Foreword from EBN's CEO - 2024 EU|BIC Impact Report
This article is part of a series, you can find other stories about our community’s impact here
As we bring you the 2024 EU|BIC Impact Report, we look back with pride on the successes of 2023, a year that proved the resilience and dynamism of the EU|BIC community. The EBN Secretariat has been going through a transformative period marked by strategic advancements, innovative service offerings, and reinforced member engagement.
In 2023, we aimed to further stabilise the critical role played by EBN and its community of 170+ EU|BICs in the European innovation landscape. To do so, we strived for greater proximity and connectivity between the EBN Secretariat and its members. We have launched a series of initiatives that target membership development with the introduction of a new, strong, and dynamic service offer that matches the changing needs of our diverse membership base.
Growth in Membership and Activation
Our continued focus on broadening and strengthening our community relationships came to fruition with an increase of 18 organisations joining the EU|BIC ranks. A more coordinated and inclusive approach to the implementation of our actions has resulted in the support that we offer our members becoming a lot more impactful.
New Strategic Services to Drive Regional Innovation Capacity
2023 also saw the official launch of the redefined service portfolio. Remarkably, we presented a strong process for quality assessment for EU|BICs as a guarantee of high-quality services and to stimulate a culture of continuous improvement. A highlight includes the publication of the EU|BIC Innovation Ecosystem Building Framework, which will provide crucial insights and strategic tools from and for our members.
Collaborative Projects and Strategic Partnerships
EBN’s participation in 19 EU-funded projects, with the submission of 13 new proposals in 2023, shows how much our commitment is to ensuring secured opportunities beneficial to our members. We have worked with strategic partners such as the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to bring new opportunities and areas of collaboration and growth to our membership.
Looking Ahead Towards the 40th Anniversary of EBN
As we approach the 40 years of EBN, our engagement in driving the innovation ecosystem building and supporting the realisation of the green and digital twin transition in Europe stands stronger than ever. The way forward in achieving our sustainability goals and driving greater well-being for all is through entrepreneurial innovation. Indeed, innovation is the only path forward. The next steps for us are:
- Strengthen Innovation Ecosystem Collaboration: Continually nurturing cross-sectorial partnerships that provide coherence for innovation. By merging public-private sectors, academia, and industry, we will create sufficient ecosystems that support sustainable economic growth.
- Green and Digital Transitions: We will support new initiatives that straighten and advance the green and digital transition towards keystones of Europe’s future development. We will enable businesses to adopt greener technologies and digital tools that allow them to operate with sustainable principles and in very efficient ways.
- Empower Entrepreneurship Support Organisations: We will empower those who support innovative entrepreneurs to ensure that startups and small and medium-sized enterprises have what they need to thrive in a very competitive market across Europe and beyond. That will comprise finance, training, and strategic partnerships that may help accelerate growth and impact.
- Advancing Europe’s sustainability goals: Our key focus on sustainability will act as a guiding principle toward all acts and projects—meaning that every project and programme that we launch sets the goal of making our future greener and more just. We prioritise projects concerning the EU’s sustainability targets, developing practices that support the economy and sustain the environment.
Zooming in on the EU policy level, we witness the development of regional innovation policies within Europe which suggest a shift from a top-down directive strategy to an all-inclusive partnership-driven one. This will be important for both the digital and green dual transitions to avoid adding new layers of disparity. In the face of broad trends of deglobalisation, increasing geopolitical uncertainty, and rapid technological change, which includes AI – both a challenge and opportunity – for regional innovation, territories are well-placed to be the vehicle to reactivate industrial policy and regain strategic autonomy via system-level innovation and transformative policies.
The current call for action to drive towards systems change raises the need to develop new modes of thinking that lead to co-benefits by experimenting with place-based transformative innovation policies. Its cornerstone is the entrepreneurially-spirited innovation support intermediary organisation delivering place-based orchestration. EU|BICs are central to driving regional innovation capacity through the development of well-connected innovation ecosystems that create jobs and sustainable economic development.
It fills us with inspiration as we look at the long path that is still ahead, judging from the distance covered and the bright potential it unlocks. We believe the journey toward creating a vibrant and inclusive innovation community is a promising path forward, and we hope to keep enabling effective change through collaborative efforts.
Together, we will continue to create EBN’s and the EU|BIC community’s impact by applying innovation toward shaping a prosperous and sustainable future in Europe and beyond.
Laura Lecci,
CEO of EBN
Our mission commitment to quality business support, regional development, and sustainable innovation is enhancing the competitiveness of European enterprises and contributing to the overall cohesion of European regions and the well-being of their societies.
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