SMEs benefit greatest from EU ICT R&I funding

A new report from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has announced the significant value SMEs are gaining from EU research programmes.

The Innovation Radar survey reveals that small and medium sized enterprises deliver 41% of innovations that have the greatest potential from ICT-related, EU-funded research and innovation projects. However, SMEs only secure 14% of total funding.

The report also found that Germany (15.63%), Spain (12.13%), the UK (11.95%) and Italy (10.85%) are the countries with the most organisations identified as key players in delivering the innovations.

Furthermore, the report showed there are 291 cities hosting 544 organisations that were identified as key in delivering the identified innovations. However, only 24 cities host four or more innovators. The cities with the highest number of organisations include Barcelona (19), and London and Paris, which both host 17 organisations.

The Innovation Radar report analysed 279 projects between May 2014 and January 2015 to identify the high potential innovations and the key innovators behind them. The full report, entitled ‘Identifying Innovations and Innovators with High Potential in ICT FP7, CIP & H2020 Projects’ can be read in full here.