Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - XS2I4MS (Access to I4MS)

Teaser

Digitization is considered one of the key innovations to enhance the competitiveness of the European industry. The digitization trend is expected to profoundly transform different industries and manufacturing, initiating a fourth industrial revolutions.The I4MS strategy is an...

Summary

Digitization is considered one of the key innovations to enhance the competitiveness of the European industry. The digitization trend is expected to profoundly transform different industries and manufacturing, initiating a fourth industrial revolutions.

The I4MS strategy is an initiative promoted by the European Commission to support the European leadership in manufacturing through the adoption of advanced ICT technologies in industry and supporting the digitization of European SMEs. More specifically, I4MS aims at increasing the competitiveness of European businesses by promoting leading-edge technologies in the areas of robotics, HPC cloud based simulation services, laser based applications, and Cyber Physical Systems and Internet of Things. A core element of the I4MS strategy is the support of so-called Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) which are expected to work as one-stop-shops for SMEs. DIHs include Competence Centers which support SMEs and mid-caps in crossing the valley of death by sharing technological infrastructure and highly skilled personnel.

The XS2I4MS project was one of the Coordination Support Actions to advance the I4MS ecosystem and expand its coverage in Europe. The objectives of the XS2I4MS project were:
• To organize the I4MS Mentoring program and support the mentored projects with more general training on how to further develop their DIH.
• To create an overview on I4MS related activities in Europe and analyze issues with regard to digitization in the manufacturing industry, as well as create more insight in the financing and brokerage on digitization and DIHs.
• Develop good practices and awareness of different demonstrators in Europe.

The project has resulted in:
• Major advances made in conceptual development on CC/DIH
• Mentoring work with 29 DIH has kickstarted the DIH movement in Europe
• Wide adoption of DIH concept and practice not only in manufacturing but also in other sectors such as agri-food, health and chemical industry.

The XS2I4MS consortium presented a strong mix of organizations to realize excellence and impact. Three large European applied research organizations, TNO, Fraunhofer and VTT, have as their core business transfer of technologies to manufacturing. The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is specialized to scale up advanced manufacturing technologies and has a dedicated Training Centre. Brainport Development has a major role to support high-tech SME start-ups in developing business plans, and accessing finance for growth.

Work performed

Core to the XS2I4MS project was the Mentoring program. In this program, 29 consortia were selected through an open call process to be supported in developing a feasibility study for the establishment of a DIH in their region. The work of the XS2I4MS project included the organization of a Call for tender, the selection of the projects to be supported and the general training with regard to non-technical competences (brokerage, financing, business models and plans, ecosystem assessment, use cases).

To facilitate the Mentoring program and create a more sustainable information base for new initiatives, an expert website was developed that provides information for both the selected projects and interested third parties. More general information was collected on suppliers and users of digitization technologies and the issues that SMEs are struggling with, as well as an assessment of how to organize brokerage in a DIH. A database with funding instruments has been developed.

Based on a rich source of information – the 29 feasibility studies to establish DIHs – a detailed cross case analysis has been undertaken. Based on these studies conclusions and recommendations for the Commission and future DIH initiatives have been developed.

A summer school was organized at MTC in 2016 to allow the demonstration of actual technological infrastructures. A final mentoring event was organized in Madrid in 2017 to share experience and conclusions from the mentoring program and the feasibility studies.

Complementary to the Mentoring program activities, a list of Demonstrators available for digitization is developed, as well as factsheets on digitization technologies. Also dissemination activities have been conducted, including the co-organization of the I4MS annual event in Amsterdam in 2016, the participation in the second I4MS annual event in Madrid in 2017, as well as publishing webinars online.

The work carried out by the consortium in a 30 months period was structured in the following Work-Packages:
WP1 Innovation Portal providing the core technological and information infrastructure to create the I4MS ecosystem by providing a wide range of services to the I4MS community.
WP2 I4MS Observatory providing a strong information base on relevant platforms, suppliers and users of technology
WP3 Sharing Best Practices and Dissemination aimed at integrating the activities on best practices related to the application of new technologies in manufacturing SMEs and to disseminate these to the I4MS community.
WP4 Brokerage aimed at assessing the needs of SMEs which can be used for suitable matchmaking at technological level and to find financing opportunities, assisting the DIHs to create effective technology transfer mechanisms, and providing information on funding opportunities to the I4MS community
WP5 Mentoring and Coaching for Regional Innovation Hubs aimed at extending and enhancing the I4MS Ecosystem to include new regions in the I4MS program.
WP6 Management and Coordination which is aimed at ensuring the smooth running of the project.

The work of the XS2I4MS project resulted in 20 deliverables.

Final results

The XS2I4MS project acted as a catalyst for enhancing in a sustainable way the adoption of ICT in manufacturing. The expected longer-term impact lays beyond the influence of the consortium, as its target groups are not the consortium partners, but 1) the broader I4MS community and the DIHs and 2) the I4MS projects. So the project activities were not only focused on the direct outputs to support the community and the I4MS projects, but also created deliverables aiming at the increase of the use of those outputs by the target groups.

The work planned in the framework of the XS2I4MS project resulted in:
• Major advances made in the conceptual development on Digital Innovation Hubs and Competence Centers
• Wide-spread adoption of the DIH concept
• Increased awareness of the broader EU I4MS community
• Increase the quality and the size of the I4MS innovation ecosystem, notably through supporting the establishment of a network of DIH.
• Supported the establishment of the I4MS brand as core to the European strategy for ICT integration in the manufacturing industry, e.g. by the use of I4MS webinars.
• Analysis of a rich set of data to develop lessons learned and recommendations for policy to support the development of DIHs and the future development of a pan-European DIH network.

Website & more info

More info: http://dih.i4ms.eu/.