Hub Bilbao organizes “Talent and Technology” workshop

Last May 15th, our 3 sectoral working groups (Electronics, Information Systems and Engineering and Consulting) met to jointly analyze the needs and opportunities in the areas of Talent, Demand, and Technology, and seek innovative collaborations.

Hub Bilbao was present encouraging its companies to participate and share their experience creating a range ofwork of companies in the sector in the search for a sectoral human capital management, more sustainable, collaborative, and adding value for people and organizations

To this end, different Working Groups were formed in order to identify action plans and possible synergies with other sectors.

  • Presentation of Subsectoral Needs – Maps.
  • Presentation of value propositions of the Subsectors – Maps.
  • Dialogue and identification of action plans by working groups.
  • Conclusions of the working groups.

As a result of this day, several initiatives emerged in relation to Talent in which we will continue working over the coming months.

Latest news from Hub Occitanie

Here is a summary of the most outstanding activities of our Hub Occitanie in recent weeks:

METASTARS

METASTARS objective is to promote collaboration between European clusters to support SMEs in the aerospace and defense ecosystem (ASD) and increase companies’ resilience. The project will offer SMEs financial support to develop innovative projects and to benefit from services to adapt to new technologies, to develop or strengthen their green and digital transition, their innovation potential, their internationalization strategy, and the upskilling of their work force.

Want to know more? Click here.

PROTECT

Based on the results of the EU survey “Innovation Procurement of Climate Change services & National Legal Framework” two sets of workshops will take place in March and October 2023.

These two sets of online workshops have been preceded by a general plenary session regarding the challenges in each application domain during the high-level conference in Barcelona. During this session, moderated by CORVERS CEO (Stephan Corvers), the discussions focussed on sustainable and urban communities, in particular on the importance of waste management, which is extremely expensive and usually consists in burying waste, burning waste or transporting waste. Climate services (CS) based on Earth observation (EO) could contribute to provide solutions for these pressing issues which can potentially affect other domains such as Marine and coastal environment and Civil Security and Protection.

More info, here.

CALL OF INTEREST “Innovation and new aeronautical and space solutions for forest fire prevention, control and supervision missions”

The objective of this call is to bring out innovations involving companies and laboratories by confronting them with the practitioners of the prevention and the fight against the forest fires.

More info, here.

New International market Information in our VRC

Our Hub Basque Coast has updated the bibliography recently published in international journals dealing with the economic situation of Latin American countries. Would you like to know more about these interesting reports? Come and check our Novexport Virtual Resource Center!

  • Banking as a service market in Latin America 2023-2027: According to Technavio, the banking as a service market size in Latin America is estimated to grow by USD 4309.74 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 20.2% during the forecast period.
  • Stagnation deemed worse than 1980s ‘lost decade’: Weak investment, low productivity and inadequate education have condemned Latin America to a period of economic failure even worse than the “lost decade” of the 1980s, according to the top UN economic official in the region.
  • What investors watch out for in emerging markets in 2023: It has been a rough 12 months for emerging markets that have seen more governments stumble into default, currencies suffer and double[1]digit losses in stocks and bonds alike though many investors are optimistic that 2023 could bring some relief.
  • Peru’s political turmoil hits growth outlook: As legal woes mount for Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, his third finance minister of the year has admitted that roiling political dysfunction is damaging the business climate in the Andean nation
  • Global Environmental Sensing and Monitoring Technologies Market to Reach $19.3 Billion by 2030: The global economy is at a critical crossroads with a number of interlocking challenges and crises running in parallel. The uncertainty around how Russia`s war on Ukraine will play out this year and the war`s role in creating global instability means that the trouble on the inflation front is not over yet. Food and fuel inflation will remain a persistent economic problem.
  • Global Solar Panel Recycling Market to Reach $380.8 Million by 2027: The U.S. Market is Estimated at $43.9 Million, While China is Forecast to Grow at 17.2% CAGR.

ESA Space Solutions Centre Portugal celebrated its 8th anniversary Happy Birthday!

The ESA Space Solutions Centre Portugal (ESA SSCP) celebrated its 8th anniversary on January 12th. The anniversary featured a series of activities that lasted throughout the afternoon, including a presentation of the results achieved in recent years and the companies supported.

Founded in 2014, the ESA SSCP is a center of excellence that promotes innovation and technology transfer in space, through collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Portuguese business, academic and governmental community, allowing Portuguese companies to receive technical and financial support to create their businesses using space technology. Over the past eight years, the center has worked on research and development projects that have contributed to the advancement of technology in Portugal and Europe.

The opening session included speeches by João Gabriel Silva, President of Instituto Pedro Nunes, Fernando Guerra, Head of Space Mission Unit Principal Consultant of ANACOM – National Communications Authority, Ricardo Conde, President of the Portuguese Space Agency, and Jorge Pimenta, Director of ESA Space Solutions Portugal.

This was followed by a Microsoft workshop with Inês Marques and an intervention by Roberto Cossu of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The alumni were present at the celebration to share their experience as ESA Space Solutions Portugal incubates, among them Localista, Eptune, GAS EXPRESS, OWL Our Watch Leads, VIBO, Neuraspace, Forja, Activepoin, and Allbesmart. The winner of the ESA Challenge Patent, Allbesmart, was also presented.

ESA SSCP was the first Space Solutions Centre of the European Space Agency to bring together the three technology transfer programs promoted by ESA:

  • ESA Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC), an incubation center that supports Portuguese companies that use space technology in terrestrial applications or intend to enter the commercial space market.
  • ESA Technology Broker, an ESA technology transfer network that provides support in commercializing space technologies in non-space markets.
  • ESA Business Application Ambassador Platform, a network of ambassadors that publicizes programs and supports national projects that aim to improve the lives of people on Earth through the transfer of space technology.

In total, over the past 8 years, the ESA BIC has supported 45 national startups, the ESA Technology Broker has registered 10 successful business support cases, and the ESA Business Application Ambassador Platform has supported 26 small projects.

Creation of a working group for the use of the data download station for SENTINEL 1

Following the presentation on 20 June of the cross-border projects “Early Warning Networks” and “Environmental Monitoring for Civil Protection”, the aim of which was to learn about and analyse the main applications offered by this satellite, such as the study of the physical properties of clouds, atmospheric monitoring, land monitoring, ocean monitoring, meteorological and biological changes, crop monitoring and the monitoring of natural disasters. A working group has been set up to work on the early detection of invasive species.

The group is made up of public entities dedicated to the control of invasive species, research groups from the University of Extremadura related to remote sensing, data analysis, technology centres specialised in the agro-industrial sector, various regional administrations, and private companies in the region of Extremadura.

With the support of Fundecyt-PCTEX, in the framework of Horizon Europe funding, the following topic has been identified: HORIZON-CL6-2024-BIODIV: Invasive alien species. The objective is to be able to work on the development of a cooperative proposal for the detection of invasive species in inland aquatic areas using Sentinel 1 imagery.

The European Commission will allocate EUR 6 million to adequately address the following expected results:

– The establishment of alien species accidentally introduced into the EU environment, minimising and, where possible, eliminating them.

– Establishment of early warning systems to inform stakeholders of the introduction of invasive alien species.

– Effectively prevent the introduction of invasive alien species and systematically manage those already established.

– Support and improve public awareness, literacy and engagement on the monitoring and management of invasive alien species.

According to the European Commission, the call for proposals is expected to open on 17/10/23 and close on 22/02/24.

Companies and entities linked to the Badajoz Hub of the Novexport project will be part of the proposal to be submitted in 2024.

Hub Occitanie Last training Program: Business Development and pitching a technical offer

During last September, Hub Occitanie went back to work with a final training program dedicated to its Start-up to accompany them in developing their Business and pitching a technical offer to investors or customers.

This training program, undertaken by our selected partner Elixir Conseil, was the opportunity during 4 days to accompany 11 smes of our hub, to structure their positioning and improve their pitch for attending national or international events.

The participating companies were: ImaginEarth, Agreenculture, MEOSS, BRL ingénierie, Pangea , H3 Dynamics, Geomatys, Global Smart Rescue, Cognitive design system, Callisto

Gaia welcomes Reverse Trade Mission from Colombia

A Colombian delegation composed of Leonardo Rodríguez Urrego, Research and Transfer Manager at EAN University (Bogotá); Juan Camilo López Bermúdez, Peace Project Advisor and Technical Director of the Secretariat of Nonviolence of different Development Support Agencies, Mayor’s Office of Medellín;  and Hugo Alberto Buitrago Montoya, Director of the Special Peace Unit at  the University of Antioquia in  Medellín, visit the Basque Country these days in a Reverse Trade Mission organized by GAIA with the support of the Basque Government (SPRI Group).

The objective of this visit is for Colombian agents to know and experience the model and experiences in the process of digital transformation towards the industrial and service sectors, administration and Basque universities, in terms of public-private collaboration models, in order to adapt and implement some of these practices in their country. Likewise, the opportunities for collaboration with Basque companies that support the digital transformation in public and private agents in Colombia are analyzed.

To this end, the programme of the visit has integrated an intense agenda on November 9t – 10th in which they had their first contact and meetings with heads of Mondragon University and University of Deusto.

During the second day of their visit, they met with Iñaki Suárez, head of the Digital Transformation area of SPRI and Javier Múgica, program manager of SPRI and, in the afternoon, at the headquarters of Lehendakaritza with the Director of Social Innovation, Asier Arambarri.   From there, traveled to the Basque Cibersecurity Centre in Miñano where they met with Raquel Ballesteros, responsible for Market Development and Governance.

This Reverse Trade Mission of Colombia visited the Basque Country as part of the close collaboration that the GAIA Cluster and the Basque Government have maintained for years with entities in Colombia.

New video: This is how our project closure was celebrated in Malaga

NOVExport Sudoe was present at  Startup Europe Smart Agrifood Summit (29th and 30th September, Malaga), an event that marked the end of the project and was proposed as a platform for our SMEs to promote their innovative products and services in a grouped stand ACTION TRACKERACTIVA PROYECTOS TECHUTW, GREENFIELD  , POLAR DEVELOPMENTS, DRONE HOPPER , SANZAR were with us.

Within the framework of the Smart Agrifood Summit, on the afternoon of the 29th, NOVExport Sudoe organized a side event as the closing of the project: “STRATEGIES AND EXPERIENCES IN INTERNATIONALIZATION IN LATAM COUNTRIES”.

Would you like to see a summary of the day? Follow the link!

NOVExport services at your disposal!

The European project NOVExport was designed to support the growth and increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in western Europe.  The project has also sought to accompany its internationalization in the agricultural, environmental and maritime markets of Latin America, through the technological innovation of its products and services, using space technology, digital data and IoT (internet of things).

In the project, funded by the Interreg Sudoe Programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), seven partners from France, Spain and Portugal have worked together.

Less than 30% of European SMEs export their products and services and, for many of them, access to a new market, especially outside Europe, “becomes a long and complicated process”. This reality, together with the global expansion of data markets whose information represents a great opportunity as a business accelerator for SMEs, is at the origin of the NOVExport project that started in November 2019 and ended last September 2022.

As RESULTS of the project, which has been intended to support SMEs in southwestern Europe in their internationalization thanks to the technological maturation of their products and services, the following stand out:

  • Creation and launching of 6 local hubs (Occitanie, Coimbra, Badajoz, Bilbao, Madrid and Basque Coast).  These are local networks of companies with a common interest in international markets. For its dynamization, more than 50 events with more than 500 attendees have been held with the participation of more than 150 SMEs. These hubs are the physical spaces in which all the activities of the NOVExport project have been developed. While each has its own mode of operation, adapted to local ecosystems and practices, they are all linked in the virtual resource platform (VRC), with a common database for the project accessible to all. In addition, these centers are spaces for exchange with local ecosystems: groups of partners, incubators, etc .

  • Creation of a Virtual Resource Platform (https://crv.novexport-sudoe.eu/).  This virtual resource center (VRC) is an open web platform that centralizes all information, events, courses, market research, technological data and any information that may be of interest to SMEs in any area of their activity or sector. Constantly updated it currently has more than fifty registered companies and more than 500 resources (news of interest, commercial reports, country sheets, trainings …) .
  • A methodology for identifying and maturing innovative products and services has been created.  Accessible in the VRC, this methodology is aimed at innovative SMEs that seek the technological maturation of their products and services thanks to the use of space and digital data, to support their internationalization. More than 40 SMEs have participated in the process. The created methodology helps, among other things: designing or updating new products or services; applying rapid prototyping strategies to refine and improve new products and services; or analysing the feasibility of a new product or innovation, as well as possible challenges.
  • Creation of a methodology for international development of SMEs through coaching, technical training and B2B sessions. 3 target countries have been selected: Mexico, Brazil and Chile and more than 20 SMEs have been lent to support. Access to the methodology is also done through the VRC and its objective is to prepare SMEs to successfully face a B2B meeting with agents, organizations, administrations etc. of international markets that may be future customers.

NOVExport closing event: STRATEGIES AND EXPERIENCES IN INTERNATIONALIZATION IN LATAM COUNTRIES

NOVExport Sudoe was present at  Startup Europe Smart Agrifood Summit (29th and 30th September, Malaga), an event that marked the end of the project and was proposed as a platform for our SMEs to promote their innovative products and services in a grouped stand ACTION TRACKERACTIVA PROYECTOS TECHUTW, GREENFIELD , POLAR DEVELOPMENTS, DRONE HOPPER , SANZAR were with us.

In addition, among the 110 applications submitted, 4 of our SMEs (POLAR DEVELOPMENTS,  UTW, SANZAR, ACTION TRACKER) were selected to participate in the official Elevator Pitch of summit.

Within the framework of the Smart Agrifood Summit, on the afternoon of the 29th, NOVExport Sudoe organized a side event as the closing of the project: “STRATEGIES AND EXPERIENCES IN INTERNATIONALIZATION IN LATAM COUNTRIES”.

During the happening the main outcomes of the project were presented, we had a representation of Interreg Sudoe through Mr. Alexandre Le Gall (Project Officer) and we ended with a round table where some of our companies that have taken part in the project, shared their experience in the LATAM markets through their participation in the NOVExport Sudoe project.

Moderator: Mrs. Maria Mercedes Avilés, Novexport Hub Madrid Coordinator

Participants:

Finally, during the coffee we were able to share and learn about experiences, initiatives and proposals on how to continue supporting more companies. We are waiting for you!