Two well-attended information sessions, one in Malta and another in Gozo, provided local stakeholders with an overview of the European Commission's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the range of opportunities available through the programme.
Organised by Malta Enterprise, the information sessions were aimed at creating awareness and helping the stakeholders to prepare themselves in view of the upcoming calls for assistance through the CIP, which will start opening in January.
Amongst others, advice was given on how to go about participation, as well as on how to search for relevant partners from other countries with whom to collaborate.
During the course of the coming year, which will be the last one for the CIP before it gives way to Horizon 2020 and the Programme for the Competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME), there will be a number of calls for assistance, with the information session focusing on the three main calls.
The first will be the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme (IEE), which supports concrete projects, initiatives and best practices aimed at meeting the ambitious climate change and energy targets that the EU has set for itself, particularly by promoting energy efficiency and the use of new and renewable energy sources.
Later in the year, another call will be issued for projects to be assisted through the CIP's Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support Programme (ICT-PSP), which is aimed at stimulating a wider uptake of innovative ICT based services and the exploitation of digital content across Europe by citizens, governments and businesses, in particular SMEs.
A call for funding through the European Union's Eco-Innovation programme will then be issued in the ensuing months. Addressed to organisations that have developed an environmental product, service, management practice or process which has a proven track record, yet is not fully marketed due to residual risks, the Eco-innovation initiative is intended to overcome those barriers to further market penetration and turn these products and processes into Europe's future eco-innovation successes.
Managed by the European Commission, the CIP is one of the EU's centralised competitive funding programmes. Practically any public and private entity can participate - including public bodies, private companies, education establishments, NGOs, associations and SMEs - as long as it has the technical and financial capacity required to meet the particular objectives of the respective call.
Malta Enterprise hosts the CIP's local National Contact Point, which provides all the information necessary about the programme and its upcoming calls, guides potential beneficiaries to participate, as well as assists in the search for suitable partners.
For more information about the CIP or the various calls for funding, visit www.cipmalta.com or contact the CIP National Contact Point within Malta Enterprise on [email protected] or by calling on 2542 3214.