On March 11 and 12, 2019, the first project partner meeting for the Interreg North Sea project Futures By Design took place in the historic Kanselarij in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. Representatives of aconium GmbH and ten other project partners took part. In addition to getting to know the participants better, the main focus was on discussing the concrete implementation steps and the design of the Horizon Scanning and Knowledge Transfer Hubs. The final details for implementation were clarified in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. On the second day, there was also the opportunity to clarify organisational issues with the programme secretariat.
Background
The Futures By Design project aims to increase the innovative capacity and productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in economically underdeveloped rural regions. The aim is to enable companies to use data and data analysis to prepare for upcoming economic, technical and digital challenges and to use these for their own success. To this end, organisations in six project regions from five countries are working together. They will establish so-called Horizon Scanning and Knowledge Transfer Hubs in the participating regions, which will provide a point of contact for SMEs offering support with the introduction of data-based processes. The aim is to share experiences from the regions and continuously improve the tools used.
Together with the Swedish Alexandersoninstitutet, aconium is responsible for communication management in the project and, together with the University of Groningen North West Germany, is responsible for implementation in North West Germany.