Peer Learning Innovation Services – PLIS aims at enabling innovation support institutions in regions across Europe to quickly and effectively develop initiatives that will engage, encourage and aid SMEs to use Service Innovation as a mean to maintaining or increasing competitiveness, profitability and jobs. A technology driven approach has prevailed for addressing innovation assessment. Given its critical contribution to increases in productivity and jobs, most of the resources within national and regional innovation policies are allocated to encouraging technology driven innovation resulting in the generation of new products and processes based on R&D. However other types of innovation such as Service Innovation are key to maximising economic development at local, regional and European level. Consequently, the members of the consortium will collaborate using a Twinning+ as a peer learning methodology in order to develop new approaches to foster Service Innovation among SMEs and improve the current innovation support programmes; enhance the quality, efficiency and customer satisfaction of services provided; increase the number of Service Innovation projects developed by SMEs; accelerate the learning process among the participants; foster the relationship between PLIS partners in innovation services; and, inspire and guide other agencies (and similar organisations) that become interested in how to foster Service Innovation among SMEs. All PLIS members are most relevant to participate in the peer-learning activities through the Twinning+ methodology given their role in designing and implementing SME innovation management support within their regions; their shared and common objectives; the commitment, motivation and experience of the people involved in the project; and, the capacity to disseminate PLIS findings in order to strengthen peer-learning and boost similar activities to relevant European organisations.

In the 3 regions covered by ALPS EEN Consortium (Piemonte, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta), the project will provide a new service enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs to two specific groups of SMEs: - Beneficiaries of the SME Instrument - SMEs with significant innovation activities and a high potential for internationalisation. The main goal of the project is to support SMEs innovation management capacity; a seven-day service package will be provided to them, regardless of the belonging to the first or second specific group. The Action will generate the provision of 35 service packages: 1 for Valle d'Aosta, 26 for Piemonte, 8 for Liguria, in coherence with the economic weight of the covered regions. Services to be provided: 1. Providing Key Account Management services to beneficiaries of the SME Instrument Phase one: The packages delivered will depend on the success rate in the SME Instrument Phase 1. As phase 2 will not be covered throughout 2014, it is reasonable to deliver more service packages to innovative companies (point 2). 2. Providing audits to selected SMEs with significant innovation and a high potential for internationalisation with the aim of enhancing their innovation management capacities. According to the potentiality of the SMEs located in the ALPS Regions, targets are: 4 packages for KAM Services 31 packages for “Innovation Management” Services Relation to the Work Programme: 1. Lack of innovation management capacity is recognised as an important barrier to creating economic impact from innovation activities in SMEs: the project aims at providing focused consulting services enhancing the SME innovation management capacity. 2. The assessment will be based on the IMP³rove methodology The project is embedded in the ALPS EEN consortium, which will drive and support with complementary services the development of the Action. 4 ALPS EEN partners will allocate 4 senior experts whose total engagement will be over 12 person/month.

The project, whose geographical coverage will be North-West Italy (3 regions : Piemonte Liguria and Valle d’Aosta) aims at roviiding and upgrading a specific framework service for supporting SMEs in the innovation management capacity . The service, delivered through provision of 96 individual companies’ service packages, will be directed to SMEs with international growth potential via product, process service and or business model innovation- with gaps regarding innovation management. In particular, the action will focus on the following specific objectives: 1. Fine tuning of a Key Account Management based customised service provision directed to: a. SMEs /Scale ups international growth, including participation to European programs b. SMEs Innovation capacity enhancement and innovation projects implementation, job creation and new market access c. SMEs Innovation results exploitation 4. Integration of the service within local business innovation support delivered, EEN specific service official embedding within the regional innovation ecosystem 5. Advisory skill enhancement: ALPS EEN personnel, assisting the experts in this Action, will increase expertise and competences, providing high level advisory on innovation management 6. Upgrading a EU shared support methodology for EEN staff, which could be adopted for profitably supporting other local SMEs 7. Contribution to the enhancement of a visible and well identified Coach/EEN experts community at EU level 8. Updating the operational internal manual/chart for a harmonized service within the EEN ALPS Consortium and contribution to definition of a common EEN operational manual

The project, whose geographical coverage will be North-West Italy (3 regions : Piemonte Liguria and Valle d’Aosta) aims at providing and upgrading a specific framework service for supporting SMEs in the innovation management capacity . The service will be directed to SMEs with international growth potential via product, process service and or business model innovation- with gaps regarding innovation management. In particular, the action will focus on the following specific objectives: 1. Fine tuning of a Key Account Management based customised service provision directed to: a. SMEs /Scale ups international growth, including participation to European programs b. SMEs Innovation capacity enhancement and innovation projects implementation, job creation and new market access c. SMEs Innovation results exploitation 4. Integration of the service within local business innovation support delivered, EEN specific service official embedding within the regional innovation ecosystem 5. Advisory skill enhancement: ALPS EEN personnel, assisting the experts in this Action, will increase expertise and competences, providing high level advisory on innovation management 6. Upgrading a EU shared support methodology for EEN staff, which could be adopted for profitably supporting other local SMEs 7. Contribution to the enhancement of a visible and well identified Coach/EEN experts community at EU level 8. Updating the operational internal manual/chart for a harmonized service within the EEN ALPS Consortium and contribution to definition of a common EEN operational manual

Up2Circ will demonstrate a replicable pathway to motivate and effectively support SMEs to innovate and transform towards sustainable growth and adresses the need of EU innovation support ecosystems to better join forces and make best use of synergies in order to enable a quick and comprehensive transition of Europe's SMEs towards a circular economy on a large scale. With the Up2Circ-Accelerator the project accompanies SMEs from exploration of opportunities to concrete implementation projects concerning the uptake of circular business model, product and process innovation, focussing on achievable innovation measures with clear mid-term benefits for the SMEs. Up2Circ is dismantling barriers with a customized, client-centric advisory approach and gives access to specific expertise and skills that SMEs need to develop a concrete action plan on how to transition. Learning modules of Up2Circ-Academy will connect sustainable innovation, the uptake of advanced technologies and social innovation aspects under the holistic concept of a circular economy and will be compiled based on existing results and in close cooperation with EU networks and initiatives such as ATI, EDIH, ECCP, EIT and OITB. Up2Circ methodology and materials will be made available to SME innovation advisors and trainings will be offered targeting e.g. EEN sustainability advisors to upscale project results. Further, to increase efficiency of EU innovation support ecosystems, four leveraging effects will be demonstrated and exploited: Make use of existing results, reach out more efficiently to SMEs, make use of complementary strengths, establish closer connections.