European Innovation Ecosystem as a Gate for Supporting FoF Research and Experimentation (I4MS-GATE)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Destination: ICT for the Enterprise and Manufacturing
Action type: Coordination and support actions
Countries involved: Spain,Denmark,Germany,Moldova, Republic of,Spain,Belgium
Call:  (FP7-2013-NMP-ICT-FOF, 2013)
Start date: 2013-07-01
End date: 2015-06-30
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 720604.0
EU funding (EUR): 650000.0
Participants: 6
Project status: CLOSED

European manufacturing leadership has been built on the solid pillars of product innovation, high production quality and competitive cost. ICT based products and services have been instrumental in developing such competitive advantage. To reinforce such leadership European manufacturing industry, and in particular SMEs, demand specific actions to (a) bring new cutting edge ICT technology closer to manufacturing to allow assessment and take up, (b) make visible the impact of the solutions and (c) multiply the competitiveness of European industry as a result. Through the ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs (I4MS) initiative, the EC is promoting a large number of application experiments for robotics (EuRoc) and simulation (FORTISSIMO, CloudFlow, CloudSME) and equipment assessment experiments for sensor (INTEFIX) and laser based applications (APPOLO, LASHARE). Application experiments target advanced robot solutions for new manufacturing applications and simulation services for engineering and manufacturing SMEs including a cloud-based service infrastructure that provides the needed high performance computing resources. Assessment experiments target innovative sensor-based equipment solutions in manufacturing and control, and innovative laser applications in manufacturing. I4MS-Gate is a FP7 CSA that aims at multiplying the innovation impact of more than 160 European ICT for Manufacturing Experiments planned in the I4MS Programme. I4MS-Gate also aims at amplifying the findings of two European R&D ICT road-mapping activities (Road2Fame and PathFinder). Collaborating with major European stakeholders, I4MS-Gate will deliver the reference European portal on ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs (www.i4ms.eu). Through specific dissemination and coordination actions, SMEs will enjoy an integrated access to today´s distributed innovation instruments, resources, networks and platforms. They will: 1.leverage more easily on cutting edge ICT solutions 2.reach more effectively and efficiently a large European innovation and customer base 3.gain greater visibility and awareness about ICT services and equipment for manufacturing competitiveness improvement. I4MS-Gate will provide a single entry point to a European innovation ecosystem of enterprises, customers and ICT technology networks for increased supply and demand visibility of ICT innovation in manufacturing. I4MS-Gate will allow SMEs ICT providers and integrators and customers to (a) gain visibility in European markets and connect with the financial resources; e.g. open calls for experiments; to perform “first of a kind” technical validations and assessments of their ICT solutions. (b) gain increased awareness on new applications of robotics, sensor and laser systems and simulation solutions. (c) acquire best innovation practices in ICT for manufacturing technology take-up. (d) to understamd future ICT trends to be able to cross the “innovation chasm” and bring stronger ICT products into the market.

Keywords: support action,enterprise,manufacturing,ict,technologies,robotics,sensor based,laser based,innovation,network,innovation multipliers,innovation ecosystem,europe,newcomers,open calls.