La mijlocul lunii iunie am finalizat stadiul doi al interventiei din districtul Dhading / Nepal, initiata ca urmare a cutremurului din 25 aprilie si a replicilor sale. Planul tentativ pentru perioada aprilie 2015 – februarie 2016 il poti vedea aici.

Ce am facut in etapa doi:

1. Securizarea spatiului de scoala pentru Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School

In prima etapa am construit un spatiu temporar pentru scoala (dreapta, in poza de mai jos), care, alaturi de spatiul care a rezistat cutremurului (stanga, in poza) o sa acomodeze 450 de elevi – aprox. 300 din Dandagaon si 150 din satele din alte sate, unde scolile au fost distruse in totalitate. La constructie au participat echipa Nepal EduCaB si localnici din Dandagaon.

In a doua etapa, am angajat o companie de inginerie si arhitectura, alaturi de un geolog, pentru a face o analiza la fata locului, care o sa ne ajute in construirea cladirii permanente pentru noua scoala din Dandagaon (in iunie – iulie), precum si in etapa de reconstructie a caselor din zona, dupa terminarea Musonlui, in octombrie 2015. 

Mai jos sunt planurile pentru noua constructie permanenta pe care o vom realiza in iunie-iulie pentru Scoala Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School din Dandagaon:

2. Oferirea de rechizite pentru Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School / Dandagaon

Am achizitionar rechizite (i.e. caiete personalizate, creioane, alte materiale educationale) pentru aprox. 450 elevi care invata acum in scoala din satul Dandagaon.

Mid June, we have closed stage two of the intervention in Dhading, following to the Earthquake on April 25th and the subsequent aftershocks.

What we did so far:

1. Securing safe school space for Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School

In the first instance, we have build a temporary school space that, along with the existing school, will accomodate around 450 kids from the region (around 300 from Dandagaon, and 150 from other villages, where the schools were totally destoyed). It was a three days effort of the Nepal EduCaB team and the community.

In parallel, we hired an engineering company and a geologist that went to Dhading to make an assesment that give us baseline info for building the permanent school structure (June – July) and also planning the reconstruction plan for the households in the area (after October).

Below, are the plans for the new building we will build for the Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School in Dandagaon:

2. Providing stationery supplies for Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School / Dandagaon

We have order stationary (personlized notebooks, pencils, other educational material) for all 450 kids that are now joining the school in Dandagaon / Dhading.

As a response to the critical situation in Dhading district, 64 km. West of Kathmandu, following the Earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25^th, The Romanian Centre for Innovation in Local Development urgently initiated an intervention in the area, consisting of 8 villages, 300 households, with around 1250 persons.

The strategic partners for the intervention we are undertaking are: Cold Feet Adventure Trekking / Cold Feet Foundation in Kathmandu (for all phases / coordinating the local team & actions), Dordrecht Community Task Force in Netherlands (mainly for the reconstruction phase with engineering expertise). During our intervention, we are also in communication with the representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Romania / IOM Nepal) and the ones of the Romanian Ministry of Internal  Affairs. We are thankful to all those that supported our actions for the first stage of intervention. We are also counting on the involvement of i-Say Community, powered by Ipsos Interactive Services, using financial resources from Ipsos respondents. 

The area we are covering is the one we are implementing Nepal EduCaB (Educational Capacity Building in Rural Nepal), a development program started in January 2014, aiming to establishing and activating library capacity at the level of rural schools in Dhading district / Nepal, as a mean of starting self-sustainable community development projects & social enterprises, while providing learning & best practices opportunities for those supporting the initiative.

THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE AREA – AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE FROM APRIL 25^TH

–          Remote area, i.e. three hours of trekking from the secondary road;

–          85% to 90% out of the 300 households destroyed;

–          30 deaths & more than 80 injured;

–          More than 100 animals dead (goats, buffs);

–          No intervention from the Government due to current date;

–          The Monsoon is approaching (starting June to October);

–          The school that is accommodating the kids from 5 villages (297 persons) is destroyed; only one building remained almost intact (still, there is a need for construction works to be done).

CRIDL & COLD FEET EMERGENCY INTERVENTION PLAN IN DHADING

Our focus is to firstly provide shelter, basic food supplies and medical services, prior to starting the Monsoon period (in June). In the subsequent phases, we shall concentrate our efforts for the reconstruction part.

FIRST STAGE

 (April 28^th to May 17^th)

–          Securing emergency shelter to around 450-500 residents

–          Providing around a tone of food supplies (e.g. 120 kg. of rice, 100 kg. of potato, 100 kg. flour, 200 packages of glucose, 160 kg. of dry rice, 80 packages of salt, 80 liters of oil etc.)

–          Organizing a three days medical camp, providing general medical services to around 600 residents from the eight villages we cover (i.e. hiring 8 doctors, 2 medical assistants, 2 pharmacists, buying medicine for around 600-700 persons)

The CRIDL / Nepal EduCaB, Cold Feet Adventure Trekking & Cold Feet Foundation teams are underway organizing the subsequent stages to be implemented in Dhading, being interested in securing proper shelter for the Monsoon period (through providing tin sheets for the roof), solar panels, school stationary supplies and construction materials and engineering expertise after the Monsoon will pass, for the reconstruction phase.

SECOND STAGE

 (May 18^th to June 12^th)

–          Providing tin roof bundles (around 10 sheets of tin per bundle) for all 300 household in the area we cover. We shall start with securing an initial 100 households;

–          Providing solar panels for 100 (initial) households;

–          Providing stationery supplies for 300 kids in Dhading district (Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School);

–          Securing safe school space for Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School.

THIRD STAGE

 (13^th of June to July 15^th)

–          Organizing a second medical camp in order to cover all residents in Dhading. Depending on resources, we aim covering with medical services neighboring district, Nuwakot and other areas in Nepal.

FOURTH STAGE

 (July 15^th to October 15^th)

–          (If needed and depending on the resources) securing more emergency shelter in the area & emergency medical interventions.

–          Starting a volunteering program for assisting CRIDL, Cold Feet Foundation / Cold Feet Adventure Trekking / Nepal EduCaB interventions in Dhading.

FIFTH STAGE

 (October 15^th to February 29^th)

–          Reconstruction interventions for all 300 households.

–          Tentative biogas pilot project for around 10 households in Dhading district.

Depending on the situation and priorities, changes can occur during any phases of this intervention plan. 

FINANCIAL MECHANISMS IN PLACE

Two accounts were opened within CRIDL, for the donation campaign initiated after the earthquake from April 25^th.

For any financial assistance to the CRIDL emergency campaign in Dhading District / Nepal (April 2015 – February 2016), our team is providing all data needed: copy of invoices, details on the supplies that are and will be bought, photos, contact data of the community leaders in Dhading villages, timely updates with activities that are undertaken.

For any additional details please contact us at: mihai.lupu@cridl.org or info@coldfeetadventure.com. Also consider the Nepal EduCaB page for the journal of our interventions.

_____________

_{^{*Disclaimer: this intervention is initiated by the Romanian Centre for Innovation in Local Development (CRIDL), in partnership with the Cold Feet team in Nepal. Since the accounts we have opened are public, anyone can donate, therefore, please note that our activities do not reflect in anyway the views and/or the affiliations of any sort of the supporters / donors (institutions or individuals) that contributed to our cause. We are a non-profit, non-governmental, apolitical and independent organization, therefore all our actions are subject to the strategy and action plans designed and undertaken by our team and the professionals we have hired.}}

As a response to the critical situation in Dhading district, 64 km. West of Kathmandu, following the Earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25^th, The Romanian Centre for Innovation in Local Development urgently initiated an intervention in the area, consisting of 8 villages, 300 households, with around 1250 persons.

The strategic partners for the intervention we are undertaking are: Cold Feet Adventure Trekking / Cold Feet Foundation in Kathmandu (for all phases / coordinating the local team & actions), Dordrecht Community Task Force in Netherlands (mainly for the reconstruction phase with engineering expertise). During our intervention, we are also in communication with the representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Romania / IOM Nepal) and the ones of the Romanian Ministry of Internal  Affairs. We are thankful to all those that supported our actions for the first stage of intervention. We are also counting on the involvement of i-Say Community, powered by Ipsos Interactive Services, using financial resources from Ipsos respondents. 

The area we are covering is the one we are implementing Nepal EduCaB (Educational Capacity Building in Rural Nepal), a development program started in January 2014, aiming to establishing and activating library capacity at the level of rural schools in Dhading district / Nepal, as a mean of starting self-sustainable community development projects & social enterprises, while providing learning & best practices opportunities for those supporting the initiative.

THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE AREA – AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE FROM APRIL 25^TH

–          Remote area, i.e. three hours of trekking from the secondary road;

–          85% to 90% out of the 300 households destroyed;

–          30 deaths & more than 80 injured;

–          More than 100 animals dead (goats, buffs);

–          No intervention from the Government due to current date;

–          The Monsoon is approaching (starting June to October);

–          The school that is accommodating the kids from 5 villages (297 persons) is destroyed; only one building remained almost intact (still, there is a need for construction works to be done).

CRIDL & COLD FEET EMERGENCY INTERVENTION PLAN IN DHADING

Our focus is to firstly provide shelter, basic food supplies and medical services, prior to starting the Monsoon period (in June). In the subsequent phases, we shall concentrate our efforts for the reconstruction part.

FIRST STAGE

 (April 28^th to May 17^th)

–          Securing emergency shelter to around 450-500 residents

–          Providing around a tone of food supplies (e.g. 120 kg. of rice, 100 kg. of potato, 100 kg. flour, 200 packages of glucose, 160 kg. of dry rice, 80 packages of salt, 80 liters of oil etc.)

–          Organizing a three days medical camp, providing general medical services to around 600 residents from the eight villages we cover (i.e. hiring 8 doctors, 2 medical assistants, 2 pharmacists, buying medicine for around 600-700 persons)

The CRIDL / Nepal EduCaB, Cold Feet Adventure Trekking & Cold Feet Foundation teams are underway organizing the subsequent stages to be implemented in Dhading, being interested in securing proper shelter for the Monsoon period (through providing tin sheets for the roof), solar panels, school stationary supplies and construction materials and engineering expertise after the Monsoon will pass, for the reconstruction phase.

SECOND STAGE

 (May 18^th to June 12^th)

–          Providing tin roof bundles (around 10 sheets of tin per bundle) for all 300 household in the area we cover. We shall start with securing an initial 100 households;

–          Providing solar panels for 100 (initial) households;

–          Providing stationery supplies for 300 kids in Dhading district (Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School);

–          Securing safe school space for Mahendrodaya Kalika Secondary School.

THIRD STAGE

 (13^th of June to July 15^th)

–          Organizing a second medical camp in order to cover all residents in Dhading. Depending on resources, we aim covering with medical services neighboring district, Nuwakot and other areas in Nepal.

 FOURTH STAGE

 (July 15^th to October 15^th)

–          (If needed and depending on the resources) securing more emergency shelter in the area & emergency medical interventions.

–          Starting a volunteering program for assisting CRIDL, Cold Feet Foundation / Cold Feet Adventure Trekking / Nepal EduCaB interventions in Dhading.

FIFTH STAGE

 (October 15^th to February 29^th)

–          Reconstruction interventions for all 300 households.

–          Tentative biogas pilot project for around 10 households in Dhading district.

Depending on the situation and priorities, changes can occur during any phases of this intervention plan. 

FINANCIAL MECHANISMS IN PLACE

 Two accounts were opened within CRIDL, for the donation campaign initiated after the earthquake from April 25^th.

For any financial assistance to the CRIDL emergency campaign in Dhading District / Nepal (April 2015 – February 2016), our team is providing all data needed: copy of invoices, details on the supplies that are and will be bought, photos, contact data of the community leaders in Dhading villages, timely updates with activities that are undertaken.

For any additional details please contact us at: mihai.lupu@cridl.org or info@coldfeetadventure.com. Also consider the Nepal EduCaB page for the journal of our interventions.

_____________

_{^{*Disclaimer: this intervention is initiated by the Romanian Centre for Innovation in Local Development (CRIDL), in partnership with the Cold Feet team in Nepal. Since the accounts we have opened are public, anyone can donate, therefore, please note that our activities do not reflect in anyway the views and/or the affiliations of any sort of the supporters / donors (institutions or individuals) that contributed to our cause. We are a non-profit, non-governmental, apolitical and independent organization, therefore all our actions are subject to the strategy and action plans designed and undertaken by our team and the professionals we have hired.}}

If you have a good idea but aren’t sure how to put it in practice, join incubators, labs, launchpads & accelerators for social and environmental innovations!

Some of the features of the innovation process make entrepreneurs get lost on the way and lose momentum for bringing their ideas to life. Common challenges that innovators face are:

• lack of resources (infrastructure or financial assets) to invest in developing their ideas
• high risk of failure
• need for tools to refine their ideas and manage their business
• need for guidance and mentors to feel inspired by and pat them on the back
• access to knowledge networks
• contact with potential markets & customers, etc.

Labs, incubators, and accelerators are some of the tools that could tackle challenges that start-ups face. Incubators are especially useful in the first phases of the innovation process, when ideas need to be filtered and the business model refined. Especially in the development of technology-intense products, this is the phase called “valley of death”, where the risk of failure is quite high, making it hard for start-ups to raise funding and continue to improve their ideas.

There has been an increase in the numbers of such spaces around the world. Some programmes are running globally, also focused on technology innovations, environmental or social innovations and accept applications from enthusiastic entrepreneurs with a vision for social & environmental impact.

A selection of incubators and launchpads for social & environmental impact that accept applications from global entrepreneurs include:

• The Unreasonable Institute – Here’s their selection of fellows for 2014, watch out for the 2015 round! http://unreasonableinstitute.org/2014-unreasonables/
• MakeSene virtual idea incubator and peer-to-peer social business development website https://beta.makesense.org/
• EchoingGreen Climate & Global fellowships: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship/climate-fellowship  

Of course, organizations such as Ashoka and Acumen Fund are further sources of ideas for social enterprises and important lessons on how to get going and achieve impact. And the list is open.

We can also take action and create the friendly environment for social and environmental enterprises at home, through supporting incubators and such launch platforms ourselves. Here are some models that would be interesting to replicate / study:

• Solve – a UK based “foundry” development site for social & civic engagement  http://solvetogether.org/2014/05/why-should-i-join-the-civic-foundry/ and for public sector innovators: http://solvetogether.org/programme/public-service-launchpad/. Solve works with impact investment funds and local community leaders to incubate and launch socially innovative ideas.  
• Delft University of Technology’s Yes Delft! incubator and their pre-incubation lab LaunchLab. The incubator helps technology start-ups grow and commercialise their products. It will soon open a specialised track for clean technology incubation also. LaunchLab is preparing scientists and young professional test their ideas in the market based on the Lean Start-up methodology

TU Delft together with a consortium of partners recently published a handbook on how to set up clean technology incubators and what’s important to know when getting this off the ground. The handbook offers quite a reader friendly way to understand the technology innovation process and what tools we could use to accelerate it, highly recommended!  

Clearly, these incubators and launch platforms cannot operate as islands. They need to be part of a wider ecosystem of investors, established businesses and universities (not to mention wider framework conditions of the regulatory and institutional environment), which encourage the creation of new initiatives. These are all aspects we can all work towards improving bit by bit.

Am participat de curand la conferinta finala a proiectului WBC-INCO NET,  finantat de Comisia Europeana cu scopul de a oferi o platforma de networking si knowledge-sharing intre actorii sistemului de cercetare si inovatie din tarile Balcanilor de Vest si UE. Conferinta s-a axat pe explorarea oportunitatilor de dezvoltare a sistemelor de cercetare si inovatie din regiune.

O prezentare interesanta a fost a prof. Slavo Radosevic, de la University College London, care a oferit o vedere de ansamblu asupra stadiului sistemelor de cercetare si inovatie (CDI) din tarile din Balcani si a pus in discutie problematica cresterii economice catalizata de procesul de CDI.

Cateva fapte care sumarizeaza peisajul inovatiei in Balcani, care ilustreaza in principiu o stare de fapt destul de cunoscuta (mai multe se gasesc pe slide-urile de la conferinta):

1. In primul rand, similar ca si in Romania si Bulgaria, investitiile publice si private in activitatile de cercetare si inovatie sunt foarte mici in general in Balcani,  ceea ce se reflecta si in rezultatele cercetarii (de ex. numar de publicatii si tehnologii brevetate foarte redus in comparatie cu EU).
2. Se poate remarca o tendinta crescuta a sectorului privat de a obtine certificari de calitate a produselor, gen ISO9001. La nivel macroeconomic, aceasta aspect de fapt explica tendinta de crestere bazata pe imbunatatirea capabilitatilor de productie, si nu a capabilitatilor tehnologice. In general, actorii inovatori din sectorul privat din Balcani, la fel ca si cei din Romania si Bulgaria inoveaza in principiu prin transfer tehnologic, achizitia si integrarea de noi masini – toate produse / inventate de catre alti actori din economii mai dezvoltate (unde cresterea este bazata si pe aceste procese de inovare in-house a firmelor)
3. Exista o diferenta relativ mare intre “oferta” de pe piata sistemului de CDI (reflectata de activitatile universitatilor si institutelor de cercetare in majoritate din sectorul public) si “cererea” de produse CDI si inovatie, in principiu din partea sectorului privat. Se cerceteaza mult mai mult (cantitativ vorbind, conform numarului mare de institute de cercetare si publicatii aferente)  decat este apoi folosit in procesele de productie, sau in activitatile firmelor.

Concluzia pentru politicile de sustinere a inovatiei in Balcanii de Vest, care se aplica si Romaniei in mare parte, este ca este nevoie de o mai mare concentrare a atentiei asupra factorilor catalizatori ai a cererii de inovatie in interiorul mediului privat, nu numai pe finantarea directa a cercetarii (sau oferta pe piata inovatiilor). Lipsesc politicile de promovare a comercializarii de inovatii, de a ajuta tranzitia de la prototip aproape gata, la un produs ce poate fi folosit la o scala mai mare. In acelasi timp, nu trebuie neglijate stadiile mai timpurii sau intermediare in procesul de inovatie, care tin de modul cum o idee de produs sau serviciu poate trece de la stadiul de macheta la a fi gata de pus in folosinta (in proiecte complexe, acest proces poate lua ani buni). Mai ales in stadiile acestea, prof. Radosevic argumenta ca este nevoie de sustinerea colaborarilor dintre sectorul de cercetare si mediul privat, dar care de fapt sa fie initiate bottom-up, de catre firmele private, de multe ori IMM-uri. Colaborarile cu universitatile pornite din partea firmelor pot fi cu atat mai fructuoase cu cat pornesc de la nevoile firmelor si sunt ancorate in posibilitati de imbunatatire a unor procese tehnologice, sau modele de business, sau, in acelasi timp, pot atinge si scopuri de imbunatatire a impactului social sau de mediu al companiilor.

In Balcanii de Vest, dar valabil si pentru sistemul de inovatie din Romania si Blugaria, exemple de masuri publice necesare ar fi programe de twinning intre parteneriate industriale, si modernizarea universitatilor pentru a creste relevanta cercetarii academice pentru mediul privat.  De asemenea, exista o varietate de alte forme de sustinere a cererii de inovati in sectorul privat (si au luat amploare in ultimii ani), de la achizitii publice de produse inovative gata de a fi comercializate sau chiar produse in stadiu pre-comercial, la  interventii mai reduse (financiar cel putin) ale statului, prin organizarea de retele, promovarea de parteneriate si facilitarea aparitiei clusterelor, sau introducerea voucherelor de inovatie, etc. 

Proiectul WBC-INCO NET transmitea newslettere foarte pline de informatii despre initiative de inovare din regiunea Balcanilor de Vest si Europa Centrala si de Est, precum si oportunitati de finantare ale Comisiei Europene sau globale. Publicatia finala a proiectului este un compendiu despre sistemele de cercetare si inovare din Balcanii de Vest si cooperarea teritoriala in regiune, poate fi foarte util.  Proiectul va fi continuat prin Danube Inco-Net, o initiativa sub egida Strategiei Macro-regiunii Dunarii, coordonat de Centrul pentru Inovatii Sociale (ZSI) din Austria. Este interesant de urmarit evolutia proiectului in continuare, atat pentru informatiile si oportunitatile de finantare si exchange in domeniul CDI din regiune, dar si din perspectiva faptului ca prioritatile fondurilor europene de pre-aderare dedicate statelor din Balcani se regasesc cercetarea si inovatia, pe modelul fondurilor structurale disponibile Statelor Membre UE, deci pot rasari multe oportunitati de colaborare in acest domeniu.

Comisia Europeana a publicat in martie Indexul Uniunii Inovatiei (Innovation Union Scoreboard – IUS) si Indexul Regional al Inovatiei (Regional Innovation Scoreboard – RIS), care ofera o imagine de ansamblu a performantei statelor membre UE si a regiunilor in termeni de inovare. Cele mai performante state europene sunt, din nou, Suedia, Danemarca, Germania si Finalanda. Polonia este singura tara care a schimbat apartenenta la categoriile de stadii de inovatie, de la un stat cu rezultate modeste de inovatie, la un stat cu rezultate moderate. Romania este pe ultimele pozitii in UE, dupa Bulgaria si Letonia (desi se observa o crestere cu o pozitie fata de anul trecut), categorisita ca “inovator modest”.    

Indexul Uniunii Inovatiei este un scor ce masoara performantele a trei dimensiuni ale sistemelor de inovatie:

• facilitatori ai inovatiei (gradul de educatie a resursei umane, starea sistemului de cercetare, finantarea cercetarii si inovatiei);
• activitatile sectorului privat (investitii in cercetare si inovare, interactiunea cu sectorul academic, proprietate intelectuala creata);
• rezultatele inovarii (inovatii in produse, servicii, forme de organizare sau marketing si efectele economice ale lor).

O concluzie cheie a analizei indexului IUS este faptul ca majoritatea statelor aflate in top au scoruri foarte bune in toate cele trei dimensiuni, si au, deci, sisteme de inovatie foarte echilibrate. In aceste state, se pune foarte mare accent atat din partea sectorului public cat si din partea sistemul privat pe educatie, training, cercetare, si dezvoltarea de noi idei.

Indexul regional al inovarii analizeaza aceleasi dimensiuni ca si IUS, la nivel teritorial (NUTS 2, conform  nomenclaturii statistice a regiunilor la nivel european). Se pot remarca diferente de performanta a regiunilor chiar si in cadrul aceluiasi stat membru. Un exemplu este Franta, unde regiunile din jurul Parisului sunt inovatori “moderati”, Parisul este lider la nivel european, iar restul regiunilor franceze sunt inovatori in crestere (“followers”). In Romania, Bucurestiul este inovator moderat, iar restul tarii se plaseaza in categoria inovatorilor “modesti”.    

Un alt aspect interesant analizat in RIS este dezbatut intr-un capitol separat, privind legatura dintre folosirea fondurilor UE pentru cercetare si inovare (atat din Programul Cadru 7  / FP7 cat si Fondurile Structurale) si performanta regiunilor in termeni de inovare. Se poate remarca o complementaritate intre fonduri, prin care regiunile care sunt lideri in inovatie atrag fonduri FP7 in mod competitiv la nivel european, si folosesc foarte putine fonduri structurale.

Cu toate acestea, ceea ce pune pe ganduri este numarul mare de regiuni la nivel UE care au performante slabe in termeni de inovatie (conform RIS / IUS) si nici nu folosesc fonduri structurale pentru a finanta proiecte de cercetare si inovatie.  Aceasta tendinta a fost denumita “paradoxul inovatiei regionale”: in general, regiunile sarace si cu performante economice si de inovatie slabe, sunt exact aceleasi care nu prioritizeaza investitii in capital uman, in economia cunoasterii si in inovatie, riscand sa ramana blocate intr-un cerc vicios. Ba mai mult, raman in urma regiunilor performante, care continua sa creasca, mergand in spirala “cercului virtuos” creat prin concentrarea pe o dezvoltare inteligenta.  

Cautand explicatii posibile ale acestui paradox al inovatiei, autorii argumenteaza ca de fapt, statele unde este prezent acest ciclu negativ al lipsei investitiilor in inovatie (atat din partea sectorului public, cat si privat), adopta inca paradigma dezvoltarii pe model centralizat. Mecanismele de luare a deciziilor din multe state membre care sunt mai putin performante in termeni de inovatie nu au fost adaptate la nevoile unei economii si societati dinamice a cunoasterii.  La nivel UE, cat si international, a fost recunoscuta din ce in ce mai mult valoarea unei gandiri teritoriale a dezvoltarii bazata pe locatie – sau  “place-based”. Pentru a promova potentialul local si regional, politicile economice nationale trebuie sa tina cont de interactiunile dintre geografia economica (specificitatile si atu-urile locale), institutiile regionale si cunostintele actorilor locali din mediul privat, academic sau social. Romania este una din tarile in care se simte nevoia de actualizare a modului de a concepe dezvoltarea din partea sectorului public dar si a mediului privat, care sa includa o dimensiune teritoriala mai accentuata, si un proces participativ si descentralizat de luare a deciziilor de investitii la nivel local, nu numai national.

Pe langa acordarea de importanta sporita nevoilor locale, este nevoie de o abordare a politicilor de promovare a sistemului de inovatie in intregimea lui, tinand cont de interactiunile dintre mediul academic, cel de cercetare, si mediul privat. Lucrarea evidentiaza si faptul ca multe din statele membre au o intelegere diferita a politicilor de promovare a sistemelor (regionale) de inovatie. Daca unele guverne nationale au transferat din competente la nivel regional sau local pentru a mobiliza resurse si actori din toate sectoarele intr-un proces dinamic de interactiune si de promovare a firmelor, universitatilor si organizatiilor sau a oricaror persoane cu idei (vezi Marea Britanie, Belgia, Germania, pana si Polonia), alte state pastreaza o abordare de sus in jos a investitiilor in inovatie si sunt in general adepte ale unui model de gandire liniar al dezvoltarii si inovatiei, si nu gandesc inovatia la nivel de sistem. Un indiciu in acest sens este modul de design al Programelor Operationale (PO) ale fondurile structurale prin care s-au finantat poriecte din domeniul cercetarii si inovarii in 2007-2013. Unele state ca Marea Britanie sau Germania au tinut cont de caracteristicile diferite in termeni socio-economici ale regiunilor in prioritizarea PO-urilor si au personalizat tipul de investitii pe baza nevoilor si nivelului de dezvoltare regional. Alte state din Estul Europei, ca Romania si Bulgaria, au avut un singur PO pentru intreg teritoriul tarii, lasand putin loc pentru diversitate, specific local si pentru actorii locali sa prioritizeze investitii in sectoare de inovatie in care au mai multa nevoie. Rezultatele au putut fi remarcate aproape de sfarsitul perioadei de finantare in 2013, si, dupa cum lasa de inteles si lucrarea, majoritatea statelor cu performanta redusa in inovatie si (incidental?) un mecanism institutional centralizat de prioritizare a investitiilor, au investit relativ (mai) putin in inovatie.

Capitolul din Indexul Regional al Inovatiei nu demonstreaza o legatura de cauzalitate intre abordarile programarii fondurilor de investitie in dezvoltare si inovatie bazate pe un proces ce confera mai multa autonomie nivelului regional sau local, si performantele lor in inovatie, dar este inca un semnal ca problematicile dimensiunii teritoriale a dezvoltarii si abordarea sistemica a inovatiei ca optiune de dezvoltare ar trebui dezbatute mult mai mult in special in momentul acesta, cand se contureaza programele de finantare pe perioada 2014-2020. Noua propunere de Strategie de Cercetare, Dezvoltare si Inovare a Romaniei a facut pasi importanti in acest sens, insa ar putea avea un impact si mai mare in momentul in care investitiile prevazute in domeniul inovatiei sunt corelate cu nevoile de dezvoltare locala / regionala si atuurile fiecarei regiuni.

Horizon 2020, programul UE pentru finantare a cercetarii, dezvoltarii si inovatiei (CDI) a fost lansat la sfarsitul anului trecut si a intrat in perioada de implementare incepand cu ianuarie 2014. Programul deja ofera oportunitati foarte interesante pentru proiecte de dezvoltare locala.  

Care este rationamentul Horizon 2020?

Fata de FP7, o noutate a programului Horizon 2020 este concentrarea mai mare a finantarii pe investitii care vizeaza rezolvarea unor provocari majore ale societatii europene. In urma deciziilor luate la nivelul UE prin adoptarea Agendei Europa 2020 si a propunerilor initiativei “Uniunea Inovatiei”, toate programele UE vizeaza atingerea unor obiective de dezvoltare “inteligenta, sustenabila si inclusiva”. In esenta, acele obiective se regasesc in nucleul oricarei initiative UE, si anunta trecerea la un nou mod de a gandi dezvoltarea: unul bazat pe o abordare sistemica a provocarilor economice, sociale si de mediu, si pe o accentuare a rolului folosirii si nu numai generarii rezultatelor cunoasterii, cercetarii, si inovatiei in promovarea dezvoltarii.  Pe langa universitati si institutii de cercetare, Horizon 2020 are in centru rolul firmelor, al administratiei publice, organizatiilor civice si a cetatenilor in a contura beneficiile dorite de pe urma inovatiilor.  

Prin Horizon 2020 s-au alocat fonduri catre trei mari obiective: Excelenta in stiinta, Leadership industrial si Provocari ale societatii (conform Strategiei EU2020). In plus, exista alte cateva obiective orizontale, cum ar fi “Stiinta in si pentru societate”, care promoveaza o abordare “responsabila” a cercetarii si inovatiei, si o implicare mult mai larga a publicului si a celor care urmeaza sa foloseasca rezultatele cercetarii si inovatiei, in procesul ca atare de CDI.  

Principiul pe care se bazeaza H2020 este ca se finanteaza intreg ciclul de inovare, de la cercetarea de baza, testari si protipuri, pana la demonstratii la scala mare sau reala, incurajarea comercializarii produselor in stare pre-comerciala, plus difuzarea mult mai larga a inovatiilor. Horizon 2020 este deci un program dedicat si cercetarii traditionale, dar nu numai.

Oportunitati pentru mai multa “actiune” locala si punere in practica a rezultatelor CDI

Horizon 2020 ofera mai multa flexibilitate in a introduce “actiunea” in procesul de cercetare si inovare, de a contribui la iteratii ale pasilor acestui proces, chiar si in domenii atat de multidisciplinare ca dezvoltarea locala. Pentru proiecte de dezvoltare locala vor fi foarte interesante call-urile din cadrul “Societal Challenge 6: Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective Societies” – programul de lucru al call-urilor pe 2014-2015 poate fi accesat aici.

Am remarcat deja cateva call-uri recente interesante ca potentiale surse de finantari de proiecte de cercetare in stiinte sociale (inclusiv in domenii ca dezvoltarea urbana, sau patrimoniu cultural), dar si de promovare a inovatiilor in dezvoltare locala, pentru care se pot depune propuneri de anul acesta pana in 2015:

REFLECTIVE-2-2015: Emergence and transmission of European cultural heritage and Europeanisation

REFLECTIVE-3-2015: European cohesion, regional and urban policies and the perceptions of Europe

REFLECTIVE-6-2015: Innovation ecosystems of digital cultural assets

INSO-1-2015: ICT-enabled open government

INSO-4-2015: Innovative schemes for open innovation and science 2.0

INSO-5-2015: Social innovation Community

E interesant de exeplu call-ul INSO-4-2015: Innovative schemes for open innovation and science 2.0, care ofera o oportunitate foarte interesanta pentru dezvoltarea capacitatii de inovare a administratiei publice, nu numai a sectorului privat. Sunt targetate activitati de creare de scheme de training si leadership in inovatie in organizatiile administratiei publice la nivel national sau regional, de exemplu prin platforme online de training, testare de curicule pentru instituirea unor procese de inovare, si de “deep dive” ale persoanelor trainuite in solutionarea unor probleme la nivel local.   

Un alt exemplu de actiune inovativa care poate obtine finantare prin Horizon 2020 – de exemplu prin INSO-5-2015: Social innovation Community sau INSO-1-2015: ICT-enabled open government (dar si prin Fonduri Structurale) sunt “Laboratoarele Vii” (Living Labs).  Conceptul a fost initiat de MIT in America si a inceput sa fie adoptat in din ce in ce mai multe organizatii, orase si regiuni in Europa, datorita caracterului lor interactiv care incurajeaza in mod natural fluiditatea proceselor de inovare.

Prin definitie, Laboratoarele Vii sunt “ecosisteme deschise de inovatie centrate pe useri / beneficiarii inovatiilor, bazate pe o abordare sistematica de “co-creare” / de implicare directa a beneficiarilor in procesul de inovatie, prin integrarea acestor procese in viata comunitatilor sau in medii reale de activitate.”  O alta denumire a Laboratoarelor Vii este cea de Public-Private-People Partnerships. Mai multe detalii se pot gasi intr-un factsheet publicat de Comisie pe platforma RIS3, plus pe Reteaua Europeana de Living Labs (ENoLL).

Laboratoarele Vii sunt centrate pe adaptarea unor noi solutii ICT la nevoile specifice ale unor comunitati diverse, cu capabilitati si contexte locale diferite.  Conceptul poate fi aplicat la procesul de inovatie locala, unde se poate observa limpede importanta includerii societatii civile sau a cetatenilor in procesul de concepere si dezvoltare a unor servicii publice. Se gasesc deja foarte multe exemple concrete de astfel de initiative pe pagina ENoLL:

• Amsterdam Living Lab , care se concentreaza pe crearea unei organizatii sustenabile care sa ofere servicii orasului / sectorului privat / cetatenilor in generarea si utilizarea de solutii ICT pentru masurarea si imbunatatirea mobilitatii urbane, eficientei energetice, etc.  
• CitiLab, din Barcelona, care combina calitati de centru de training si incubator de idei de inovatii sociale cu aplicatii la nivel urban.
• Tot din Barcelona, UpSocial, impreuna cu  guvernul local, a lansat un proiect de testare si adaptare la nivel local de solutii de inovatii sociale produse deja in alte orase, care au ca scop ameliorarea unor probleme sociale ca somajul in randul tinerilor. Detalii aici.   
• In Statele Unite, o formula de Living Lab este GovLab, deschis de Universitatea din New York, ce introduce un mod foarte dinamic si interactiv de generare si testare a unor solutii de politici publice nationale si locale.   

Networks of networks

Exista foarte multe alte instrumente noi care vin o data cu Horizon 2020, multe din ele bazate pe formarea de retele sau comunitati locale si internationale de cercetatori, universitati, actori din mediul public si privat, sau societatea civila. Daca FP7 si FP6 au deschis drumul in acest sens, Horizon 2020 pune si mai mult focus pe promovarea de aceste noi tipuri de parteneriate intre actorii sistemului de inovatie si o mai buna conectare a cererii si ofertei de inovatii in modalitati de rezolvare a unor probleme din societate. Mai jos sunt doua alte initiative noi, la care am putea participa pe viitor: 

• Desi actioneaza la nivel european ca o suma de retele europene de initiative locale,  Parteneriatele Europene de Inovare (EIP) sunt focalizate pe promovarea coordonarii activitatilor CDI la nivel european pe anumite domenii tematice, care corespund provocarilor societale identificate la nivel UE (imbatranirea populatiei, agricultura sustenabila, apa, materii prime, orase inteligente). EIP pentru Orase Inteligente are de exemplu rolul de a difuza inovatiile din reteaua formata la nivel european si sa creeze sinergii intre ele. Pentru asta, s-au constituit deja primele retele de proiecte si s-a publicat o platforma de stakeholderi deschisa publicului. EIP-urile nu sunt totusi mecanisme de finantare directa, proiectele din cadrul lor trebuie sa obtina finantare prin call-uri separate (tot prin Horizon 2020, Fonduri Structurale sau alte surse nationale si / sau private).
• Alta prioritate a Horizon 2020 este Institutul European de Tehnologie (EIT).. Un instrument interesant al institutului este conceptul de Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), care se constituie ca o entitate (privata, publica, sau non-profit), ce coordoneaza actorii din asa-zisul “Triunghi al Cunoasterii” (Knowledge Triangle)  – din sectorul cercetarii, din educatie si din mediul privat. Formulele de organizare ale acestor KICs merita investigate si poate aplicate si la noi, pentru ca au potentialul de a crea un mediu de colaborare intre sectoare ce poate accelera procesul de obtinere a rezultatelor cercetarii si difuzarea cunostintelor. Exista 17 astfel EIT KICs la nivel european, si au fost constituite ca centre de co-locatie ce promoveaza inovatia in domenii tematice ca Schimbarile Climatice, Energia sustenabila si ICT. In 2014 se vor lansa inca doua call-uri de formare de astfel de Comunitati de inovatie pe modelul KIC-urilor existente, in domenii ca imbatranirea populatiei si materii prime (folosirea eficienta a resurselor naturale).

Horizon 2020, the EU program for funding research & development and innovation (RDI) was launched last year and entered the implementation period in January 2014. It already offers interesting opportunities for local development projects.

What is some of the reasoning behind Horizon 2020?

Unlike FP7, the new Horizon 2020 program  has a stronger focus on financing investment aimed at solving some major challenges of the European society. Following previous EU-level decisions such as the adoption of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the establishment of  flagship initiatives such as “Innovation Union”, all EU programs have been mainstreamed towards achieving the development goals of “smart, sustainable and inclusive” growth. In essence, those targets are found at the core of any EU initiative and announce the transition to a new way of thinking development: one based on a systemic approach to the economic, social and environmental aspects, and an emphasis on the role of not only generating knowledge, but also using the RDI results in promoting development. In addition to universities and research institutions, Horizon 2020 centers on the role of companies, public administration, civic organizations and citizens to the shape desired benefits from innovation.

Horizon 2020 funds were allocated to three main objectives: Excellence in science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges (ase set in the EU 2020 Strategy). In addition, there are several other horizontal objectives such as the “Science with and for society” approach, promoting “responsible” research and innovation, and a broad involvement of the public and those who are to use the results of the RDI process as such.

H2020 finances the entire innovation cycle, from basic and applied research, testing and protyping, to large scale or real-scale demonstrations of technological or non-technological developments, encouraging commercialization of products in pre-commercial status, plus much wider diffusion of innovations. Thus, Horizon 2020 does not only fund basic research, but much wider applications of it.

Opportunities for more local “action” and application of RDI results
Horizon 2020 provides even more flexibility to introduce “action” in the process of research and innovation, to help develop iterations of the different steps needed to refine the RDI results, even in multidisciplinary areas such as local development. The Horizon 2020 stream of calls that would be very interesting for local development projects within the objective of “Societal Challenge 6: Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective Societies” – work program call sites in 2014-2015 can be accessed here.

We already found some interesting recent calls for proposals as potential sources of funding for research projects in the fields of social sciences (including in the areas of urban development, or cultural heritage), as well as for “action-research” projects promoting innovation in local development, for which proposals may be submitted by 2015:

REFLECTIVE-2-2015: Emergence and transmission of European cultural heritage and Europeanisation

REFLECTIVE-3-2015: European cohesion, regional and urban policies and the perceptions of Europe

REFLECTIVE-6-2015: Innovation ecosystems of digital cultural assets

INSO-1-2015: ICT-enabled open government

INSO-4-2015: Innovative schemes for open innovation and science 2.0

INSO-5-2015: Social innovation Community

It’s interesting to take a look for example at the accompanying call INSO-4-2015: Innovative schemes for open innovation and science 2.0, which provides a very exciting opportunity for the development of the innovation capacity of the public administration. Activities are targeted to create training and leadership schemes in driving in innovation in public administrations at national, regional or local level, for example through online platforms for training, testing curriculum for establishing innovation processes, and the “deep dive” of people trained in solving local problems.

Another example of innovative actions that can be financed by Horizon in 2020 (and the Structural Funds) are the Living Labs. The concept was initiated by MIT in the US and began to be increasingly adopted in many organizations, cities and regions in Europe , thanks to the labs’ underlying interactivity that naturally encourages fluidity and innovation processes.

By definition, Living Labs are “open ecosystem of innovation focused on users / beneficiaries of innovations, based on a systematic approach of “co -creation” / direct involvement of beneficiaries in the process of innovation by integrating these processes in living communities or real-life environments.” Another name for living labs is given by the Public-Private-People Partnerships.  See more on this in a factsheet on the RIS3 platform, plus the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL).

Living Labs are focused particularly on adapting new ICT solutions to the specific needs of diverse communities with different capabilities and local contexts. The concept can totally be applied to the local innovation where we can see clearly the importance of including civil society and citizens in the design and development of public services . There are already many examples of such initiatives on ENoLL:

• Amsterdam Living Lab, which focuses on creating a sustainable organization that will include city / private sector / citizens in the generation and use of ICT solutions for measuring and improving urban mobility, energy efficiency, etc..
• CitiLab in Barcelona that combines qualities training center and incubator of ideas of social innovation in urban applications.
• Another example, also from Barcelona, where UpSocial, together with the local government has launched a project to test and adapt to local social innovation solutions already occurred in other cities, which aim to improve social problems like unemployment among young . Details here.
• Another Living Lab formula can be found in the United States. It was adopted by  GovLab that opened at the University of New York, which introduced a very dynamic and interactive process of solution generation and testing to improve national and local public policies and open up the government.

Networks of networks

There are many other new tools that come along with Horizon 2020, many of them based on the formation of  international networks of local communities, researchers and innovators, universities, private and public sector actors, and civil society. If FP6 and FP7 have been pioneering in this regard, Horizon 2020 puts even more focus on promoting these new types of partnerships between actors in innovation systems and on better connecting the current supply of and demand for innovations in solving societal problems. Below are two other new initiatives that we could participate in in the future:

• Although operating at European level as a sum of European neteworks of local initiatives, the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) are focused on the European-wide coordination of research and innovation on specific thematic areas corresponding to identified societal challenges at EU level (ageing population, sustainable agriculture, water, raw materials, smart cities). For example, EIP on Smart Cities has already established a stakeholder platform open to the public, in order to disseminate innovations through European networks and make synergies between these projects. EIPs are not yet direct financing mechanisms, and participating initiatives should seek separate financing  (from Horizon 2020, Structural Funds or other national and/ or private sources).
• Another Horizon 2020 priority is the European Institute of Technology (EIT). An interesting EIT tool is the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), which is an entity (private, public or non -profit ) that coordinates the actors of the so-called “Knowledge triangle”: the research sector, the education and the private sector. The organizational formulas of these KICs are worth investigating, as they have the potential to create an environment of cross-sectoral collaboration that can accelerate the process of obtaining the results of research and the dissemination of knowledge. There are 17 such EIT KICs at European level. They were established as co-location centers promoting innovation in thematic areas such as climate change, sustainable energy and ICT. In 2014 EIT will launch two more calls for the formation of such joint innovation projects in areas such as healthy ageing and raw materials (resource efficiency), based on the model of the existing KICs.

Programul de Asistență în Comercializarea Inovării din România (RICAP) va demara săptămâna viitoare activitățile de susținere a celor 15 întreprinderi selectate pentru a le susține în accesarea piețelor internaționale.

Cele 15 companii au fost selecționate la finalul anului trecut din aproape o sută de aplicații primite, descriind tehnologii din domenii precum ITC, producție/design industrial, materiale, energie, electronică, agricultură, educație, medicină și biotehnologii. Tehnologiile inovative ale celor 15 participanți acoperă domenii precum ITC, energie regenerabilă, construcții verzi sau medicină și provin atât din rândul unor startup-uri ambițioase, cât și al unor companii cu experiență îndelungată care și-au dedicat activitatea dezvoltării de produse și servicii noi.

Pentru a marca începutul programului RICAP pentru cele 15 companii, în zilele 21-22 ianuarie va avea loc “Kick-Off Commercialization Training Workshop”, un eveniment de două zile ce va reuni participanții la program și mentorii acestora din SUA și de pe plan local. Cele două zile vor fi dedicate întâlnirilor dintre aceștia, precum și unor seminarii și discuții cu privire la cadrul strategic de susținere a inovării, oportunități de finanțare, reglementări în domeniul drepturilor de proprietate intelectuală sau strategii de comercializare. Evenimentul va avea loc la București și este găzduit de Romanian-American Foundation.

Acest eveniment reprezintă debutul unei noi etape în implementarea RICAP ce constă în implicarea fiecărei firme participante la un program de mentorat personalizat și evenimente de conectare la piață. În plus, în funcție de nivelul acestora de pregătire, firmele vor avea interacțiuni cu posibili parteneri și finanțatori internaționali din SUA.

RICAP a fost demarat în august 2013 de către Centrul Român pentru Inovație în Dezvoltare Locală și Larta Institute, cu finanțarea Romanian-American Foundation și sprijinul GEA Strategy & Consulting. Pe parcursul celor 20 de luni de implementare, programul va asista 30 de întreprinderi inovatoare din România să își comercializeze serviciile și produsele inovative pe plan global. Lista completă a primei grupe de companii selecționate să participe la program și detalii despre eveniment pot fi consultate pe blogul RICAP: www.ricap.ro/blog.

We are happy to publicly announce the 15 companies that we are welcoming in the first cycle of RICAP! What follows is over three months of personalized mentorship with carefully matched highly experienced mentors from Romania and the US, and a range of opportunities to connect to potential partners from a vast international network.

With almost one hundred applications reveiced, the selection process was highly competitive, with valuable applications having been received from all over the country. Congratulations to the winning teams, that we would like to briefly describe below (in alphabetical order):

Arxia is a full service web agency and experienced solution provider in the web environment, with a high focus on conceptual and technical innovation and building of web products for the global market.

Ascendia Design offers personalized eLearning content development services for private corporations, as well as for the academic environment.

Allevo is an Independent Software Vendor and solutions provider, delivering financial transactions processing application to banking, corporate and public administration accounts.

Denticare started off in the dentistry field and throughout the years the company developed to provide treatment based on research for other problems, including: anti-aging, fighting against stretch marks, wrinkles and hair growth stimulation.

Epistemio aims to dramatically improve how scientific publications are assessed. The startup’s first product, Epistemio Outcomes, helps research groups and institutions to simplify the management and reporting of their lists of scientific publications.

Essential is involved in designing and implementing intelligence management systems for large organizations, public or private, in the government, defense and financial industries.

Green WaterNanoTechnology has as goals the research and development of new environmentally friendly materials that are addressed to the design and manufacturing of the most advanced low-cost wastewater depollution technologies.

IRIDEX Group Plastic is orientated towards distribution and installation of geosynthetic materials, special construction materials, production of polyethylene nets, waste containers and recycle bins, waste machinery and equipments, physical and mechanical testing laboratory for construction materials, production of admixtures.

Peergate is a seed-phase startup developing a new approach to professional email.

ROSENC aims to promote Romania and the West Region as leader in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency and the new sustainable energy fields. Among other projects, the AquaSolar is an innovative product which provides irrigation for small plots of land, using solar energy.

Sagraea Biotech revolutionises the value added by genetic analysis through superior bioinformatics algorithms.

SAIA (Solutions of Artificial Intelligence Applications) and OncoPredict work closely together to help people with cancer, by developing and commercializing the best non-invasive diagnosis and prognosis systems, using artificial intelligence.

ECO MAR ENERGY was created in 2012 in order to innovate a new technology in renewable energy (wind) and to develop and produce vertical axis wind turbines, designed for households and small enterprises. They have a total of 10 such turbines designed.

Omnipark is a spinoff of Imprezzio INC that created a fully-integrated parking solution, consisting of a hosted back office management application, mobile enforcement, pay-by-phone services, electronic pay-boxes, notice payment capabilities and much more.

Wyliodrin is a new platform that allows programming embedded devices, like Raspberry Pi, directly from the browser. Instead of having to use a HDMI monitor, or connect to the board’s shell through a ssh connection, the users just copies on the SD card our software and connects the board to the Internet.

We look forward to the event next week that will kick off the engagement for these companies. The Kick-off Commercialization Training Workshop will take place on 21-22 January and will feature two full days of really interesting seminars, workshops, panels and one-on-one meetings between the companies and their mentors.

Stay tuned for more information about the process they will be going through! And don’t forget we will be opening another application call towards the middle of this year!

Apelul pentru înscrierea de tehnologii inovative la Programul de Asistență în Comercializarea Inovării din România (RICAP) s-a închis la finalul zilei de 25 noiembrie.

Au fost primite 97 de aplicații de la antreprenori și inovatori din 16 județe din țară, în domenii precum IT&C, producție/design industrial, materiale, energie, electronică, agricultură, educație, medicină și biotehnologii.

“Suntem încântați că programul a suscitat un asemenea interes din partea unei comunități ce reprezintă excelența inovării tehnologice din România.”

– Dragoș Pîslaru, director de program RICAP și manager general Gea Strategy & Consulting.

Aflat la o primă ediție pilot, programul și-a propus să identifice și să susțină antreprenorii români care au dezvoltat tehnologii inovative și care își doresc și au potențial să comercializeze pe piața globală. Procesul de evaluare a aplicațiilor va avea loc până la mijlocul lunii decembrie, când vor fi anunțați cei 15 participanți. Selecția va urmări natura inovatoare a tehnologiei propuse, potențialul și obiectivele acesteia de comercializare pe piață.

Începând cu luna ianuarie a anului 2014, cei 15 participanți vor beneficia de un program de mentorat personalizat, evenimente de conectare la piață și, dacă sunt pregătiți pentru piață, matching cu posibili parteneri și finanțatori internaționali. Fiecărui inovator selectat i se va desemna un mentor internațional și unul local, împreună cu care va lucra pentru a valorifica potențialul de comercializare a tehnologiei. În plus, participanții vor avea ocazia să intre în legătură cu posibili parteneri și finanțatori potriviți pentru aceștia, în cadrul unor evenimente de networking. Dacă sunt pregătiți să iasă pe piața internațională, RICAP le va organiza sesiuni de feedback și întâlniri în SUA, unde vor avea șansa să acceseze capital și parteneriate.