Action Group 1 – Workshop

How to build a successful incubator ecosystem in the Alpine Space?

The power of networks

Date and Time: 28th March 2019 (9:30 - 18:00)

Location: Hochschule Constance, University of Applied Sciences, Baden-Württemberg (DE)

Panelists:

Uta Sprenger, Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Württemberg

Carsten Manz, President Hochschule Constance and Member of the Executive Board, International Lake

Constance University (IBH)

Anna Giorgi, AG1 Leader

Andrea Halmos, Policy Officer, European Commission - DG CONNECT, Unit A2: Technologies and Systems

for Digitising Industry

Aleš Gnamuš, Project Leader, European Commission – DG JRC Growth & Innovation, Territorial

Development Unit

Martin Michel and Christian Ehrbar, Ministry of Higher Education, Graubunden

Bruno Studer and Tanja Hess, University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur

Markus Rhomberg, Managing Director IBH

Petra Friedrich, Kempten University of Applied Science

Manuel Treiterer, Hochschule Constance, University of Applied Sciences

Rossella Luglietti, General Manager, World Manufacturing Foundation

Kirsten Koop and Jean-Baptiste Grison, Université Grenoble-Alpes

Črtomir Tavzes, Researcher, InnoRenew CoE

Chair: Markus Rhomberg, Managing Director IBH

Session summary

The workshop “How to build a successful incubator ecosystem in the Alpine Space? The power of networks” was

aimed at discussing on the elements and strategies that are leading to the development of an effective innovation

ecosystem in the Alpine Macro-Region, based on the successful case study of the International Lake Constance

University (IBH), which hosted the event in collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-

Württemberg.

The workshop opened with the inspiring contributions of European Commission representatives, who set the focus

on the importance of digital innovation and Smart Specialization Strategies (S3) to support the development of

marginal and rural areas of the Alpine Space, overcoming physical boundaries and bridging existing competence

centers. In particular, Dr. Halmos from DG CONNECT presented how Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) and their

collaboration within the Alpine Space could be beneficial for fostering the digital transformation of companies and

thereby the competitiveness of the macro-regional ecosystem. On the other hand, Dr. Gnamuš from JRC provided

details upon the S3 Thematic Platforms and Partnerships, illustrating main aims and how they could help EUSALP

Macro-Region to start planning a common agenda for the post-2020 period. In the following, presentations focused

on projects, associations and institutions that are working in the name of cross-border cooperation and

competitiveness i.a. Arge Alp project and its Online Campus Alpenraum, the activities and outputs of the World

Manufacturing Forum, the French LabEx network, the IBH model and its Living Lab “Active & Assisted Living”, and

the InnoRenew CoE project for the valorization of the timber value chain.

Key messages and lessons learnt

Andrea Halmos, European Commission DG CONNECT – Unit A2: Technologies and Systems for Digitising Industry

Dr. Halmos introduced main aims and structure of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs), i.e. a group of organizations with

complementary expertise and a non-profit objective, offering a set of services to companies – especially SMEs

(including Start-Ups) – to support their digital transformation through a one-stop shop. Being Artificial Intelligence

(AI) one of the core investment areas for the post-2020 funding programs, DIHs are aimed at optimizing SMEs

processes, developing products of higher value, and offering a wide range of services for the effective scale up of

start-ups, such as demonstration facilities, support to find investments, skills and training development, networking

initiatives, etc.

Currently, the DIHs catalogue encompasses 250 hubs in the EU, although they are unevenly distributed. The goal is

to have one DIH in each EU region at least, and increasing cross-border collaboration among hubs. Indeed,

transnational cooperation would significantly (i) enhance DIH capacity-building (thanks to the exchange of

experiences and good practices), (ii) develop complementary competences and infrastructure (export/import of

expertise), (iii) support SMEs in scaling up and accessing other markets, (iv) rationalize investments, and (v) foster

DIH network collaboration.

This presentation offered also a preview of future programs supporting DIHs on specific themes (2021-2027), i.e. AI,

High-Performance computers, cybersecurity, and advanced digital skills.

Aleš Gnamuš, European Commission DG JRC Growth & Innovation – Unit B.3: Territorial Development

Dr. Gnamuš presented the main outputs of the Smart Specialization Strategies (S3) Platform, focusing on the S3

Thematic Platforms developed for specific key sectors, i.e. Energy, Industrial Modernization and Agri-Food. The

objective of this tool is provide an outward perspective for RIS3, such as the positioning of S3 priorities & upscaling

regional innovation efforts. Other important features offered by these platforms are related to the exploitation of

complementarities among RIS3 investments in co-creating EU value-chains; the development of coalitions of

politically committed partners; the organization of shared spaces for joint demonstration of solutions; the

mobilization of bottom-up cluster actors for fostering new business opportunities.

Furthermore, S3 Thematic Platforms play a pivotal role in inter- and macro-regional cooperation, as they can

enhance the joint execution of projects within the S3 partnership, providing mutual transnational learning

experiences and supporting the identification of common problematic areas across regions. This could then lead to

the development of thematic advice, matching regions with common interests and commitments.

Finally, Dr. Gnamuš concluded that S3 should be considered as place-based Innovation Ecosystems, as they take

into account the quadruple helix perspective (Universities-Civil society-Businesses-RTOs).

Martin Michel and Christian Ehrbar, Ministry of Higher Education, Graubunden

Bruno Studer and Tanja Hess, University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur

The Arge Alp is an association of the Alpine Regions that was founded in 1972. Currently, it is composed of 10

members, including Provinces, Regions, Länder and Cantons belonging to Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

From 2017 to 2020, it has been carrying out the project “Online Campus Alpenraum”, which sees the participation

of 6 Arge Alp countries, promoting the development of a digital network for education, research and innovation.

The University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur is one of Arge Alp “Leading Houses”, i.e. partner for the

implementation of the project contents of a country.

The Arge Alp working community played an important role in the definition of EUSALP mission and strategy, as it

directly stemmed from the Resolutions of 2014 Arge Alp Intergovernmental Conference.

To some extent, Arge Alp and EUSALP share similar objectives, since they both aim at finding solutions for societal

challenges of the Alpine Regions, exploiting applied, practically-oriented and interdisciplinary research on specific

topics of interest, i.e. tourism, climate adaptation, and multimedia production. Throughout the years, it has

developed its own network of about 30 research institutions, universities and clinics called “Academia Raetica”,

which is the umbrella organization and primary contact point for high-quality university level research and teaching

in the Canton of Graubünden. In addition, it is about to launch its “Online Campus Alpenraum” (alpscampus.info), a

web-based platform that could act as a window to promote local excellences.

Markus Rhomberg, Managing Director IBH

The contribution of Prof. Rhomberg upon IBH model was among the most highly-anticipated topics of this workshop,

as it showed to the audience main features and strengths of what can be considered an effective and successful

“incubator ecosystem” at a transnational level. Indeed, the IBH encompasses 27 universities from Germany, the

Principality of Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland, and it is “a network to enhance”, strategically developed to

build synergies and capacities among the members to mutual advantage (knowledge & technology transfer, student

career paths, entrepreneurship). It successfully connected research with regional challenges, enabling and funding

cross-border science-practice projects.

The continuous exchange of knowledge and expertise among IBH institutions has been establishing effective spheres

of dialogue among universities, industry, other social fields, civil society and the public sphere.

IBH-Labs represent a new approach in funding projects in the Lake Constance area 2017-2020, and are funded by

“Interreg Alpenrhein | Bodensee | Hochrhein” and “ERDF”. Main goals are to combine expertise crossing borders

and disciplinary fields; to build innovative networks of research and practice; to promote the region as innovative

economic, scientific, educational and living space. To do so, IBH led to the development of three innovative

Clusters, addressing three different themes: social and economic change (Lab “Active & Assisted Living”),

knowledge and education (Lab “Seamless Learning”), and innovation, digitalization and regional competitiveness

(Lab “KMU Digital”). Within the last Lab, KMU Digital, IBH has been working on the development of a “Digital

Agenda”, addressing also digitization legal issues, such as data ownership and protection, platform economy and

cloud computing, cyber-physical systems and industry-specific legal issues.

Petra Friedrich, Kempten University of Applied Sciences

As part of the IBH network, Prof. Friedrich presented one of IBH excellences in applied research: the IBH Living Lab

“Active & Assisted Living” for elderly people or persons with physical impairments. The novelty brought by these

Living Labs is that products and ideas are used and tested by people in their everyday lives at home, making it

possible to optimally adapt a product or service to the needs of the target group, hence reducing AAL barriers.

Rossella Luglietti, World Manufacturing Forum

The World Manufacturing Forum is an association co-funded by Politecnico di Milano, Confindustria Lombardia and

IMS to promote innovation and development in the manufacturing sector. Its goal is to improve competitiveness in

all nations, through dialogue and cooperation among the manufacturing sector key players. Thanks to its wide

network, it supports and influences national and international industrial agendas; provides a framework onto which

top-level companies, governments, academic institutions and social organizations can meet and exchange opinion;

acts as catalyst for finding innovative solutions to major global challenge; disseminates knowledge through

international and regional meetings and publications. WMF main outputs are: (i) an annual report, highlighting

manufacturing sector issues, significant trends and policy proposals; (ii) an annual meeting with global policy

experts, industrial leaders, academic and research innovators; (iii) regional events to spread WMF vision and

priorities all over the world.

Kirsten Koop and Jean-Baptiste Grison, Université Grenoble-Alpes

Prof. Koop and Dr. Grison enriched the dialogue upon Alpine Space networks presenting the French LabEx ITEM, a

very interesting research network in the field of humanities and social sciences. The research laboratories that

make up this network come from institutions located in the Isere and the Savoie French departments. LabEx ITEM's

vocation is to provide the mountain territories with the analytical capacity and expertise that are essential to cope

with the various forms of change they face: economical, demographical, cultural, climatic and so on. In this

framework, a Social Innovation Knowledge Platform was created as example of “hybrid networking”; the objective

of this platform is to shed light on the LabEx ITEM's own activities and networks. Its goal is also to communicate to

its partners various information relative to the mountain territories, in order to promote mountains as

demonstrators of sustainable transition, able to address a wide range of themes, from tourism and leisure to

mobility and energy.

LebEx ITEM is also meant to stimulate networking among young researchers, through the regular organization of

international winter schools, an idea that could also be capitalized under the AlpGov project.

Črtomir Tavzes, InnoRenew CoE

The InnoRenew CoE is a project aimed at developing and operating a new Centre of Excellence, the InnoRenew

CoE, that conducts cutting edge scientific research related to renewable materials utilisation, develop industrially

relevant applications of scientific developments and innovations, support businesses in their implementation of RDI

activities and outcomes, and liaise with policy makers to direct more support to companies and research in the

forest sector. The InnoRenew CoE’s activities are centered on two key distinguishing technologies that set it apart

from other institutions: (i) wood modification and (ii) restorative environmental and ergonomic design (REED).

Main insights

The IBH network must be seen as a well-functioning innovation ecosystem, which could be duplicated and

adapted to other territorial contexts within the Alpine Space. The idea proposed by some AG1 members is

to develop a project proposal upon this topic, to be presented under the ERA-Net Co-fund scheme.

Digitalization is changing the business landscape at an impressive speed, and the Alpine regions should start

soon addressing both its “social innovation” aspects and relative legal issues.

The Alpine Space needs to reduce the intra- and inter-regional socio-economic gap. Thus, it is of outmost

importance to focus on the promotion of a common and shared agenda for R&I and/or a common S3

strategy. Furthermore, this workshop provided AG1 members with ideas to engage into Digital Innovation

Hubs and Thematic Smart Specialization Platforms.

Action Group 1 - Workshop

HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL INCUBATOR ECOSYSTEM IN THE ALPINE SPACE? THE POWER OF NETWORKS

Thursday 28th March – 9.30 - 18.00 Venue:

Hochschule Constance, University of Applied Sciences, Baden-Württemberg Senatssaal, 4th floor, Rheingutstrasse 28

78462 Konstanz

Organized by Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Württemberg

International Lake Constance University IBH

I. Introduction

University research parks, business incubators, accelerators and technology transfer hubs are novel Research & Innovation providers that contribute to advancing entrepreneurship all over the world. However, it is widely recognized that innovators often struggle to scale up, as many of them find it difficult to reach people and develop strategic partnerships, especially in those areas facing specific socio-economic and environmental challenges, such as the Alpine region. Networks are crucial tools to cut down the costs of innovation, as they facilitate the coordination of R&I activities, the access to new markets and technologies, the pooling of complementary knowledge and experience in order to boost lean and process innovation.

Since its establishment, the Alpine Macro-Region - represented by EUSALP Members - has been addressing important R&I priorities in the name of EU territorial cooperation and regional cohesion, with the aim to tackle common challenges and enhance competitiveness. Hence, the creation of a EUSALP-wide network of R&I clusters gathering businesses, labs and knowledge institutions is key to foster a more agile and dynamic innovation strategy, while capitalizing on existing infrastructures and resources.

The exchange of experiences, innovation-based solutions and technical expertise among different geographical areas, and between private and public actors, will enhance an effective network of collaboration. Furthermore, it will encourage and support research centers to move from basic to “applied” research, able to deliver innovative products and services, especially in the digital sector, which is changing the business landscape at an impressive speed.

II. Context

At the AG1 Workshop that will take place in Constance on 28 March 2019, the Action Group 1 intends to discuss on the elements and strategies that are leading to the development of a successful incubator ecosystem, to be extended across EUSALP regions and beyond. Specific focus will be on creating the conditions for the enhancement of digital innovation to support the development of marginal and rural areas of the Alpine space, overcoming physical boundaries and bridging existing competence centers through the creation of transnational networks. In this context, EUSALP representatives will share their experiences and insights, as well as the main instruments to connect the dots across the Alpine Innovation ecosystem.

III. Scope and purpose

As the workshop will target digital innovation and relative networks in the Alpine space, the topic is certainly attractive for a heterogeneous audience, from higher education representatives to young entrepreneurs of high-tech start-ups. Therefore, the purpose of the workshop is to stimulate the debate on how to promote connections and networking in EUSALP macro-area. Starting from a discussion upon EUSALP mission and initiatives in the field of interregional cooperation and Smart Specialization, the event will look closer at regions’ best practices and existing tools to build on for the development of a network of digital innovation players within the Alpine territory, in order to foster transboundary collaboration and cross-sectorial fertilization. This workshop will also provide an opportunity to reflect on how to involve the industry and local SMEs in the implementation of digital ecosystems aimed at building competitive transnational value chains.

IV. Format and participation

The workshop will take place on 28th March, in a session from 9:30 to 18:00. There will be interventions by several speakers, a round table between the participants coordinated by a moderator, and a final wrap up. The workshop will be attended by members of the AG1 (EUSALP) and representatives of the various institutions that will be presented during the event: the International Lake Constance Conference and University, the ArgeAlp-Project “Online Campus” (Kanton Graubünden), the EU-Commission (DG CONNECT and JRC), the Alpine Space Program (Munich), AlpGov, and the Four Motors for Europe (Working Group „Research and Higher Education”).

V. Agenda

Thursday, 28th March 2019

09:30 – 10:00 Opening:

Welcome addresses (Baden-Württemberg, IBH, EUSALP AG 1)

Uta Sprenger Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Württemberg

Carsten Manz President Hochschule Constance and Member of the Executive Board, International Lake Constance University (IBH)

Anna Giorgi AG1 Leader

10:00 – 10:20 How Digital Innovation Hubs and their collaboration within the Alpine Space are beneficial for fostering the digital transformation of companies and thereby the competitiveness of EUSALP regional ecosystems.

Andrea Halmos DG CONNECT, Unit A2 Technologies and Systems for Digitising Industry

10:20 - 10:40 Thematic Smart Specialization Partnerships and

Platforms to support macro-regional R&I aims and ambitions Q & A

Aleš Gnamuš Project Leader, European Commission – DG JRC Growth & Innovation, Territorial Development Unit

10:40 - 11:00 The Alpine Space Programme (short-term cancellation) Q & A

Katharina Köhne National Contact Point for the Alpine Space Programme (ASP)

11:00 – 11:20 Coffee break

11:20 - 12:00 The ArgeAlp project “Online Campus Alpine region” for the socio-economic growth of rural mountain areas Q & A

Martin Michel and Christian Ehrbar Ministry of Higher Education, Graubunden Bruno Studer and Tanja Hess University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur

12:00 - 13:30 Midday networking lunch

12:00 - 13:30 Midday networking lunch

13:30 - 15:00

Universities’ cross-border cooperation: International Lake Constance University (IBH) IBH-Living Lab Active Assisted Living IBH-Lab KMUdigital (SMEdigital) Q & A

Markus Rhomberg Managing Director IBH Petra Friedrich Kempten University of Applied Science Manuel Treiterer Hochschule Constance, University of Applied Sciences

15:00 – 15.15 Short break

15:15 – 16:15

15:15 - 15:45 “A global platform for the future manufacturing: the World Manufacturing Foundation”

Rossella Luglietti General Manager, World Manufacturing Foundation (Italy)

15:45 – 16:15 “ITEM LabEx: Hybrid networks for social innovation” Q & A

Kirsten Koop and Jean-Baptiste Grison Université Grenoble-Alpes (France)

16:15 – 16:45 Coffee break

16:45 – 17:15 Presentation by the Pulp and Paper Institute (Slovenia) Q & A

Mateja Mešl Director, Pulp and Paper Institute (Slovenia)

17:15 - 18:00 Wrap-up session and conclusions from the workshop

18:15 – 19:00

Sneak Preview of the Exhibition “One Day Virtual Reality”: Experiencing Virtual Learning Landscapes https://www.onedayvr.de/

Hochschule Constance /