This one day conference is designed to provide delegates with an understanding of the processes of getting involved in a publicly funded collaborative project – from identifying which technology ideas might be suitable and understanding their resource requirements – through to what it takes to create a successful submission that will result in the securing of that vital grant funding.
The line-up of speakers will feature a number of companies who, working in conjunction with TWI and its Innovation Centres, have already successfully secured and/or delivered a range of publicly funded collaborative projects and seen their technology ambitions come to fruition. They will: use real-life, practical examples to show how they have seen their technology concepts go through development, prototypes and testing; share some of the challenges they have experienced as well as learning points; and highlight what has made their projects successful.
Keynote speaker Jean-David Malo, Director (Directorate-General for Research and Innovation) of the European Innovation Council Task Force for the European Commission, will give a presentation on ‘The Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot: support for top-class innovators’ and highlight key aspects of the Horizon Europe programme. There will also be a presentation by the Greek National Contact Point, Giorgos Megas on Horizon 2020 programme, Enterprise Europe Network, and European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) funding and collaboration opportunities.
The conference also includes 1-2-1 Innovation Clinics with TWI’s Technology Innovation Management Team to discuss technology concepts and identify potential development opportunities, and facilitated sessions led by TWI’s Innovation Centre specialists on Horizon 2020 topics and scopes of work, including knowledge sharing, practical insights and how technologies can be matched to funding themes. Since 2008, TWI has been involved in over 360 publicly funded collaborative projects, 108 of which were managed by TWI, and secured £412m of project funding.
In addition, there will be plenty of time to network with potential new technology partners in the conference breaks. Conference programme.
Tat-Hean Gan, TWI’s Director of Innovation and Skills explains “The TWI Hellas Innovation Summit is unique in that we will be able to share with delegates how TWI, for over 10 years now, has helped many European SMEs accelerate their technology development so that they could realise their concept and turn it into a viable marketing offering for industry. We are bringing together a range of experts from the EC, European industry and TWI, including its Innovation Centres, for the conference and it will provide a one-stop-shop for SMEs and RTOs wanting to find out exactly how they can turn their idea into a publicly funded collaborative project.” Adding “Innovation, whether it is a new application, system, software, hardware or product, has the power to transform business and contribute to industry advancement. Collaboration lies at the heart of this and the Summit will explore all areas of how this can be achieved through public funding.”
TWI Hellas Innovation Summit is free to attend – simply register for the conference through EventBrite.