Business Innovation Facility

The BIF will act as a virtual central network of regional/national contact points that implement the services in their respective regions but cooperate transnationally to ensure the highest impact and success.

This will be achieved by an analysis of the existing business, technology and innovation services in the Atlantic Area related to the food sector and then identifying the gaps in the service offerings. The BIF service offer should be in line with the needs identified in WP1. Based on this, a BIF catalogue of services will be created, with a description of the services to be provided, their target audience, the potential provider for each service (either internal or external experts) and the procedures to request them.

Once the portfolio of the services that constitutes the BIF has been established, there will be a set of services to be delivered on the framework of the project. These can be offered collectively to several companies (e.g. specific training actions if deemed relevant) or individually to a specific need of a single company (e.g. an IPR study).

The BIF service portfolio could cover aspects such as the following:

1. Technology assessment: conducting technology assessments and feasibility studies to evaluate the potential of new technologies and innovations in specific subsectors of the Atlantic area.
2. Technical support: providing technical support and advice to SMEs in the Atlantic area to help them adopt new technologies and innovations.
3. IPR studies
4. Economic viability studies
5. Management of innovation: training as well as consulting.
6. Innovation brokerage: connecting enterprises with relevant research organisations, technology providers, and funding agencies to support the development of innovative products and services.
7. Technology transfer: assisting in the transfer of new technologies and innovations from research organisations to the private sector, including SMEs in the Atlantic area.
8. Commercialisation and internationalisation: assisting in the exploration of new markets or commercialisation channels.

The BIF will operate through the partners that will provide different services to the SMEs, or through external experts in case of highly specialised services, for which partners do not have the required skills.