IaaS4DR

Information about the project

The project targets traditional industrial regions in transition with a low innovation performance and weak innovation infrastructure, either in absolute terms or in comparison to e.g., more innovative urban or capital regions. Typical challenges are: 

• Structural change due to accelerated and intensified transformation processes.
• Below average innovation and risk culture in the economy. 
• Shortage of skilled workers. In those regions, innovation support and technology transfer approaches are also often lagging behind, building on conventional, still linear as well as top-down technology-based approaches. 

Overall objective and expected change

IaaS 4 DR aims to create in the target regions the conditions to be able to deliver locally durably improved and integrated innovation support services – i.e. different service providers combining seamlessly their services - which are going significantly beyond what they can do by building on their own limited resources. This shall be achieved by combining: 

• Capacity building activities for the innovation professionals to increase the level of innovation support competence in each region.
• Collaboration models among innovation support providers in the regions increasing the level of integration between innovation support services providers.
• Mechanisms to reach out to additional, transnational expertise and setup flexible innovation support teams/consortia delivering advanced innovation support services ‘on demand’, making use of resources not permanently available in the regions. 

The ambition is to significantly leverage the capacity of business support organisations, innovation intermediaries and tech transfer organisations, to develop durably the regions’ innovation infrastructure and operational capacity. The specific objectives are derived from this ambition: 

SO1 - Building regional quadruple helix partnerships (IaaS nodes) for improving the regional governance and operational capacity to deliver comprehensive and integrated innovation support services. 

SO2 - Ensure knowledge transfer within the partnership and training of innovation support providers. Building up on local and transnational level a sustainable community of IaaS experts, ensuring availability of exerts beyond the project.

 SO3 - Demonstrate the potential of the project approach to foster innovation, technology transfer and industrial transition through transnational pilot activities. Scale-up and sustainability.

Innovative approach

IaaS 4 DR will explore an innovative approach to improve capacities for delivering innovation support services. We call it Innovation as a Service (IaaS). It is inspired from the business concept of servitization of the economy and includes components such as outsourcing innovation management, access to expertise and infrastructures, accelerated innovation processes, continuous learning and improvement. A further novelty and challenge are to establish durable mechanisms enabling a flexible access to resources supporting projects on an agile, ‘on-demand' basis. 

Main outputs

The following new solutions, which are also the main outputs of the project, will be developed. 

1. Web-based blended learning platform, including toolbox and learning contents (IaaS 4 DR curriculum) developed and piloted within the project. Building on the project’s learning activities, a public version of a curated web-based learning platform will be launched at the end of the project. It will integrate the content generated in the project and onsite and online learning opportunities ensured by the partners and their stakeholders. The platform will be open for use and upload of content for any registered user. 
2. Setup of a durable transnational community of innovation and industrial transformation support providers (organisations) and professionals (persons) for the Danube region Building on the definition of a professional charter for innovation support professionals and the promotion of the Iaas 4 DR academy among test users, a durable community shall be setup. It shall ensure the continuity of the access to expertise and infrastructures across the Danube Area. 
3. Iaas 4 DR accelerator - Integrated innovation support delivery models (smart spaces and smart services) and advanced transnational collaboration models for innovation and industrial transfer support. 

Building on the results of the pilots, truly transnational initiatives and integrated IaaS offers bringing together the competence of multiple partners shall be taken up by project partners beyond the project. Those offers shall combine integrated smart spaces and smart services in the framework of a transnational IaaS acceleration programme. They will enable the partners to reach out durably in an agile and flexible manner to resources not permanently available in the regions. The project will deliver outputs, which can be integrated into the normal working practices of the target groups, thus with a high level of expected durability.

Project main objective

IaaS 4 DR aims at improving organizational and structural capacities for accelerated industrial transition through innovation and technology transfer in regions with a low innovation performance and weak innovation infrastructure by:

• Building regional Innovation as a Service nodes in the project areas
• Developing a transnational community of trained innovation and industrial transition professionals,
• Demonstrating the potential of the project approach in transnational pilots.

Project relevance and context

Sustained economic development is a challenge for territories which lack partly the preconditions for innovation typically associated with highly developed and dynamic economies. Mainly common systemic issues are limited human capacities, limited education capacities and limited economic activity, often focused on few economic sectors. 

The project targets traditional, lagging, to a significant extend rural and peripheral, industrial regions in transition with a low innovation performance and weak innovation infrastructure, in absolute terms or comparatively to neighboring regions. Typical challenges of such regions are:

• Structural change due to accelerated and intensified transformation processes, combined with the collapse of established business models. The Covid 19 pandemic also acted as an accelerant.
• The regional knowledge landscape, which is well below average compared to the rest of the country, is accompanied by below-average innovation performance and a (comparatively on regional/national level) weak innovation infrastructure (e.g., lack of research organizations, weak technology transfer structures) or innovation and risk culture in the economy.
• The migration of young adults to more urban, sometimes neighboring, regions and a high surplus of commuters exacerbate the already prevailing shortage of skilled workers. 

As a whole, the partners are addressing the following challenges in the Danube Region: 

• Competitiveness gaps between the old, the new Member States and the non-EU countries, including their status within the regional innovation ecosystem. 
• Concentration of RDI activities within the western regions or the major urban hubs, including capital cities or university towns. - Weak ability to implement knowledge-based and technology-intensive policies and activities in the region. 
• Need for strengthening the synergies and cross-relationships between quadruple-helix innovation stakeholders in order to facilitate the uptake of innovative technologies across the region.
• Lagging RDI sector in many states and regions, including its capacity to offer a functional environment for the valorization and uptake of development technologies. 
• Added value generated is unsatisfactory e.g. product and technological development and advancement of SMEs is below expectations

Project´s specific objectives

1. IaaS4DR Nodes - Improve governance and capacity to deliver innovation support activities
2. IaaS4DR Academy - Transnational capacity building programme for IaaS professionals
3. IaaS4DR Transnational accelerator – pilot implementation of IaaS models and services