Industrial Leadership

This pillar aims to accelerate the development of technology and innovation that will sustain the companies of tomorrow and help European innovative SMEs to turn into worldwide leading enterprises.

It consists of three specific objectives

• Leadership in industrial technologies will provide dedicated support to research, development and demonstration and, when applicable, for standardization and certification, information and communication technology (ICT), nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology, the manufacturing and processing and advanced space. The emphasis will be on interactions and the convergence through and between different technologies and their link with social challenges. The users’ needs will be considered in all these areas.
• The access to venture capital will aim at overcoming  the deficit in the availability of debt financing and equity funding for R&D and enterprises and innovation-driven projects in all stages of development. Together with the equity instrument of the European Programme for the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME) (2014-2020) it will support the development of venture capital at the level of the EU.
• The innovation in SME will provide tailored support to stimulate all forms of innovation in SME, aimed at those which have the potential to grow and internationalize.

The aim is to make Europe a more attractive place to invest in research and innovation (including eco-innovation), via the promotion of activities in which enterprises set the agenda. Furthermore, an important investment in key industrial technologies will be provided, to maximize the potential growth of European enterprises by giving them adequate funding and help innovative SME to turn into worldwide leading enterprises.

Components:

Leadership in industrial technologies:

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing,  processing, and space.

The access to venture financing:
aims at overcoming the deficit in the availability of debt financing and equity funding for enterprises and innovation-driven R+D+I projects in all stages. It will support the development of venture capital at the level of the EUvia the equity instrument of the European Programme for the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Innovation in SME:

will provide support to the SME with the purpose of encouraging all relevant forms of innovation of SME, focusing on those which have the potential to grow and internationalize in the single markets as well as abroad.