FONDAZIONE HUB INNOVAZIONE TRENTINO

Their core work

HIT is Trentino's regional innovation hub that designs and runs open innovation challenges connecting SMEs with research-driven solutions. They specialize in structured innovation formats — challenge prizes, design sprints, and user-centric design methods — that help small and medium enterprises adopt new technologies. Their core work bridges the gap between research outputs and business application, with particular strength in organizing large-scale SME support programs under INNOSUP and similar EU instruments.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2017), HIT participated in projects focused on ICT entrepreneurship training, IoT ecosystems, and smart city infrastructure — acting as a partner in broader digital initiatives. From 2018 onward, they shifted decisively to coordinating their own open innovation challenge programs for SMEs, layering in design thinking methods, user experience approaches, and even randomized control trials to measure policy impact. The move from participant in tech-focused projects to coordinator of structured SME innovation programs represents a clear strategic specialization.

HIT is consolidating as a specialist in designing and running challenge-based innovation programs for SMEs, increasingly combining this with manufacturing topics like 3D printing and digital IP.

How they like to work

HIT balances coordination and participation roughly equally (3 coordinator, 4 participant, 2 third party), but their coordinated projects are their most distinctive work. With 69 unique partners across 18 countries, they operate as a well-connected hub rather than sticking to a narrow set of repeat collaborators. Their third-party roles in iPRODUCE and ALPI suggest they are also valued as a specialist contributor that larger consortia bring in for specific innovation methodology expertise.

HIT has built a broad European network of 69 partners across 18 countries, reflecting their role as an innovation intermediary that connects diverse actors. This reach is notable for an organization of their size and funding level.

What sets them apart

HIT stands out because they don't just talk about open innovation — they operationalize it through structured challenge formats at scale (200+ SMEs in a single program). Their use of randomized control trials to measure the actual impact of SME innovation support is rare among innovation hubs, showing a commitment to evidence-based program design. For consortium builders, they bring a tested methodology for running large-scale SME engagement activities, which is valuable for any project with a dissemination or market uptake component.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 200SMEchallenge
  Their flagship: a design-driven open innovation challenge reaching 200 SMEs, with built-in RCT methodology to rigorously measure policy impact — rare for an innovation program.
• INNOADDITIVE
  Coordinated innovation challenges specifically for additive manufacturing and 3D printing in SMEs, showing their ability to apply challenge methodology to specific industrial domains.
• UNIFY-IoT
  Their largest single EC contribution (EUR 125,000) and an early role supporting IoT innovation ecosystems across Europe.