Northern & Western Regional Assembly (Lead) – Ireland”
The Northern & Western Regional Assembly will act as Lead Partner for the TESLA project, assuming responsibility for the management, co-ordination and communication/dissemination of the project. The Northern & Western Regional Assembly is a NUTS II Regional Public Authority which is a managing authority for an objective 2 regional competitiveness programme over the 2007-2013 period. From 2002-2008 the Assembly also managed two Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions which provided supports for higher education/industry collaboration to increase research capacity, improve the business support environment to early stage technology based enterprises and support sector specific technology transfer initiatives in the border midland and west region. The combined value of these programmes which were funded from the 2000-2006 ERDF budget was € 4.3m and many of the initiatives supported such as the Research Vouchers and technology transfer pilots succeeded in attracting mainstream support beyond the piloting phase.
The Assembly also acts as Irish National Contact Point and First Level Control Authority for two transnational programmes, the Atlantic Area and Northern Periphery programmes as well as the Interreg IVC Interregional programme. The Assembly has also participated as a partner in the IVB ATLANTKIS project which involves the development of Knowledge Intensive Services in the Atlantic Area as well as the IIIC FUTURREG project which brought together partners from throughout the EU to develop regional approaches to foresight and visioning. As Project Manager for the TESLA project the Assembly is well experienced in managing complex EU programmes and is familar with the EU Regulatory environment as well as Financial Management and control issues.
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Lionra – Ireland
Lionra is a network of seven Higher Education Institutions in the BMW Region of Ireland and each of the seven Institutions have within their Strategic Plan a strong commitment to regional economic development and they have been effective in providing a supportive environment through the provision of modern Innovation Centres with structured business programmes to support the entrepreneur also in terms of affording easy access to Applied Research Centres for R & D. Lionra will through its participation in the TESLA consortium share the knowledge and know-how which it has acquired over many years serving the needs of industry and particularly HPKI enterprises.
Lionra will lead the following elements of the TESLA proposal :
The Institute has joined the Tesla Partnership as it recognises the need to accelerate supports to companies who are in a position to develop export markets. The Institute is very interested in the development of a range of highly focussed measure and pilot actions directed specifically at the needs of knowledge intensive industries with export potential. Working with TESLA partners we will bring our own considerable expertise to the project and also hope to learn from the significant expertise of our partners. TESLA, which will offer reciprocal facilities for market development in other partner regions is therefore a very attractive proposal for CIT. Our contribution to TESLA will be in contributing our own experience of supporting knowledge intensive Industries, in working in close collaboration with all other partners and in widely disseminating the outcomes of the project.
Bangor University – Wales
Established in 1884 Bangor University has over 10,000 students and 26 academic schools. The University has undergone significant redevelopment over the recent past which includes a £10m investment in a business and management centre as well as an Environmental Sciences building. Bangor University is the founding partner of the ‘TESLA’ concept and the project will benefit from the input of the Research and Innovation office who will drive actions locally. Dr David Joyner, Director of Business Partnerships and Engagement will oversee the contribution of Bangor University to the project which will entail the management of Work Package 3 on Skills and Capabilities. The University will also be an active partner in five other actions which are (1.1) Creative Industries, (1.2) New Product Design and Development, (1.3) Innovation Outreach and (4.2) Procurement for Knowledge Intensive Enterprises.
Bangor University will also play an active role as a member of the Project Steering Committee, interfacing between stakeholders in North Wales and the TESLA project partners. As well as its Innovation capabilities, Bangor University will also bring to the project expertise and input from schools of Business, Arts, Humanities and electronic engineering. Bangor University will engage locally with Public and private sector to develop a sustainable support ecosystem for Knowledge Intensive Enterprises.
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EBN has participated in a large number of collaborative projects in line with the core activities of the network. These include the DigiBIC project funded by DG Research under the Framework 7 Programme, the KIS4SAT project to assist high growth knowledge intensive ventures funded by DG Enterprise & industry and the GASD project funded by Interreg IIIB Atlantic Area aimed at developing a collaborative approach to maritime sustainabilitty issues in the Atlantic Area. EBN will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of work package 1 (Driving Innovation) as well as action 1.2 (Creative Industries) & 2.3 (Soft Landing). EBN has built up expertise in the provision of co-incubation services to industry.
Tilburg University will also co-ordinate the Best Practise work package. With the co-operation of all the partners, a comprehensive report will be compiled setting out the conclusions drawn from all the pilot actions in work packages 1-4 with the overriding objective of identifying the good practises which are fundamental to creating an entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem in the NWE eligible area. As well as its core responsibilities with work packages 4 and 5, Tilburg University will also participate in the following actions: – 1.1 Creative Industries, 3.2 Spin Ins and WP 6 contributing to the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the project.
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Laval Mayenne Technopole – France
Laval Mayenne Technopole (LMT) is non-profit organisation, member of the French association of Incubators and Science Parks, RETIS, whose aim is to promote Innovation, and also member of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP). On a daily basis, LMT promotes innovation on the Mayenne territory by supporting the synergy between the major local actors (higher education, research labs, technological platforms, companies, financial organisations, consultants). LMT main missions are : Networking and partnership engineering, engineering for innovation and territorial marketing.LMT closely works with local and regional authorities, which directly finance the structure and take part in the decision board. Together, they aim at developing economical growth through Innovation. Thus, the outcomes of the project will directly benefit to the local economic development tools.
LMT supports entrepreneurs and startups from the idea phase of their project, to company creation, development and internationalisation. At the moment, 10 entrepreneurs and 30 startups are supported by its incubator and an innovative entrepreneur competition (Idenergie).For each stage of a company development, LMT has developed new and innovative tools to help settle new start-up projects on its territory, support companies in their innovative development and help them to internationalise. LMT currently participates in several projects, funded from regional, national and EU funds. LMT is currently a work package leader in the Interreg IVB NWE Open Innovation project. LMT will be able to disseminate the outcomes of the Open Innovation project within the TESLA project. LMT is also a partner in another Interreg IVB project whose aim is to improve of rural economic development and social cohesion. LMT also has a long experience in participation in RTD & Innovation projects.
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INI Novation – Germany
INI-Novation provides leading edge expertise in the creation of new business development and strong expertise in innovation management. INI-Novation serves as a specialist in transfers of technologies with practical experience in innovation finances and capital raising for SMES as well as in development of training sessions.INI-Novation GmbH has identified a small number of pilot actions which have been implemented successfully in several European regions in the past. In the practical piloting phase of ‘TESLA’ INI-Novation will be involved as ‘donor partner regions’ sharing knowledge and practical experiences with ‘recipient partner regions’ with a view to implementing more advanced and enhanced models, especially in the areas of: –
INI- Novation will participate in the following actions: – Action 1.4 (Innovation Outreach), Action 2.3 (Soft Landing), Action 3.1 (Mentor Plus) and also in the delivery of Best Practise & Case Studies WP. INI-Novation will bring specific strengths to the TESLA project which include new business development and innovation management expertise.