Generating European Momentum
01/07/2010
Across all industry sectors, investing in research and development, R&D, to improve existing products or to develop new is vital to company success, particularly when addressing global markets.
Governments across the world have recognised this and often provide financial support schemes to their local industries to engage in R&D. In Northern Ireland, Invest NI can provide direct financial support for R&D and this has been the traditional route that companies in the region have followed.
Another source of support for R&D for Northern Ireland Industry is that offered by the European Union through a series of framework programmes. The current programme is Framework 7, commonly referred to as FP7. A particular feature of support offered under these programmes is the requirement for collaboration between companies and /or academic institutions across the countries of the EU. Thus, under the FP7 programme, the EU issues regular calls for proposals from collaborative networks of companies and institutions to carry our joint R&D which addresses specific priorities identified by the EU.
Project partners are required to be based in a minimum of three European states and the project must also have on average two ‘Research and Technological Development (RTD) performers’ . RTD performers are normally Third Level Institutions or companies who have significant research divisions.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that whilst FP7 funding can be very substantial, accessing this funding is difficult, particularly for smaller companies classified as Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). As the representative body for the ICT industry in Northern Ireland and with a high proportion of member companies who are SMEs, Momentum decided to explore access to FP& funding so as to generate the experience to advise member companies and to potentially generate additional project revenue for the organisation.
Ian Graham, the Momentum CEO reasoned “We understood that FP7 presented a real opportunity for ICT companies to secure R&D funding but realised that we couldn’t comment on how hard it was to be successful without working through a full application ourselves”.
Momentum’s first application was as the lead partner for a project based round cloud computing. Ian commented “There is no doubt there was a substantial amount of administration in getting started but most of this was a ‘one off’ effort and didn’t need repeated again.” This first project involved the Irish Software Association, The IT association in Turkey and UK and Irish Universities.
“Leading the project was a very large overhead and I would suggest there needs to be a clear understanding by any company taking on this role of what is involved and what demands this will make of them” Ian said.
This first application was unsuccessful, yet the experience Momentum gained and the exposure the organisation achieved in Europe was considerable. Through a strong relationship with SAP’s operation in Belfast and through Momentum’s exposure in Europe, the organisation was approached by SAP Germany later in 2009 to become a partner in a project proposal led by them. This proposal defines a project to develop a flexible, low cost solution to identify opportunities to improve the communication of key information between collaborative networks of companies or between different sections or divisions within larger organisations.
With over 300 member companies in the ICT and digital content industries and with a focus on facilitating the development of collaborative networks, Momentum is ideally placed to define ‘use cases’ for the project and to test and evaluate project outputs as they emerge and this is the role the organisation will play in the consortium. Other partners in the project include FIAT (Italy), TXT E-Solutions (Italy), Ecole Polytechnique Federal De Lausanne (Switzerland), Universitat Gallen (Switzerland) and Technion (Israel).
Ian commented “Because of our earlier experience we both knew the process and were aware of what was involved in becoming a partner in this project. It was noticeable how much of the administration was reduced and it confirmed to us that the initial overhead with the first project was truly a one time commitment.”
Momentum received notification that this project worth €4.8 million was approved in March 2010. It is planned to commence in September 2010 and will run for 30 months with them engaged as a full partner throughout the duration.
Ian reflected “ Looking back the process was not easy and a substantial effort is required to achieve success. Frankly, companies cannot really expect to be successful the first time or indeed every time they submit a proposal but the benefits to business when they are, can be very, very significant.”
« Back