The European project “Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education in Europe’s Outermost Regions (INCORE)” aims to encourage higher education institutions in the outermost regions of the European Union to proactively participate in the ecosystems of local and regional innovation, contributing to their development and growth.

With a duration of 2 years, the INCORE project is funded by the European Union (1.2 million euros), under the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT). Taking advantage of its national and international partner network, the INCORE project will encourage the exchange of good practices and introduce a new set of comprehensive measures and actions, aiming to boost the entrepreneurial capacity in higher education institutions.

Técnico leads the consortium that includes another 3 higher education institutions, the University of Madeira, the European University of the Canary Islands and the University of Reunion Island; a small technology-based company located in the Azores – Trisolaris Advanced Technologies; and a research center based in the Canary Islands – La Palma Research Centre.

The project will focus on the islands, archipelagos and a continental territory (French Guiana) of 3 EU countries: Portugal, Spain and France. “These are geographically dispersed regions, isolated from continental Europe and identified as emerging innovative regions, a classification given to regions whose performance in terms of innovation is less than 50% of the European Union average”, explains Nuno Almeida, Técnico professor (Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources – DECivil), and project coordinator.

Técnico will be responsible for overall management of the project, ensuring that the planned work is carried out as established in the contract with the funding entity and within the expected costs and deadlines, thus achieving the greatest possible impact. “The collaborative spirit has been extraordinary. All partners want to strengthen partnerships with the outermost regions and mutually support each other to find new opportunities for mobility and talent retention in these regions, namely in the Canary Island, Azores, Madeira and La Reunion”, stresses professor Nuno Almeida.

Work plan divided into four lines of action

Initially, the INCORE project team will “develop internal and multidisciplinary support structures, testing laboratories and/or other infrastructures to foster innovation, including the creation or improvement of technology transfer centers”, shared professor Nuno Almeida.

In order to strengthen partnerships and promote the “knowledge triangle” – higher education/research and technology/business – it will be necessary to redesign higher education institutions to increase and improve collaboration with external partners, “including investors, companies, technology development centers, governmental organizations, NGOs and other social partners”, stresses the Técnico professor.

The third line of action focuses on contributing to innovation and business development, through structures and conditions that allow students or other people in the academic community to create or develop their businesses and startups, or, for example, allow people or entities external to higher education institutions to access the existing infrastructures at universities.

Other activities included in the work plan are innovation and entrepreneurship training courses, mentoring programmes aimed at students, teaching and non-teaching staff of higher education institutions.

First results are already starting to show

At the moment, the first phase of the project is underway, aiming to “assess the innovation and entrepreneurship capacity building for higher education institutions in Europe’s outermost regions”, highlights the Técnico professor. “It is also intended to analyse the context of each region. It was found that, although there are some differences from region to region, there are many common challenges”, adds professor Nuno Almeida.

According to the coordinator of INCORE “by the end of the year, we expect to have this work completed and to have an action plan adjusted to the global and specific needs of each region, to be implemented in phase 2 of the project, which will take place in 2022 and during the first half of 2023”.

Técnico will lead by example in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship

Last November, the University of Madeira, with the support of Técnico and the other partners, organised the first regional event of the project. “The event was attended by several Técnico professors and researchers, who gave important contributions. There were three days of intense work, with many opportunities for creative interaction and for strengthening personal and institutional ties”, shares professor Nuno Almeida.

The first results are already starting to show. “We are confident that these results will further improve as we begin to carry out more open events and as partners start to implement locally the training and mentoring programmes”, highlights professor Nuno Almeida.

“Técnico asserted itself as the best partner to coordinate this collaborative project. The higher education institutions involved in the process carried out a self-assessment of their capacities in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship, based on the EIT criteria. The general perception confirmed Técnico’s excellence in teaching and in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship”, says professor Nuno Almeida.

According to the coordinator of INCORE, “Técnico’s privileged location, which acts as a bridge between the outermost regions and the most central regions of the European Union”, was also a deciding factor.