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From Research to Enterprise (FREE)
Start date: Oct 31, 2008, End date: Jun 29, 2011 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Looking at the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) and at European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) of 2007, none of the regions involved in the FREE project are among the Top-50 EU regional performers. Bearing this in mind and also the fact that investing more in knowledge and innovation is one of the goals of the renewed Lisbon strategy the project will support this priority by improving innovative capacity in business, supporting and qualifying technology transfers and cooperation networks among organisations and individuals.This interrelation knowledge exploitation is a critical factor for EU’s international competitiveness. Especially the capacity of regional actors to turn knowledge and skills into sustainable competitive advantage is crucial at this stage, as innovation is most effectively addressed at regional level, where physical proximity fosters the partnership between actors.FREE activities will be strongly based on already established/ongoing initiatives, both at regional and European level, so as to capitalise the efforts and valorise their outputs, focusing on those experiences providing concrete instruments and fitting the SMEs needs. Achievements: The general objective of the project FREE can be summarized as to stimulate the knowledge exchange mechanism between the research and technology development (RTD) activities and the industrial utilization of the result of the RTD. The specific objective is to develop tangible instruments and human skills able to foster the diffusion of innovation into the business sector on the basis of transnational framework adapted to regional dimensions. Based on the grounding work represented by the creation of the inventory of research and innovation organizations (see at www.researchdirectory.eu), elaboration of the innovation systems and innovation services guidebooks, as well as a training guide for innovation courses, the tasks of effective training programmes and visible pilot actions were carried out during the project lifetime which was extended by 4 months to become 36 months finally. The project aimed to accomplish 4 pilot actions which are commonly defined and regionally realized by the seven project partners in various fields of innovation. Accomplished actions: 1) production of Training Guidelines and organizing training courses by each partner (6 courses for training mediators of innovation, altogether 217 persons, and 4 courses for secondary training of selected target groups by the mediators trained before, including young high educated people, altogether 185 persons); establishment of the Network of Mediators of Innovation (NMI) and Network Directory of Implementators; 2) Day of TTDay in Brussels and at regional level (6 events); 3) Preparation of feasibility studies in each partner country (4x10 studies); 4) Issuing Patent&Technology Newsletters by each partner region (75 issues). – As a result of the pilot actions one definite job function was created, but the unit of innovation project management have been strengthened at each partner organization. A series of events were organized for the dissemination of the project results: 4 transnational dissemination seminar, and 2-2 regional seminars in each partner regions, 5 innovation roadshow programmes in Hungary, visible presentation of the project at a number of transnational/national/regional events (8 events in period 6). A lot of promotional tools were produced: demonstrative films (3), CD and DVD compilations (2), articles (96), TV, radio incidences (2), and various other types of PR tools. The most characteristic events of the last period were the Technology Transfer Day in Brussels, hold on 12 May 2011 in building of Committee of the Regions, where several lecturers of the European Commission and its institutions spoke about the policy and concepts of the EU in the field of innovation, transfer of innovation technology, valorisation of intellectual property rights: some lectures can be seen on the project website free.unideb.hu/portal/Technology_Transfer_Day_Brussels
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  • 82.4%   1 509 763,50
  • 2007 - 2013 Central Europe
  • Project on KEEP Platform
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6 Partners Participants