The toolbox is being designed to be accessible through the Europe INNOVA portal. Comprised in this innovative system are business planning and lifecycle analysis tools. Interested parties will have access to facilities, partners and funding. SMEs based in Europe will benefit immensely from this toolkit, using it to make their innovative ideas a reality. The toolkit will also give them the boost they need to speed up their growth within the bio-based market, the BIOCHEM partners say.
'In March we will train about 40 individuals - National Innovation Managers - in the use and application of the toolbox,' Dr Fletcher says. 'Then the work can begin to assess the potential of each company and provide it with information tailored to its specific profile and needs.'
The experts have established an extensive database of key SMEs and start-ups in the EU that could profit from BIOCHEM's support. The BIOCHEM experts will audit 100 experts this year. They predict that at least 250 SMEs will have been helped by BIOCHEM once it comes to an end.
Participating in the BIOCHEM project are experts from Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and the UK.
Europe INNOVA, funded under the European Commission's Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry, is on the fast track of becoming the laboratory for the development, testing and promotion of new tools and instruments in order to fuel innovation across the region. Ultimately, enterprises seeking to become more innovative and enter a technologically advanced market are benefiting most from this initiative.
Source: CORDIS
