Lancaster Environment Centre

KARIM is aimed at SMEs seeking to gain access to high value innovation support and technology.

Programme Details

Target market

SMEs seeking to gain access to high value innovation support and technology

Project Timespans

24th September 2009 – 30th June 2014

What is the project designed to do?

The project is designed to help Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in NWE access innovation support and technology and make NWE more competitive by creating a network of centres across this region collaborating on technology transfer.

The project will create a higher level of transnational support for innovation and technology transfer; provide SMEs access to a wider range of high quality technologies and innovation support than is available locally; increase capacity of SMEs and universities to access and provide support transnationally; and reduce regional disparities in SME access to innovation support and technology.

How do we achieve this?

The KARIM project is structured into 17 Actions which will bring together a partnership of 8 organisatons including innovation support agencies, universities, regional government agencies and SME-support organisations with significant experience of providing innovation and technology transfer support to regionally-based SMEs.

This collaborative partnership, by carrying out these 17 actions, will build a new NWE infrastructure for innovation and technology transfer some of the outputs of which will be:

1. Mapping existing support for innovation and technology transfer across NWE
2. Establishing key priority markets and technology opportunities for all SME sectors in NWE
3. Developing a transnational ICT-platform to harbour events, training and coaching opportunities and access to market foresight analysis.
4. Implementing a number of transnational events or ‘open forums’
5. Initiating an ambitious number of transnational, collaborative projects
6. Building university capacities to provide technology transnationally
7. Examining the differing roles of university spinout companies across NWE
8. Building SME capacities to access innovation support and technology transnationally
9. Developing responsible innovation as a sound innovation philosophy
10. Designing of a successful communication strategy to permanently influence policy

Who funds the project?

KARIM is financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Interreg IVB programme.

Who is involved?

• Lead partner: Paris Region Innovation Centre (CFI) is an innovation support agency with over 50 staff and was created by the Ile de France region in January of 2009. CFI is entirely devoted to promote and support ‘Responsible Innovation’. The centre provides specific expertise and mentoring support to innovation projects driven by SMEs, individuals or laboratories.
• BSK-CiC Based in Kent bsk-cic are a group of 50 researchers, low carbon specialists, high growth coaches, international trade specialists, business start-up mentors, funding experts and professional project managers. They are a social enterprise motivated by making a difference, as well as generating profits to return to their business community.
• Lancaster University is based in the North West and is ranked as one of the UKs top ten Universities and one of the only 29 UK Universities to appear in the top 200 Universities worldwide. It has a strong reputation for working with SMEs in the region in which it sits. LU’s Management School and Environment Centre will be the two lead areas within LU for the project.
• Ecodesign Centre (EDC), University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) is an applied research organisation that aims to build capacity and capabilities to enable effective ecodesign and eco-innovation in industry and in particular within SMEs.
• HTW Chur, University of Applied Sciences is mandated by the Canton government to act as the SME centre and is implemented by the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship. The mandate includes innovation support for SMEs and the transfer of technology and knowledge between universities and SMEs.
• Delft university of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management is a delivery partner located in Delft (Netherlands) and will examine the interaction between universities and SMEs and in particular the academic spin out. Supported by government authorities that intend to improve the high technology transfer density within regions, academic institutions increasingly adopt this approach to commercialise their scientific findings.
• MFG baden Wurttemberg, Public Innovation agency for IT and Media is a regional public innovation agency for ICT and media, based in the South West of Germany. Its aim is to support and foster the IT and media sectors as well as related fields within the region of Baden-Wurttemberg and targets, in particular, the enhancement of ICT and IT competences of SMEs.
• University College Dublin (UCD) is Irelands largest University and alongside teaching and research Innovation is the third pillar in the University strategy 2010-2014 – a key aspect of which is to maximise the commercialisation of research, build stronger industry collaboration including with SMEs and to establish a framework for entrepreneurship and innovation skills training.

The Smart Energy Technology Showcase: Accessing International Expertise in Low Carbon Technologies.

Find out more

• www.karimnetwork.eu