CONFERENCE
The meeting opened on 19 November at Palazzo Donini, the headquarters of the Umbria Region, where participants were welcomed by representatives of the Regional Council and the Mayor of Perugia, followed by introductory remarks from Sviluppumbria’s CEO, Luca Ferrucci. The opening session highlighted the strategic importance of SME competitiveness, tourism development and innovation for regional growth.
A dedicated session on regional best practices presented key instruments used in Umbria to foster entrepreneurship and business development. Speakers from the Umbria Region and Sviluppumbria introduced several initiatives, including UmbriaTourism, the SmartUp programme and Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) services, illustrating how tailored support, internationalisation and innovation services can strengthen local SMEs across different sectors. In the afternoon, participants explored Perugia through a series of site visits
On 20 November, the focus shifted to the wider Perugia area study visits to SMEs that have benefitted from regional support mechanisms. The programme included visits to high-tech startup company, high-tech company working in aerospace industry and an olive mill, offering concrete examples of how public instruments can help enterprises innovate, enhance quality, and improve their positioning in local and international markets. The visit closed with an evening working dinner hosted by Sviluppumbria, providing further opportunities for exchange among partners.
The two-day meeting in Perugia enabled InnoCom partners to learn from Umbria’s experience in designing and implementing policies and tools for SME development, tourism promotion and territorial regeneration. The insights gathered will feed into ongoing interregional cooperation within the project and support partners in refining their own regional strategies to better serve businesses and communities.
About InnoCom Project
Administrative barriers can keep SMEs from gaining full benefits of EU funding opportunities intended to help elevate their competitiveness, so city and regional authorities must improve their governance and regulatory framework to reduce barriers, improve messaging and increase the visibility of support and EU funding opportunities. These actions will benefit SMEs and the reputation of institutions delivering the services and support programs. Recent global events (COVID-19, War in Ukraine, etc.) have made it even more crucial to support SMEs’ development and competitiveness. European cities and regions can respond by making funding more accessible, so businesses can expand or innovate, export within and beyond the single market, undertake energy-saving upgrades, hire from traditionally disadvantaged groups, increase digitalization, etc. Communication of funding opportunities must be better targeted, digitally accessible, interactive, equally distributed, and clearly presented, reducing bureaucratic jargon as much as possible. Building on existing practices and informed by interregional learning, the InnoCom will improve local policy instruments to introduce innovative models, digital tools, and services, reduce obstacles, and make other changes for better and more user-friendly interaction with businesses. In follow-up, it will monitor the expected outcome: SMEs empowered to raise their game through access to public services, and other support. Partners from Italy, Romania, France, Latvia, Slovenia, and Ireland work together to identify weaknesses, seek solutions, and exchange good practices and ideas through the interregional learning process. The University of Latvia acts as the Advisory partner of the InnoCOM project. The project implementation is foreseen until February 2027.
Partners
The project involves a total of 8 partners from 6 countries/regions: Lead Partner Sviluppumbria (IT), Advisory Partner University of Latvia (LV), Project Partner Bucharest Ilfov Regional Development Agency (RO), Project Partner Municipality of Grosuplje (SI), Project Partner Hauts de France Regional Council (FR), Project Partner Carlow County Council (IE), Project Partner Zemgale Planning Region (LV), Associated Policy Authority Umbria Region (IT).
More information
Contact person: Zane Zeibote, LU ESASAC, zane.zeibote @lu.lv , tel. (+371 29417214)
, gathered in Perugia for an interregional exchange meeting and a series of study visits showcasing innovative regional tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Director of the Centre for European and Transition Studies Dr. Zane Zeibote took part at the project’s partner meeting, Steering Committee meeting and study visit. The event was hosted by the Umbria Region and its regional development agency Sviluppumbria which is the Lead partner of the InnoCom project. ){kind=link}