BlockStart aims to increase adoption of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) among SMEs, build DLT capacity into Europe’s ecosystem builders and remove obstacles to DLT adoption at the highest level. BlockStart will match SMEs with high DLT potential (as determined by the BlockStart DLT Assessment Tool) with pioneering DLT developers capable of developing the right solutions for their specific needs. BlockStart mentors these DLT developers through the Engage->Prototype->Pilot acceleration programme with the final objective of testing a DLT solution in real conditions together through pioneering SMEs. BlockStart achieves this by working together with intermediaries close to the SMEs (e.g.: industry associations, clusters, networks) and building their capacity to run their own DLT support services. Furthermore, BlockStart produces know-how on sector-specific DLT maturity, intermediary capacity and policy recommendations to be used as the basis for workshops and roundtables to discuss sector-wide improvements to the framework conditions for DLT adoption across Europe. BlockStart is constituted by BRPX, a DLT Company Builder that has bet on these technologies to be the future, CIVT, innovation intermediaries who are building DLT know-how across Europe and F6S, one of the largest platforms in Europe for engaging SMEs and startups into new and exciting opportunities. By combining these capabilities, BlockStart will demonstrate the potential of DLTs by developing 15 DLT solutions ready to be piloted to 60 SMEs, train over 30 intermediaries on DLT innovation support services, who in turn will reach over 600 SMEs during the duration of the project - and finally bring together 100 participants to a policy conference - setting the stage to continue the work achieved by the project.

The overall aim of RODIN is to coordinate activities within the different PAA Innovation Actions and support them by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of their activities, and improve their cross-PAA collaboration. Main objectives of the project are to: • Disseminate best practice in the operation of robotics DIH networks • Gather information from DIH networks on their composition, service offers, assets and infrastructure relevant to applying robotics in the PAA • Develop collaboration with and between the DIH networks, developing links to key stakeholders in robotics and technology • Deliver communication and outreach activities to external stakeholders and policy makers • Establish a resource to share information with DIH IAs • Assess the performance of DIH networks and provide feedback to the consortia to improve and enhance their operation • Coordinate access to, and development of, platforms, pilots and demonstrators • Enable industry-led standards development • Assess the access to finance for SMEs and the role DIH networks play in developing synergy between national, regional and European funding mechanisms • Develop means of extending the networks across Europe • Develop strategy around the future development of DIHs in robotics All objectives will be achieved by the proposed activities detailed in the work packages. RODIN also establishes and manages the Working Group that: • sets the basis for cooperation with the IAs • feeds back assessments of their performance and operation to the IAs • delivers best practice information to the IAs • develops models of sustainability for robotic DIH networks RODIN fully addresses the CSA called for under DT-ICT-02-2018 b): Robotics – Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH). It addresses the need to support and cooperate with the four Digital Innovation Hub networks under DT-ICT-01-2018 a) to coordinate activities and develop synergy between the four Priority Area DIH networks thereby creating a network of networks.

MERLIN aims to support ICT researchers, SMEs and startups across to realise the full potential and impact of their research and development outputs by crafting them into innovations and achieving market validation using modern needs-first, market-led methodologies like Business Model Canvas, Customer Discovery, Lean Hardware, etc. The project will provide training, networking and follow-on support through 43 practical workshops, 4 webinars (on SME growth and PPP business models), 5 international conference workshops and 8 meetups with potential customers and commercial partners. MERLIN will have over 1250 attendees at in-person workshops and meetups across the four principal nodes of Madrid (ES), Vilnius (LT), Poznań (PL) and Cambridge (UK) and the secondary nodes of Berlin (DE), Warsaw (PL), Tallinn (EE), Bucharest (RO), international webinars and international ICT conferences in Europe. For sustainability, and to increase the participants’ success in bringing to market their innovation, MERLIN will integrate participants with existing national (e.g. Innovate UK, Enterprise Ireland, CDTI) and European initiatives (Startup Europe, ERDF, EFSI, etc.) designed to support early entrepreneurship, product development, market access, seed financing and microfinancing for continued support on their journey to market validation and company growth. The project will also identify and promote high-potential innovators through attendance at Startup Europe events to access other European startup ecosystems, entrepreneurs, investors and accelerators. These activities will see over 160 new business model canvases developed, 1040 individual 1-on-1s with potential commercial customers, serial entrepreneurs and business angels, 250 applications to regional, national and international support actions and the creation of 30 new ventures in the lifetime of the project with an anticipated further 60-100 in the following 3 years’ post project, creating over 1200 jobs in the medium-term.

The challenge of transferring innovation from Europe to India has been a thorn in the side of establishing European presence in third countries and strengthening its position as a science, technology and innovation leader. Europe must take the lead in stimulating and enabling Europe-India interactions and mobilising the ecosystems to build bridges between the regions. The EU-India InnoCenter is brought to life to extend the network of centres in the world's most dynamic, innovative subcontinent by connecting and supporting European researchers and entrepreneurs to launch and expand their activities in India. • The long-term strategic objective of the EU-India InnoCenter is to sustainably contribute to the establishment of Europe as a science, technology and innovation leader in India. • The direct objective of the EU-India InnoCenter is to build a centre in India that will, in close cooperation with local technology and innovation structures, guide European innovators on their journey to soft-landing in India, stimulate constructive co-creation, build an ecosystem of stakeholders, and bolster a two-way technology and knowledge transfer. The project will support European startups and SMEs to enter India’s market with: • 35 internationalization bootcamps to consider India for expansion; • 920 hours of expert consultations to prepare localization strategies; • 8 vertical-specific market immersion programmes to find the first clients and partners; • 5 batches of a 3-month programme to help European technologies adapt and scale to the Indian market; • Network of 30000+ Indian innovators through the consortium partners’ coworking hubs in nine major Indian cities. The consortium comprises leading startup support organizations covering most of Europe and India with a proven record of bringing top-class internationalization support, business consulting, investment advice and readiness, acceleration, market immersion services to the market.

BOWI project addresses the challenge of limited capacities among DIHs to support the uptake of SAE/I4MS technologies during the last 7 years in the European industry at large. The overall aim of the project is to create a DIH widening network that supports the collaboration of new DIHs (proto-hubs) in regions where SAE and I4MS technologies are underrepresented and well-established DIHs that are highly experienced in these technologies (mature hubs). BOWI takes the first step towards creating a fully sustainable post-project network by: 1. Strengthening proto-hubs by carrying out actual experiments and facilitating the collaboration between proto-hubs and mature hubs; 2. Ensuring sustainability of BOWI network by developing a blended financing accelerator and membership model; 3. Creating the BOWI community, initiating the participation of proto-hubs, mature hubs, regional stakeholders, and investors. The mechanism will be first tested by supporting 6 pioneer proto-hubs (pioneer stage), which will be later extended to 9 proto-hubs in the second full-fledged strengthening stage, allowing new members of the EU DIH community to participate, including the proto-hubs and mature hubs that are currently not part of the consortium. The post-project BOWI network business model is to be explored, including service and funding needs. To ensure practical experience, all 15 proto-hubs will be supported to conduct 60 (15x4) SAE/I4MS uptake experiments with SMEs in total. For this purpose, an extensive FSTP approach will be used. The consortium includes experienced partners that participate intensively in the SAE/I4MS strategies (Civitta, FBA, VTT, and RWTH). They are complemented by 6 proto-hubs from various countries that act as pioneer hubs to test and validate approaches (TIT, LITC, UWB, KTP, NTNU, ICT).