A portal focused on the support of entrepreneurs during the pandemic has been established in Slovakia. The SOCITEE initiative provides innovative solutions to promote trade and protect consumer rights. In cooperation with team of experts, a unique portal to support entrepreneurs, restaurants, pubs, hotels, fitness centers, theaters and many others to overcome this difficult situation has been...

A new Horizon 2020 project, MPowerBio, kicked-off on 1 May with the objective of benefiting European clusters and their SME members. MPowerBIO aims to set up and implement a capacity building programme for SME clusters along with an integrated business support programme for the SME members. This project has received funding under the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union...

The European Biomass Conferences and Exhibition ( EUBCE) has grown from a small research community biomass conference more than 30 years ago to a well-established international conference, tackling challenges ranging from biomass growth and biomass conversion to bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts, sustainability and policies. Today it provides a forum for industrial implementation of technologies...

Secpho, a deep tech innovation cluster from Spain, has collected some of its members' solutions that Deep Tech, and especially photonic technologies, can offer for a reactivation of daily post-COVID-19 economic activities, in order to adapt to the new normal. These include the following: Sterilisation Systems: Sterilization technology through UV lighting can be a powerful ally against COVID-19...

TCI Network, a comprehensiv global network of people and organizations working in clusters and innovation ecosystems, in cooperation with VDI/VDE Innovation, recently launched a survey inviting cluster managers to report on the sector-specific impacts of COVID-19 and the role of clusters during the crisis and at the end of the lock-down. A total of 67 clusters representing 6,500 businesses...

In the initial stages of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese central government has begun investing in the development of the ' new infrastructure', which includes the deployment of 5G networks and data centres. It is expected that this new infrastructure will play a key role in the recovery of the economy, since online sales opportunities, online medical advice, and online pharmacies...

The French cluster Digital 113 in the Occitanie Region has published a survey in order to measure the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on businesses in the digital sector in Occitania. Digital 113 has 207 members in the digital industry sector. The cluster's mission is to support companies to seize all the growth levers and breakthroughs in terms of turnover and access to new markets. It provides...

Digitisation is expected to play a major role in the economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, at the request of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific, and Quality of Life Policies of the European Parliament has elaborated a study on the Development of New Digital Services concerning short-(2021), medium-(2025) and...

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), established in 2008, is an EU executive body that aims to strengthen Europe’s ability to innovate. The EIT is an integral part of the Horizon 2020 programme, the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. In the recovery phase from the COVID-19 pandemic, the EIT Governing Board has decided to mobilise EUR 60 million of...

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has published the most recent Annual Report for the year 2019. The report illustrates the achievements of 2019 in several areas such as the progress which has been made in the advancement of the management objective to integrate and scale-up. The report utilises the new indicators of the Integrated Results and Performance Framework...