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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INNMADRIMASD 4 (Innovation services for enhancement innovation SMEs capacities in Madrid region in 2019)

Teaser

Summary

The purpose of the INNMADRIMASD 4 Key Account Management service is to ensure that Madrid Region based SME Instrument beneficiaries receive the most appropriate services and support to enhance the probability of successful exploitation of their innovation projects. The Key Account Manager helps beneficiaries to identify and source appropriate coaches, facilitate linkages between the company and other innovation support services and work closely with any coaches selected in the process. Key Account Managers also make links with standard Network services that could be relevant in the context of any phase of the SME Instrument beneficiaries with regard to their participation in other phase III activities.

Two partners in the consortium, FundaciÃ³n para el Conocimiento madri+d and AECIM, AsociaciÃ³n de Empresarios del Comercio y la Industria del Metal, coordinate the KAM services addressed to Madrid-based SME Instrument beneficiaries.

Second, the Enhance Innovation Management Capacities Services (EIMCS) are aimed at SMEs with potential for growth via product, process, service or business model innovations and with significant innovation activities, but they have a weak economic return on these activities. The aim is to empower those SMEs by helping them to unlock their potential by better managing their innovation process.

EIMC Services under H2020 are provided by two partners in the consortium: FundaciÃ³n Parque CientÃfico de Madrid (FPCM) and FundaciÃ³n para el Conocimiento madri+d.

Work performed

During INNMADRIMASD 4, 43 new SME-Instrument beneficiaries from the Madrid region (32 Phase 1 and 11 Phase 2), were contacted and visited, and the KAMs helped to develop their coaching activities and to take advantage of the rest of the services available in the innovation ecosystem. Including the cases that were still open from previous programs, a total of 67 companies were supported by the KAM service in 2019, while since the pilot phase in 2014 the partners have managed a grand total of 198 cases.

The companiesâ€™ receptivity to the service and the coaches assigned has been very positive, and all of them had a coach assigned at the end of 2019, except 2: one had not been assigned the coach yet while the other one rejected the coaching.

In addition, the partners continued the supporting work by organizing workshops for participants in the SME Instrument, public presentations of the programme addressed to experts, training activities accessible to all beneficiaries, and promoting our guide for writing SME Instrument proposals.

Second, 18 innovative companies have requested the provision of EIMC services, while at present 13 services have been fully delivered while the other 5 are still ongoing. For each company, a first interview was carried out to explain the benefits of the service and the process and methodology that would be used, then a diagnostic and a benchmarking were carried out, their results were summarized in a written report and, finally, an action plan based on the report was proposed and discussed with each beneficiary.

On the other hand, continuing the work of previous projects, several Business Acceleration Services were provided to all companies, while those having received the \'Seal of Excellence\' had the opportunity to access training and personalised advice by the Network partners on funding opportunities to develop their projects, apart from the financial support offered by the Spanish Ministry of Economy (CDTI).

Finally, coordination between the consortium partners has been very effective. All partners and their technical staff has been working in the project since 2014, while in 2019 a new KAM joined the team. The coach selection and matching process, and the search for new coaches, are done combining different types of sources, and the quality of the selection process has improved significantly year after year.

Final results

Since the pilot phase in 2014, the partners have managed a total of 198 KAM cases and only 8 did not accept the SME Instrument coaching. On the other hand, 19 companies have been delivered the EIMC services.

Although there is no quantitative data on the impact in terms of employment or growth, the coaching has significantly improved the focus of the work carried out by the companiesâ€™ top management, both in Phase1 and Phase 2 projects. Additionally, the overall positive results, with a vast majority of cases accepting the coaching and rating positively the KAM service, are a remarkable aspect of the project management.

Concerning the EIMC services, in 2019 their provision has received a very strong boost, in part thanks to some specific improvements: the â€œselling pointsâ€ were stressed and better communicated, while the EIMC services were combined with other activities offered by the partners in order to increase the added value perceived by target companies.

In the same way, cooperation with regional stakeholders has continued and it has clearly contributed to achieve the overall results. The services were communicated and offered to SME associations, to companies or organisations in specific sectors, to incubation programmes, brokerage events, competitions, etc., exploiting the wide network of contacts of the partners.

In particular, the KAM and the EIMC services have had a key role in the reginal innovation ecosystem, becoming a catalyst for companies to discover all the supporting activities they can access to, and generating very strong synergies with the regional innovation strategy RIS 3 from Comunidad de Madrid.