The Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) successfully organized the first two (of six) Info Days in the context of the European InnoPlatform Project, in which it participates as a partner. InnoPlatform makes part of the Interreg BalkanMed Territorial Interregional Cooperation Instrument, in the context of the EU’s Enterprise and Innovation priority pillar. The basic aim of the project is to strengthen the competitiveness of the economic environment of the Balkans and Cyprus, to promote business innovation, to encourage regional development and extroversion through new business partnerships, as well as to improve the efficiency of enterprises by providing innovative services and facilitating the exchange of know-how.
The purpose of the Info Days, which took place at the Chamber offices October 16 October and 31, was to provide information about the services that are already available or are expected to be implemented through the development of the program, which has a duration of two years (August 2017 - July 2019). The InnoRegion, InnoScorecard and InnoTools were presented, which are the online tools and services that businesses can have access to as part of the project.
The InnoRegion service supports the clustering of emerging industries in partner areas and aims to provide services that support the development of innovation. InnoScorecard is essentially an interactive tracking mechanism for measuring and comparing potential innovation at national, regional and European level. InnoTools will provide support for the introduction and application of innovative techniques and strategies to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The five components of InnoTools are the following:
1. InnoModel – Provides support for business plan creation and is a strategic management framework for developing business models for SMEs.
2. InnoStrategy - Identifies and shapes a development strategy for SMEs, examining in detail the opportunities and threats that arise from the development of new products, services and processes.
3. InnoPartner – Provides a systematic approach towards the acquisition of new technologies and knowledge from SMEs through their collaboration with Academic Institutions and Research Centers.
4. InnoFinance – Provides for the selection of new innovative projects by SMEs, taking into account development objectives and available resources.
5. InnoProject – Includes multiple of methods for developing new products and managing projects by SMEs.
InnoPlatform Internet tools and services will be supported by the local Centers of Excellence that will be created by the project partners. The Center for Excellence in Cyprus will be hosted at the Limassol Chamber offices and will provide modern equipment for the interested companies, aiming to develop innovation.
For more information interested parties can access the official website of the project at: www.innoplatform.eu
