great opportunity to expand our network and to share our expertise and experience with consulting sector in southeast Europe.” Welcome to Sensum and its teams! Find out more about Sensum here. EY joined EAIC before summer and was off to a busy start with:
In Irene’s word “as EY is re-launching its services in European Innovation Programmes in many European countries, EAIC is being an instrumental in this endeavour!”. Great to have EY in the EAIC community! Check EY services on our website here. ARISTOS Innovation Funding has joined EAIC in 2023!
Marcos Gonzalez, Executive Director, got to introduce the company and its services at the 2023 End of the Year Members Meeting on 11 December. Marcos gives a compelling description of why it matters for Aristos to join EAIC:
Upon joining EAIC in summer 2023, Etkin EU team shared its enthusiasm to become part of a unique European network of R&I consultants and contribute to the growth and prosperity of R&I consultancy ecosystem in Europe.
Welcome to Etkin Project and its team! BI-Consulting has joined EAIC in October 2023
Veronica Larroy, Head of International Projects, got to introduce the company and its services at the 2023 End of the Year Members Meeting. In her own words, “joining EAIC, we aim to enhance our client services, stay abreast of the latest sector developments, and actively engage in shaping the future of innovation consultancy in Europe.” Welcome to BI Consulting! NETO Innovation is a consulting company for innovation management and funding. Thanks to the expertise of its team, it offers various types of services to support companies in the financing of their RDI projects (Research, Development, and Innovation).
In the own words of Rita Faddoul, Founder and President of NETO Innovation: “Working with like-minded organisations within EAIC is for NETO Innovation another tangible step towards demonstrating its unwavering commitment to ethical practices in innovation management and funding consultancy.” Welcome NETO Innovation! The European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) expresses its appreciation for EIC Board's introduction of the Code of Conduct for Consultants. This initiative reflects a commendable dedication to transparency, fairness, and ethical practices in European Innovation Council. In its public statement released today in response to the dedicated public consultation, EAIC highlights the facts that:
EAIC offers additional written comments on the EIC Code text and recommends to:
EAIC strengthens its leadership team and elects three dynamic Vice-Presidents. These outstanding individuals will work hand-in-hand with EAIC President, Luc Ragon, and Executive Board to drive innovation and growth in innovation consulting industry.
Join us in welcoming our new Vice-Presidents:
Their expertise and passion will play a pivotal role in shaping our association's future and advocating for our members' interests. The EIC Accelerator is the most impactful and coveted funding instrument that the EC has at its disposal to fund high-risk deep-tech innovation. The funding decisions made by the EIC in the coming years will durably shape the future of European deeptech, with €7 billion currently allocated to the EIC Accelerator to fuel the next European champions in strategic domains such as quantum, bioinformatics, high-performance computing, cybersecurity, cleantech, healthcare, etc.
As part of the revamp of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) presented in June by the European Commission, the EIC is now in line for an extra €2.6 billion for the Accelerator programme to provide, via the EIC Fund, additional equity funding of €15-50 million to support scale-up of companies in three strategic areas: deeptech, cleantech and biotech. The EAIC commends the European Commission for this proposed reallocation of budget as access to sufficient capital post-initial funding will allow the selected scale-ups to continue their R&D efforts, scale their operations, and maintain a steady growth trajectory without resorting to non-European investors. However, early-stage startups are not targeted by this new EIC Fund compartment: they will have to rely on the normal EIC Accelerator budget, which will see a significant decrease in 2024, from €1.09 billion in 2023, to €563 million in 2024 available for new EIC Accelerator laureates. We are pleased to announce the election of our new Executive Board during the Annual General Meeting held on 26-27 June 2023. The elected board members will play a pivotal role in guiding the association's strategic direction, representing the interests of its members, and driving initiatives to foster growth and innovation within the industry.
The newly elected Board comprises accomplished professionals with diverse backgrounds and extensive experience in Innovation Consulting. EAIC congratulates the following individuals on their election:
The newly elected Executive Board members will collaborate closely with the association's secretariat to increase awareness of the benefits that EAIC members deliver to the European research and innovation ecosystem and advance the innovation consulting industry in Europe. The Executive Board would also like to express gratitude to the outgoing President, Pekka Koponen, and members for their significant contributions and tireless efforts in advancing the goals of EAIC. Their commitment has been instrumental in positioning the association as a prominent voice within the industry. 20230626_eaic_event_ai_ri_programme_final_public_doc7.pdf20230626_eaic_event_ai_ri_programme_final_public_doc7.pdfOn Monday 26 June 2023 (14.30-17.00 CET), the EAIC organises an event entitled "How does AI impact R&I project design, proposal evaluation and project management?". The event will raise awareness and inform a discussion about the short and medium-term use of artificial intelligence-based tools in support of EU funded research and innovation projects (see programme). Today, some AI-based tools, such as translation tools, are already being used in the context of EU funded projects. However, the growing use of such tools for content creation and data analysis prompts a reflection on their incorporation throughout the project value chain - from identifying funding opportunities, writing and evaluating proposals to managing and implementing projects. There is a need to assess the opportunities and challenges that these tools are bringing and will continue bringing to the R&I ecosystem. The event will address the impacts that AI based tools have on innovation consulting services, on their business models, on required new skills and competences for the workforce. It will also aim to explore the boundary conditions – and especially ethical concerns. The EAIC objective is to initiate, inform, and feed the ongoing discussions on these matters with the R&I stakeholders. The proposed focus is on the following three main segments:
EAIC working group on Horizon Europe collaborative calls is celebrating its 1-year anniversary this month!
EAIC is excited to announce its attendance at the upcoming EARMA conference, held in Prague from 24-26 April. We are sending the co-leader of our Project Management working group, Virginie Robin, to take part in a session dedicated to professional project management on Tuesday 25 April.
Virginie’s presentation will emphasise the added value professional project management brings to European research and innovation collaborative projects. At EAIC, we firmly believe that professional project management is vital to the success of any project, particularly those that involve complex collaborations across different institutions, countries, and disciplines. That's why we're committed to sharing our insights on this important topic at the EARMA conference. We invite all attendees to join us and learn more about the importance of professional project management for successful collaborative projects. Today the European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) releases its response to the European Commission Consultation on the Past, Present and Future Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
EAIC sets out key challenges that applicants and beneficiaries frequently encounter when preparing a proposal and running a project under the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe (2021-2027). These challenges relate to the following four themes:
“EAIC Members support thousands of beneficary organisations, many of whom are new comers to the Framework Programme”, says EAIC President, Pekka Koponen, “Today, we share this wealth of experience to improve Horizon Europe implementation and lay the ground for the preparation of its successor.” Main recommendations - EAIC calls on the European Commission to:
We are pleased to welcome our newest member:
Vindsubsidies is a Dutch based consultancy company that provides services regarding national and European funding applications. Founded in 1997 we have over 25 years of experience. With approximately 100 employees we provide services to commercial companies (high-tech SME and corporates), public organizations, public-private partnerships and knowledge institutes (e.g. universities). To add value to projects and applications, we combine thorough knowledge of European funding schemes with in-depth knowledge of different domains (e.g. Life Sciences, Chemistry, Food, IT, Energy and Public Policy & Governance), provided by consultants with a specific backgrounds (MSc/PhD). To maintain high-quality service regarding EU funding Vindsubsidies has a dedicated consultancy team specialized in European funding. The main services they offer are:
View our full list of members here. Today, the European Association of Innovation Consultants releases the third update of its flagship report: “NextGenerationEU Guide, for the industry to better understand and seize its opportunities”. In this report, you will find:
The following EAIC Members have contributed to the preparation of this edition: FI Group (coordination and contribution), Euro-Funding, EVM, Exeq, Fonduri Structurale.ro, Invent Baltics, Schuman Associates, Sistem VVE, Soros Gabinete, Spinverse.
In 2023, the EU Commission will be allocating close to 1 B€ to the most promising European defence development and research projects. The call texts are due to be published in the spring of 2023, but now is the time for companies and research entities to start making plans for EDF 2023.
In only two consecutive years, the European Defence Fund (EDF) has established its footing as a crucial instrument for fostering cross-border European defence innovation and collaboration. Historically speaking joint EU-funded defence cooperation and strengthening of the European defence industry has only received prioritization in the last five years. The EDF’s precursor programmes, the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR) and the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) programmes ran in partly overlapping stages between 2017 and 2020, building the foundation into what is now the EDF, an 8 B€ defence fund dedicated solely to strengthen the EU’s defence industrial base for the years 2021 to 2027. In 2021 the EDF awarded 61 projects out of 142 submitted project proposals to support European defence innovation and collaboration. For EDF 2022 the number of submitted proposals was significant albeit slightly less – 134 proposals. These project proposals are now under review and the results will then be released most likely before the end of summer 2023. While the call texts for EDF 2023 will most likely officially be released during early spring/ summer 2023 it does not hinder companies and research entities from proactively begin deliberating on possible project or consortium ideas in advance. Now is the right time to start thinking ahead. We know from previous calls that strategic themes for the past years have included materials and components, sensors, disruptive technologies in the digital and information domains, ground, naval and air combat capabilities, force protection and mobility. In addition, there are non-thematic calls dedicated to SMEs and Research Organisations (RO). The selection is wide, but so are the opportunities. The current security environment in Europe highlights the need to develop and strengthen innovative capabilities and research in Europe. In research projects the EU usually covers the funding completely, but in capability development projects co-financing is required and having the support of your Ministry of Defence is therefore imperative. Article courtesy of EAIC Member Spinverse. EAIC Mutual Learning Webinar: Freelancers, Lump sums & Carbon Neutrality in Horizon Europe Projects9/12/2022 On Friday 16 December, EAIC organises a webinar in the context of its work on Project Management. EAIC Members will share knowledge on HEU related matters such as freelancers in projects, lump sums projects, carbon neutral projects etc.
When? Friday 16 December 2022 (15.00 - 16.00 CET) By whom? This event is organised by EAIC Member Polite and Neovia. For whom? This workshop is reserved to EAIC members. Interested? Write to info@eaic.eu The European Commission published the drafts of the majority of the work programmes under Horizon Europe for the 2023 – 2024. These drafts have not been adopted or endorsed by the European Commission, but they were published to provide potential participants with the currently expected main lines of this work programme.
According to the European Commission, actions included in these work programmes will help accelerate the clean energy transition in line with the REPowerEU Plan, improve food security, cybersecurity, help ensure open strategic autonomy and reduce dependencies on critical raw materials, and accelerate delivery of the Green Deal. For example, a package of actions across the ‘Climate, Energy and Mobility’, ‘Digital, Industry and Space’ and ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’ clusters in particular will aim to speed up the clean energy transition. In addition, this work programme includes targeted actions to support Ukraine such as reinforcing Ukrainian researchers’ access to European research infrastructures while the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities will support a number of Ukrainian cities in integrating the principles of climate neutrality in their reconstruction. With the 2023 – 2024 Horizon Europe work programme, the EU will invest around €13.5 billion in research and innovation. The published drafts include the work programmes for:
Download the drafts here. Source: The European Commission Ahead of today's EU Innovation Fund Info Days 'Third call for large-scale projects', the European Association of Innovation Consultants welcomes the recent changes made to the instrument.
EAIC Members have supported several of the selected Innovation Fund projects under both Large- and Small Scale calls, across multiple countries. Through their services provided to applicants, EAIC Members benefit from first-hand experience with the features of the Fund, its technicalities, the effort required by the applicants as well as their expectations and reactions after the selection process. Find out more here. |
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