SMEs and Europe : the opportunities
SMEs and incentives to innovate in the European Union :
an opportunity not to be missed.
You are contemplating innovation – but are missing some resources – finance, manpower ….?
Have you given thought to submitting a funding proposal to the Research and Technology Development (RTD) programmes of the European Commission?
Today has never been a better time for you to consider co-financing your innovation project via the “7th Framework Programme” (FP7) of the European Commission.
|
Covering the 7-year period 2007 to 2013 - and with a total funding budget of 50 billion Euros - FP7 offers substantial levels of RTD cost coverage of innovation projects – and particularly so for SMEs.
There is also funding to help cover the cost of outsourcing RTD – if your main concern is lack of manpower capacity or adequate know-how in a key area.
The expectation is that at least 15% of FP7’s RTD funding budget will be taken up by SMEs.
Why does the European Commission provide such significant funding to SMEs?
It’s simple. SMEs are the main employers in the EU : 27 million SMEs at the last count.
And the more SMEs innovate, the more jobs and wealth they create.
“High technology” SMEs - i.e. those investing at least 4% of turnover on R&D - are observed to create nearly twice as many jobs, on average, as no or low technology SMEs.
So, what’s in it for your enterprise?
Major advantages proven to result from innovation are:
increased turnover
improved profitability
via collaborative innovation - radically increased benefits from synergy and complementarity of both technological know-how and market access - enhancing capabilities to meet the market window of opportunity
increased market share – especially in export markets.
Moreover, many national governments now have financial assistance to support you in finding your partners, and in proposal preparation.
Our deep experience of how to access and benefit from the innovation funding opportunities of both national support agencies and the European Framework Programme, is a distinctive competence we can bring to leverage your success.
