SMEs are identified to be key players in economic recovery and are significant drivers in achieving the targets for growth and jobs set in the Single Market Programme (SMP) and can positively impact the regional economy. Catalan SMEs are facing real and pressing challenges to survive and grow in an increasingly competitive world. These challenges are coming from the changing nature of the markets, but also from the disruptive context resulting from the Covid-19 and other trends.
It is against this backdrop, that the CATCIM consortium proposes an ambitious setup and upgraded functioning of the Enterprise Europe Network in Catalonia for the period 2022-2025. The general objective of CATCIM is to develop the growth potential and improve the competitiveness of Catalan SMEs, contributing to the objectives of the SMP, including the promotion of the triple transition to sustainability, digitalisation and resilience, into the business ecosystem. The CATCIM consortium is formed by 3 top-quality entities for business competitiveness: ACCIÓ, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and General Council of Chambers of Commerce, as well as 2 Associated Partners: PIMEC and Chamber of Commerce of Terrassa. CATCIM combines the ‘’no-wrong door’’ approach with the provision of tailored and dedicated services of added value. 5,671 SMEs will receive basic and/or advanced, and 937 of them will continue in the client journey, based on needs assessment and drafted action plan. CATCIM aims at supporting 203 Advisory Achievements and 134 Partnering Achievements. By the end of the project, 237 SMEs will have completed an impact assessment. The core principle of the methodology is the “Hub and Spoke” model. The consortium will be interacting with several regional, national and EU actors and initiatives in a variety of ways to maximize the Network effect in the region and assist the business community in having access to innovative technologies, infrastructure, more specialized services and knowledge.
Projects
Tecniospring INDUSTRY, ACCIÓ's international talent programme, boosts technology transfer processes by offering R&D companies and centres 2-year employment contracts to host a researcher.
Innovation 4 Welfare brought together policymakers, knowledge providers, economic and social intermediaries and health institutions, implementing projects and policies across six regions. These stakeholders shared exchanged, transferred and implemented good practices and made efforts to renew the regional policy agenda. The six regions had the challenge to work on issues in the following application fields:
- Services and products for special target groups (like elderly people);
- Accessibility, mobility and smart homes;
- Medical and home care systems;
- Safety and security.
In these application fields technical solutions within ICT, food- and bio-technology, advanced materials and design have been applied.
RaiSE brings together six pro-active regions and one advisory partner to address the common challenge of enhancing competitiveness of social enterprises.
The potential of social enterprises to generate inclusive growth and promote more and better jobs is widely recognised and RaiSE project partners will learn from each other to improve their regions business support policies.
Seven partners, with varied policy contexts, unite efforts to improve together the support that each region gives to social enterprises.
Thanks to this learning process, every region will develop an Action Plan at the end of phase 1.
During the second part of the project (2 years) Action Plans will be implemented and monitored.
The PPACT (Public Procurement and Cross-border Tendering) project aims to rapidly elevate SME public sector tendering skills and equip them to participate in cross-border bidding teams focused on tapping into the Smart City sector.
The European Partner on the EC Funded ‘Public Procurement and Cross Border Tendering ‘ (PPACT) will meet to further the PPACT Programme including the development of partner training courses and plan future B2B events for 125 companies to allow them partner up for and tender on future National and Regional Government opportunities, particularly in the ‘Smart Cities’ areas such as Waste, Water, Transport, Energy etc.