VIDA Toolbox

Conditions: any SME within VIDA Alumni Network interested to acquire understanding of their businesses. This is a paid service.

How does it work: the SME expresses their interest in the service and specify for which grant they would like to apply. VIDA Alumni representatives get involved and support the process of the service.

The service consists of the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs and interests; Definition of the service milestones and price offer
• Module 1 – SWOT analysis and problem definition
• Module 2 – Benchmarking
• Module 3 – Scenario development
• Module 4 – Service blueprint, including marketing strategy and preparation of the pitch to investors;
• Module 5 – Pitch to investors

The service will be provided by the VIDA partners as moderators of VIDA Alumni Network. For more information, visit: https://vidaproject.eu/vida-alumni/ and contact VIDA coordinator CEW – Centre of Expertise Water Technology for more information at j.baker@cew.nl

Conditions: VIDA has developed a methodology for joint coaching and mentorship which is replicated to VIDA Alumni. Depending on the region and sector and market of interest, SMEs may opt to work with different VIDA partners. This is a paid service.

How does it work: SME will send emails to VIDA partners with identified conditions for service and will receive information on which organisation/s would be the most beneficial to support them.

The examples of services: provide assistance for companies to enter foreign markets, connect SME with ambassadors/partners in other European countries or beyond, organise events to promote networking and matchmaking, invite SME for exhibition fairs and delegation trips to different countries, among others.

The service will be provided by the VIDA partners as moderators of VIDA Alumni Network. For more information, visit: https://vidaproject.eu/vida-alumni/ and contact VIDA coordinator CEW – Centre of Expertise Water Technology for more information at j.baker@cew.nl

Conditions: the SME has to be either a member of the water cluster Zinnae or energy cluster LE2C, VIDA Alumni Network and/or located in Aragon or Lombardy Region. This is a paid service.

How does it work: the SME expresses their interest in the service and specify which region they would like to collaborate in the next project/funding. The VIDA partners get involved and support the process of the service.

The service is implemented through the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs and interests; Definition of the service milestones and price offer;
• Module 1 – Assessment of existing opportunities and client’s feedback
• Module 2 – Identification of partners for selected opportunities within VIDA Alumni network and client’s feedback
• Module 3 – Benchmarking and enlisting examples of good practices and final report

For more information, please contact ZINNAE – Clúster para el Uso Eficiente del Agua (ES) at mbenito@zinnae.org and LE2C – Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster (IT) at disanto@energycluster.it

Conditions: the SME has to be either a member of the ZINNAE or in contact with SPI, VIDA Alumni Network and/or located in the VIDA region. This is a paid service.

How does it work: the SME expresses their interest in the service and specify for which grant they would like to apply. VIDA partners get involved and support the process of the service.

The service consists of the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs and interests; Definition of the service milestones and price offer
• Module 1 – Joint development of the concept note; Development of effective consortium; Support of the proposal writing, support of budget calculation for the proposal, revision and feedback
• Module 2 – Support in pitching the idea to investors (when applicable, when co-funding is necessary)
• Module 3 – Support reporting when the project is approved (when applicable)

For more information, please contact ZINNAE – Clúster para el Uso Eficiente del Agua (ES) at mbenito@zinnae.org and SPI – Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (PT) at douglasthompson@spi.pt

Conditions: the SME interested and operating with key enabling technologies (KET) and belonging to either VIDA cluster partner Nanoprogress or BalticNet PlasmaTec. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: A European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) is a type of legal entity of the European corporate law and it is designed to make it easier for companies in different countries to do business together or to form consortia to take part in EU programmes.

The Ad-Pack EEIG was established and registered in 2018 by four cluster organisations. The vision of the Ad-Pack EEIG is to combine different experiences, know-how and value chains in order to boost the internationalisation and innovation of all involved actors. The mission is to run a sustainable EEIG with high added value services for SMEs and innovation actors and engage them into long-term business and R&D cooperation with partners and consumers from Europe and third markets. The Ad-Pack EEIG is currently going through a transformational process. The naming of the grouping will be shaped as well where the new name will be Central European Digital and Enviro Grouping (CE Digital & Enviro Grouping – CEDEG). The new ambition of the grouping will be to become one of the most important European cooperation platforms in the field of digitalisation and progressive environmental technologies within 3 years where the services will still focus on supporting the European SME and innovation actors during their journey towards high TRL innovation uptakes and sustainable internationalisation activities. The grouping focus and the ambition are perfectly correlated with the European transition towards climate neutrality and digital leadership.

For additional information and involvement, please contact Nanoprogress (CZ) at komarek@nanoprogress.eu and BalticNet PlasmaTec (DE) at ku@balticnet-plasmatec.org  

Conditions: any SME looking for a new digital tool for distance collaboration. This is a paid service.

How does it work: Clou5 (https://www.clou5.net/) is a multi-functional communication and collaboration platform for strengthening cluster and SME cooperation in a safe environment (German server and German law). The already long-established innovation and collaboration platform will help to facilitate cross-border and cross-sectoral cooperation. Clou5 is an important tool to secure more efficient time management and simplify the information transfers among the actors. Furthermore, Clou5 will store all relevant information and will help with the dissemination through the following functionalities:

• Open and closed working groups
• Knowledge exchange working groups
• Country specific working groups
• Open dissemination groups
• Learning groups
• Document Library
• Collaborating space for SMEs

Clou5 will create a knowledge-sharing environment, a platform to learn from the experiences of others, to share information, to create synergies and to find new cooperation partners. Furthermore, the Clou5 platform can be used to share files (management, monitoring, project deliverables, etc.) and organise web meetings.

The service is implemented through the following modules:

• Module 0 – Signing the contract and getting 125 user accounts for the platform
• Module 1 – Meeting for deeply instruction to the platform (creating groups, files, tasks etc.) and show how to create own user accounts
• Module 2 – Full time support by email
• Module 3 – The platform is available to users 24 hours a day. Clou5 guarantees an availability of the website of 98% on an annual average
• Module 4 – Helping to find experts from other clusters and to get in contact with them on the platform

For additional information and involvement, please contact BalticNet PlasmaTec (DE) at ku@balticnet-plasmatec.org  and FPI – Food Processing Initiative (DE) at norbert.reichl@foodprocessing.de

Conditions: the SME operating in water management and towards water and energy savings in the agri-food sector

How does it work: CEW helps SME to develop their products through bench-scale testing and experimentation, up to pilot construction and testing, with technology evaluation and help with market entrance. This is a paid service.

The service consists of the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs and interests; Definition of the service milestones, price offer;
• Module 1 – Design of an experiment to test SME technology under bench scale conditions
• Module 2 – Scaling up from bench scale to pilot operation and real-life testing
• Module 3 – Validation of technology, demonstration
• Module 4 – Support for developing the business plan and the marketing strategy

Please contact CEW – Centre of Expertise Water Technology (NL) for more information at j.baker@cew.nl

Conditions: SME belonging to the VIDA cluster Nanoprogress. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: The innovation uptake offered to the members. The new business model is based on reciprocity, transparency and correctness and will secure more sustainable income. The SME will be able to profit not only from the current service offer but also from uptaking jointly developed innovative solutions to the global market.

The service consists of the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs and interests; Definition of the service milestones, price offer;
• Module 1 –Scope the challenge set up the key performance indicators (KPI)
• Module 2 – Explore and validate the customer engagement
• Module 3 – Prototype and test solutions
• Module 4 – Define and analyse viable business model solutions
• Module 5 – Build a go-to-market plan

For additional information and involvement, please contact Nanoprogress (CZ) at komarek@nanoprogress.eu

Conditions: SME belonging to the water sector. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: At this event couple of services are offered to the SMEs and sponsors, such as:

• Matchmaking activities that lead attendees to find new partners or clients for projects and innovative solutions;
• Water efficiency prize with different categories of awards (industry, SMEs; start-ups and students).

For more information, please contact ZINNAE – Clúster para el Uso Eficiente del Agua (ES) at mbenito@zinnae.org

Conditions: any SME operating in the water management sector. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: a joint strategy to open up a new service line to support its members in identifying opportunities, selecting potential tenders, building national and international consortia and supporting the preparation of proposals for international bidding with multilateral agencies.

The service is implemented through the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs and interests; Definition of the service milestones and price offer
• Module 1 – Identification of the relevant funding opportunities to match the needs and interest of SME
• Module 2 – Support to partnership procurement and building.
• Module 3 – Support to the preparation of the proposal

For more information, please contact ZINNAE – Clúster para el Uso Eficiente del Agua (ES) at mbenito@zinnae.org

Conditions: the SME that belong to the Lombardy region and/or are located in Italy. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: The service concerns the assessment of the current level of innovation management and sustainability of the company, highlighting weaknesses, strengths and the development of possible strategies to increase capacity in innovation management.

For more information, please contact LE2C – Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster (IT) at disanto@energycluster.it

Conditions: any SME operating in the energy sector. This is a free service until November 2022.

How does it work: This is offered through R-ACES, a European project that aims to raise awareness and promotes effective energy exchange in European eco-industrial parks (so-called Eco-regions) by developing tools that facilitate the effective implementation of energy cooperation, heat recovery and exchange. Such tools are:

• An intelligent energy management platform (to facilitate the energy exchange)
• Performance assessment (self-assessment of the current level of energy cooperation and further possibilities)
• Guidelines for legal decisions in contracts between parties undertaking an energy collaboration

The objective is the creation of virtuous Eco-Regions that aim to reduce energy consumption by at least 10%, fostering the transition to a circular economy model based on heat exchange and industrial symbiosis.

For more information, please contact LE2C – Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster (IT) at disanto@energycluster.it

Conditions: any SME operating in the water sector. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: Aragón Food Cluster helps SMEs working in the water sector within food and related value chains to develop a portfolio of solutions and define a project to access new funding schemes.

The service is implemented through the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs/interests in service; Definition of the service milestones, price offer
• Module 1 – In-depth diagnosis on needs regarding the efficient use of water proposing solutions
• Module 2 – Supplier portfolio regarding solutions proposed
• Module 3 – Support on defining the project and looking for funding
• Module 4 – Analysis of the water efficiency achieved after implementing solutions

Please contact Aragón Food Cluster (ES) at vida_euproject@aragonalimentacion.com

Conditions: any SME operating in the energy sector. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: Aragón Food Cluster helps SME operating in the energy sector within food and related value chains to develop a portfolio of solutions and define a project to access new funding schemes.

The service is implemented through the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs/interests in service; Definition of the service milestones, price offer
• Module 1 – In-depth diagnosis on needs regarding the efficient use of energy proposing solutions
• Module 2 – Supplier portfolio regarding solutions proposed
• Module 3 – Support on defining the project and looking for funding
• Module 4 – Analysis of the energy efficiency achieved after implementing solutions

Please contact Aragón Food Cluster (ES) at vida_euproject@aragonalimentacion.com

Conditions: the SME operating in the food, energy and/or water sector for the food value chain. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: Aragón Food Cluster helps SME operating within the food value chains to develop their innovation strategies, project portfolio of solutions and project idea to apply for the identified funding opportunities.

The service consists of the following modules:

• Module 0 – Assessment meeting of the needs/interests in service; Definition of the service milestones, price offer
• Module 1 – Defining its innovation strategies
• Module 2 – Generating innovation ideas
• Module 3 – Prioritising the ideas and creating a project portfolio
• Module 4 – Managing innovation projects and look for funding

Please contact Aragón Food Cluster (ES) at vida_euproject@aragonalimentacion.com

Conditions: SME belonging to the VIDA cluster partner and/or situated in Germany. This is a paid service through membership.

How does it work: Complex tasks or tasks distributed over several stages of the value chain are often difficult to manage alone. To solve difficult tasks a trustworthy partner is required. FPI as VIDA partner has a network with more than 120 members from food production, equipment industries and scientific institutions, supply and demand of know-how and competence meet in an environment of trust.

The service is implemented through the following modules:

• Module 0 – Evaluation of the request
• Module 1 – Coordination of the requirements for the intended partner
• Module 2 – Identification of a suitable contact partner
• Module 3 – Establishing contact
• Module 4 – Moderation of the contact initiation process

Please contact Food Processing Initiative (DE) at norbert.reichl@foodprocessing.de