H2020 EPRISE Project: Boosting photonics through regional innovation strategies in Europe
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2017 -2019
- Assigned Budget 1.402.792,5 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website Proyecto EPRISE
The project's socioeconomic impact on each target group is summarized below. Photonics SMEs had the opportunity to enhance their business skills through personalized expert advice during roadshow events. Examples include: support for an Italian SME from an in-house expert from the UK partner EPRISE for the certification of its medical device; access to regional funding; and participation in an Innosup H2020 project for a French SME for the diversification of medical technology into the food market. Informed guidance (through presentation materials and events) to regional authorities resulted in increased prioritization of photonics in regional strategies and financial support for the photonics industry.
Examples include the inclusion of photonics in the revised RIS3 for the Stockholm region and the Northeast of England region's investment in a new health photonics hub. Regional participation in meetings or working groups for the DT-ICT-04-2020 call can lead to co-funding initiatives through the allocation of ESIF funds. The participation of integrators and end-users in Roadshow events fostered collaboration along the entire value chain at the regional and European levels. Examples include: a European consortium for a Horizon 2020 call on plant health, including a university, two RTOs, an SME, and an end-user; a pilot project in agriculture involving technology providers, research institutes, and farmers from four European regions. Promoting photonics as a key investment, encouraging joint ventures in the photonics sector, facilitating SMEs' access to target markets, and fostering collaboration throughout the value chain can have broader societal implications.
In the coming years, the European photonics sector is expected to grow rapidly within its target markets, given its potential to address societal challenges such as population growth and aging, climate change, and food contamination. Innovative photonics SMEs can play a key role in this process, and collaboration between stakeholders along the entire value chain is essential.
The mapping activities in 89 European regions resulted in a database including 1,398 companies, 315 research institutes/universities, and 149 clusters/networks. It is available on the project website (https://eprise.eu/photonic-companies/). The RIS3s were also analyzed in relation to photonics and their target markets (32 regions). Presentation material was prepared showcasing the photonics sector of 12 selected regions that have not yet identified photonics as a priority in their RIS3.
This material was used to highlight the potential of the photonics sector for the local economy to regional authorities, enabling them to implement further measures to exploit this potential. Opportunities for collaboration and co-funding were identified: the Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) initiative and the Horizon 2020 DT-ICT-04-2020 Photonics Innovation Hubs (PIH) call for proposals. Partners organized meetings and working groups among key stakeholders (regional authorities, technology centers, clusters) to structure PIH activity, create consortia, and consider regional co-funding. A survey was conducted on the commercialization challenges faced by 91 European photonics companies seeking to enter the four target markets.
In parallel, an expert database was created to map market-specific knowledge that matched the identified needs. The database contains 88 experts and is available on the EPRISE website (https://eprise.eu/experts/). By analyzing needs and leveraging the databases, partners have been able to offer their members new and improved services. Roadshows in Florence, Stockholm, Berlin, Marseille, Amsterdam, Newcastle, and Barcelona gave photonics SMEs the opportunity to meet with partners and potential customers (integrators, end-users) and obtain customized solutions from experts. The expert presentations can be downloaded from the project website or viewed on a dedicated YouTube channel, along with a go-to-market guidance brochure. The latter is a compilation of best practices, lessons learned, conclusions, tips, and case studies delivered by the Roadshow.
Communication tools were developed to disseminate these results among target groups and ensure their exploitation and sustainability beyond the project's conclusion (websites: https://eprise.eu/, https://photonicsroadshow.eu/, and Twitter account @EPRISE_EU). Partners will continue to leverage the results by developing new services, expanding their network, organizing new events, and lobbying funding agencies to support the photonics industry. The results will also benefit the broader photonics community.
Companies developing photonics-based products for the medical technology, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food markets face specific commercialization challenges, such as long time-to-market and complex regulatory frameworks. They require market-specific guidance from business-related experts, as well as the support of public funding, to move from the innovation-readiness phase (technology maturity level - TRL = 4, laboratory-validated technology) to the investment-readiness phase (TRL = 7, system prototype demonstration).
Furthermore, photonics SMEs should benefit from networking with their European counterparts, system integrators, and end-users. European regions can support their companies through the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) via the smart specialization policy process. Twelve European regions have identified photonics as a priority in their Smart Specialization Strategy for Research and Innovation (RIS3).
However, there is still room for improving funding synergies between Horizon 2020 and the ESI Funds, as well as the coordination of regional and EU photonics strategies. Photonics clusters can play an important role in addressing these challenges thanks to their connections with local policymakers and their experience in supporting businesses and creating networking opportunities. Thus, eight photonics clusters and one Technology Innovation Hub from eight European countries (France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, and the United Kingdom) implemented the EPRISE project between January 2017 and June 2019. The overall objective of the project was to promote and support photonics as a key enabling technology (KET), focusing on applications in the medtech, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food markets, where Europe holds a leading position. More specifically, the EPRISE consortium: Organized the "European Photonics Roadshow": 7 European events to help photonics SMEs enter these markets through expert advice and to boost collaboration along the value chain; Mapped regional ecosystems in partner countries to highlight the potential of photonics to regional authorities in relation to their RIS3; Supported and contributed to collaboration and co-funding scenarios to foster a combined effort of managed European and regional resources.
In conclusion, the project created sustainable and exploitable tools (a database of photonic stakeholders, an expert database) and market-specific information (a brochure, presentations, and Roadshow series videos) to strengthen the photonics sector and improve the coordination of photonics strategies and resources in Europe. These tools have been disseminated to various target groups: photonics companies, regional authorities, integrators, and end-users of photonic technologies.
The EPRISE project aims to promote and support photonics as a KET by focusing on life science applications in four target markets where Europe holds a leading position: medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and food. Companies developing photonics-based products for these markets face very specific commercialization challenges, such as a long time to market adoption, complex regulatory frameworks, and high barriers to market entry, to name just a few. They often require public funding support to help them cross the "valley of death" between the innovation-readiness phase (TRL 4) and the investment-readiness phase (TRL 7). During this time, they also require the advice of market-specific experts who can guide them on non-technological (commercial) issues.
The EPRISE consortium will organize a “European Photonics Roadshow,” a series of seven major events hosted by European regions, with the aim of providing SMEs with concrete solutions from market experts on how to overcome market barriers and boost collaboration along the entire value chain through pre-arranged B2B meetings. The photonics clusters involved in EPRISE have the local connections and technological know-how to establish, together with regional authorities, an efficient framework that will foster the creation of funding synergies between regional and European funds to better harness the potential of the European photonics industry. The project aims to provide regional policymakers with an overview of the funding synergies to be considered in the current or future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Furthermore, the project aims to establish formal collaboration with ongoing European photonics projects offering technological support (ActPhast, Pix4Life) that can address potential technological challenges related to SME market access.
- POLE OPTITEC (OPTITEC)
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