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The project DigitaliseSME (Digital Enablers in SMEs: Support for Digitalisation to Enhance SMEs' Capacity to Go International and Innovate) is an EU-funded project that supports the digital transformation of small and medium-sized companies as well as mid-caps in Europe. It connects companies to digital experts, referred to as "Digital Enablers".

The initiative will make the collaboration of SMEs with Digital Enablers possible and easy by having the latter visit for one month a company in another European country whose needs for digitalisation match their expertise. During this period, the Digital Enabler will help the company to set up and initiate a project that will lead to its digitalisation and respond to its necessities.

Partners from all over Europe joined and shared the vision of a program for the digitalisation of SMEs. The partners of DigitaliseSME are Digital Innovation Hubs in Germany (BVMW-Kompetenzcenter Berlin-Brandenburg Mittelstand 4.0), Romania (Iceberg - AltBrasov), Spain (FUNDECYT-PCTEX), the Netherlands (PhotonDelta) and Czech Republic (CzechInno), under the leadership of European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME.

DigitaliseSME is "Preparatory Action" that has been requested by the European Parliament - that means the results of the project could provide the basis to develop a broader EU program.

The project will benefit strongly any company aiming to digitalise: by registering with our portal they can be paired with a Digital Enabler that will study and work on their unique case, saving significant time on searching for an expert and saving the cost of his/her fees, as the Digital Enabler is provided with a grant from DigitaliseSME.

Digital Enablers will have the chance to join an EU-funded project that supports their sector and can provide them with visibility and strengthen their reputation. They will have the chance to work in a company abroad for a month, building new business contacts and enlarging their networks.

To know more, you can visit the project's website.

The fluorinated gases (F-gases), which are massively used in the refrigeration sector, have a high impact on global warming. Its use has drastically increased in recent years as they are a good substitute for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer.

Besides looking for substitute compounds, in the short and medium term it is necessary to develop technologies that allow reducing F-gas emissions, since they have a high global warming effect, up to 23 000 times greater than CO2, and can be retained in the atmosphere for thousands of years.

The overall objective of this project is to develop and implement Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) following the more benign and efficient green chemistry principles and using alternative and climate-friendly solvents so as to recover F-gases employed in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipments and reduce their emissions.

KET4F-Gas is a European project co-funded by the Interreg Sudoe Programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which aims at fostering the growth of applied research and eco-innovation to protect the environment through the application of the KETs, allowing the technological transfer to improve the competitiveness of SME's in the regions of Southwest Europe.

Coordinated by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (FCT NOVA), the partnership involves other 13 partners and 6 associated partners from Portugal, Spain, France and United Arab Emirates.

Partners: Universidade Nova de Lisboa - BENEFICIARIO PRINCIPAL; Fundación Empresa-Universidad Gallega (FEUGA); Institut Químic de Sarriá (IQS); Université de Pau et des Pays de lAdour (UPPA); Universidad de Cantabria; APRIA Systems; FUNDECYT-PCTEX; Interlun; Consellería de Medio Ambiente e Ordenación do Territorio; NetResiduos; No Waste-Gest�o e Recupera��o de Res�duos, Universidad de Vigo; Talence Innovation Fédération des Recherches en Environnement.

Associated Partners: The Petroleum Institute - Khalifa University of Science and Technology, MARE; FCC �mbito; European Recycling Platform (ERP) - Portugal y Espa�a; ZERO.

EUROACELERA, CROSSBORDER ENTREPRENEUR CAMPUS is a cross-border cooperation project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the INTERREG VA Spain-Portugal Program (POCTEP) 2014-2020, which promotes the development of the border areas of Spain and Portugal.

This project aims to establish a Euroace community for entrepreneurship and the acceleration of business projects based on knowledge, with priority support for the population between 18 and 35 years, students and university graduates and higher education degrees, as well as young researchers.

EUROACELERA aims to boost the creation of companies as a result of training projects with commercial potential, as well as work lines that make use of the pre-existing and more influential (in meeting the competitive challenges of the participating regions) scientific and technological domains. In addition, it will pay special attention to the gender gap, rurality and territorial dispersion in young entrepreneurship.

Partners

The EUROACELERA project has 14 partners from the Extremadura, Centro and Alentejo regions, of which 9 are Spanish entities and 5 are from Portugal.

On the Spanish side are participating: Extremadura Avante, D.G. of Enterprise and Competitiveness of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Fundecyt-PCTEX, D.G. of Vocational Training and University of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Extremadura Institute of Youth, Extremadura Woman Institute, the Extremadura Young Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs Association and two private companies of Extremadura: Inversiones Sunhunter and Conector IDE.

On the Portuguese side are participating: the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE), Leiria Polytechnic, Portalegre Polytechnic, Pedro Nunes Institute and the University of Evora.
The total cost of the EUROACELERA project, with an execution period from 01/10/2017 to 06/30/2019, is 2,171,218.33 euros, with a total amount of ERDF aid of 1,628,413.74 euros.

El proyecto VIDI 4.0 “Industria Vitivinícola Digitalizada como tractor de una Industria Agroalimentaria en Extremadura 4.0 más flexible, eficiente, sostenible y competitiva” pretende investigar cómo la digitalización de la industria vitivinícola puede contribuir no sólo al aumento de su eficiencia, sostenibilidad y competitividad, sino tambíen a implementar técnicas de producción flexible.

Se trata de un proyecto integrado, cubriendo objetivos de los sectores identificados previamente, concretándose en los siguientes aspectos:

• Investigar el proceso productivo en industrias vitivinícolas desde un punto de vista energético y de valorización de residuos.
• Investigar la red de sensores y sistemas embebidos que permitan el diseño y desarrollo de un sistema innovador de digitalización de los procesos más significativos no intrusivo.
• Investigar en el tratamiento de los datos registrados para optimizar el tamaño de los datos almacenados y aplicar la inteligencia de proceso necesaria para la obtención de información útil.
• Investigar cómo este conocimiento puede ser utilizado para implementar técnicas de fabricación flexible y de asistencia a la producción.
• Investigar el impacto ambiental y los residuos generados durante el proceso productivo y cómo los mismos puede ser valorizados, disminuyendo su impacto en el medio ambiente.

The DEGREN Project (Cross-Border Center for Business Innovation in ECODESIGN at the EUROACE, DESIGN & GREEN ENGINEERING), is a project approved in the first call of the Operational Program EP - INTERREG VA Spain Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020, and is a firm commitment to the promotion of ECODESIGN in the context of EUROACE, so that it acts as a lever of competitiveness to promote innovation and technology transfer.

The general objective of the DEGREN project is to encourage business participation in innovation processes related to ECODESIGN. It will consist in the creation of a network of collaboration between centers with R&D&i activity and the participation of companies, to: create and promote the development of ideas, research and actions in the field of ECODESIGN, and thus responding to the needs of the most important productive economic sectors of EUROACE: agri-food, forestry or wood sector, packaging, as well as construction and construction materials.

Among the results to be obtained in the framework of the project are:

• To start-up of the Cross-Border Center of ECODESIGN in the EUROACE with operational structure, action areas and decision-making.
• To articulate the cooperation among companies, research centers and the public administration to develop new products in which to apply ECODESIGN.
• To use the existing scientific resources in the participating regions related to R&D&i in ECODESIGN.
• To disseminate knowledge and success stories about business models based on ECODESIGN criteria.
• To improve the participation of the business fabric in innovative initiatives related to ECOSYSTEM and sustainable design.
• To hold the 1st ECODESIGN Congress at EUROACE