This project proposal aims at establishing the new services of EEN in Flanders with regard to the key account management for the SME instrument under H2020 as entrusted by the European Commission to the Enterprise Europe network. It also concerns the additional support services that EEN will deliver with regard to the enhancement of the innovation management capacities of SMEs as decided the H2020. The present proposal describes how the Flemish VEBIN consortium will establish the new services in the region of Flanders, how these will be embedded in the regional innovation support system to the benefit of Flemish SMEs, how the consortium will manage the services and how feedback will be organised in order to ensure a high quality service provision and an added European value. It particularly reflects on the signposting of clients among all relevant support stakeholders and to the efficient use of existing tools. It also expresses the consortium willingness to cooperate whenever requested by the Commission or by EASME to participate in benchmarking exercises among the various participating consortia and to give feedback on the implementation of these new services in the region of Flanders (Belgium).

Europe is confronted with a multitude of health challenges for which strong research and innovation efforts may bring solutions. The strategies and policies governing R&I, however, need to be harmonized across different levels (EU, national, regional) and transcend geographical boundaries to defragment European research efforts. The need for European cross-border alignment of R&I efforts became particularly obvious during the COVID pandemic. Although there is an immense potential throughout Europe to become the preferred global hub to conduct clinical studies and trials, Europe largely failed to secure this potential. Besides the imminent urgency to provide a response in case of a pandemic, aligning R&I strategies and policies isalso crucial to develop healthcare of the future, which will be personalised and preventive, building on the convergence of cutting-edge technologies, such as bio-, nano-, digital technologies and engineering and integration of several types of data, including genomic data, health data, and real-world data. The transformative potential of such convergence, however, is frequently hindered by the challenge of translating scientific knowledge into practical innovations and effectively incorporating these innovations into healthcare systems as well as the lack of standardisation and harmonisation. The European partnerships and access to high-end research infrastructures play a pivotal role in addressing the fragmentation of European R&I efforts and realising the ultimate goals and ambitions of establishing Europe as a lead region in the world providing R&I-based answers to complex health challenges.

Continuing the existing services for enhancing the innovation management capacity of SME's by the Enterprise Europe Network in Flanders This project proposal aims at continuing the services of EEN in Flanders with regard to the key account management for the SME instrument under H2020 as entrusted by the European Commission to the Enterprise Europe network. It also concerns the additional support services that EEN will deliver with regard to the enhancement of the innovation management capacities of SMEs as decided the H2020. The present proposal describes how the Flemish VEBIN consortium will continue to realise the services in the region of Flanders, how these will be embedded in the regional innovation support system to the benefit of Flemish SMEs, how the consortium will manage the services and how feedback will be organised in order to ensure a high quality service provision and an added European value. It particularly reflects on the smart signposting of clients among all relevant support stakeholders and to the efficient use of existing tools. It also expresses the consortium willingness to cooperate whenever requested by the Commission or by EASME to participate in benchmarking exercises among the various participating consortia and to give feedback on the implementation of the services in the region of Flanders (Belgium).