What is CERIecon?
CERIecon stands for “CENTRAL EUROPE Regional Innovation Ecosystems Network”.
Project webpage: CERIecon
Project duration is 36 months (June 2016 – May 2019).
Project total budget: € 3.112.975,00.
The project application was jointly developed by 14 partners from urban areas and submitted to Central Europe in 2015 under specific priority objective 1.2 “To improve skills and entrepreneurial competences for advancing economic and social innovation in central European regions”. With this successful application, a consortium of seven Central Europe Member States with two partners each embarked on the CERIecon adventure in June 2016. Ten Associated Strategic Partners Institutions from the seven partner regions are supporting the project. RCE Vienna is honored to be one of the two key partners in Vienna region, together with the Stadtschulrat as the Lead Partner, and the ZSI as a strategic partner.
CERIecon aims to increase and improve the skills of employees in the business sector (particularly in start-ups and young SMEs) in CE Member States regarding novel technologies, innovative products, services or processes and social innovation contributing to regional smart specialisation strategies. An entrepreneurial culture will be developed and fostered so that more and more young females and males are inspired to become entrepreneurs and develop their own firms. Their skills and entrepreneurial competences will be improved through the best possible regional support and training available in new-type comprehensive regional innovation ecosystems.
These ecosystems will incorporate and utilise regional smart specialization strategies (RIS3) as drivers for innovation. A transnational network interlinking the ecosystems will provide entrepreneurs with opportunities to increase their international skills in an international business environment. The result will be a significant advancement in economic and social innovation in Central Europe making cities and regions “better places to work and live”. By mid-2019, CERIecon will have changed the way entrepreneurs are inspired, trained and supported through a balanced package of strategies, actions plans, pilot actions, training, and tools to create new-type comprehensive regional innovation ecosystems and a transnational innovation ecosystems’ network in a majority of Central European Member States. With the three-step logical project approach (Development – Implementation – Improvement) the project aim is that entrepreneurs and SMEs benefit the most from what the CERIecon partnership does.
RCE Vienna focuses primarily on the development of the CERIecon Playpark – a space where we will provide an environment for student start-ups dealing particularly with sustainability and social innovation, providing the participants with a 6-months long support program.
The first cohort starts in September 2017. Interested in joining? Get in touch!
Contact:
Mag. Katarzyna Gruszka
kgruszka@wu.ac.at
+43-(0)1- 31336 ext. 5101