The overall objective of the project is to bring innovative thinking into the region’s Higher Education and to enhance universities' ability for encouraging and conducting collaboration with their economic environments. The project will promote the development of sustainable partnerships between universities and enterprises in the South-Mediterranean region through the establishment of Centers of Excellence in Knowledge Transfer at 12 universities in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria. One of the main goals of the project is to strengthen the universities’ capacities in initiating and supporting innovation and technological learning processes in enterprises through the development of implementation of Technology and Innovation Audits as a tool for structured technological analysis and diagnosis. Based on the European experience this tool helps map the critical issues for company’s technological and innovative potential and serves as a launch pad for innovation. During the testing phase of the service in the 2nd and 3rd project year the consortium plans to conduct approx. 864 Assisted Innovation Diagnosis and develop subsequent Innovation Support Plans for at least 240 North-African enterprises. To facilitate these processes the consortium will implement an extensive training programme aiming at the creation of a pool of Knowledge Transfer Professionals among the universities and with the involvement of representatives of national Business Associations. The development of a regional Mediterranean Alliance for the promotion of Knowledge Transfer and Innovation as well significant number of national and regional information and networking events planned within the project will contribute to the increased entrepreneurship and innovation culture at various academic, economic and political levels. As a result of the project the universities will not only improve the visibility and relevance of their own research capacities but also the understanding of the technological processes and innovation capacities of the business world. The creation of the units for institutionalized implementation of the Knowledge Transfer and Technology Audits services will be the key input for higher education institutions’ contribution to the improved technological and innovation performance as well as generation of further socio-economic benefits.