European Knowledge Alliance SHIP: Launch of the first innovation partnership

In our constant endeavor to be the bridge between businesses and higher education institutions (HEIs), UIIN is proud to announce the launch of the first alliance under the European SMEs and HEIs in Innovation Partnerships (SHIP) project. On March 2, Ireland’s Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD, launched the Irish Alliance at Newry, Ireland.

SHIP seeks to reduce the friction that SMEs encounter while adopting academic-based innovation in their operations and HEIs encounter while trying to generate a direct economic impact from their research by building a collaborative, knowledge sharing relationship between SMEs, HEIs and innovation support organizations.

The first SHIP alliance along with the REAL (Regional Education and Employment Alliances) alliance, which was launched on the same date, is being led by Louth Local Enterprise Office (LEO). The Louth LEO competed with several other organizations in the European Union to win more than €900,000 in funding for the two programmes and aims to use it in strengthening regional development in Ireland and across the European Union.

At the event, Minister Nash praised the Louth LEO, saying “It is leading the way in demonstrating how innovation at a local level can translate into significant gains not only for the Louth community but across the border and EU through strategic partnerships it is developing with universities from Spain, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Romania.”

Through SHIP, UIIN and its alliance partners are working on creating 4 territorial alliances, which will involve more than 80 stakeholders across 5 countries. They are also working on developing an open access, digital learning resource for SMEs and a Multimedia Case Study Guide for Innovation Transfer. The open access, digital learning resource will train SMEs in the skills for engaging in innovation transfer with HEIs and Horizon 2020 projects, while the Multimedia Case Study Guide for Innovation Transfer will present cost effective solutions for transferring HEI research to SMEs.

For more information on the innovation alliances, please visit: www.innovationalliance.eu