ISTITUTO PER LA PROMOZIONE DELLO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO

Their core work

This is the Institute for Economic Development of South Tyrol (Alto Adige), a bilingual Italian-German public agency that supports small and medium enterprises in accessing EU innovation funding. Their core work involves coaching SMEs through the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument application process, providing key account management services, and building regional competitiveness in the Triveneto area (Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto). They act as a bridge between local businesses and EU funding opportunities, helping companies articulate innovation proposals and navigate EU programme requirements.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their focus has remained remarkably stable across the entire 2015-2020 period. The MAKEOVER project (2015-2016) established their SME support model, which was then continued and refined through three successive rounds of the KAIROS project (2017-2021). The only visible shift is a minor consolidation — the early keyword "comptitivess" (a recurring typo) and "Horizon 2020" were cleaned up to "Horizon2020" in later projects, suggesting operational maturity rather than strategic change.

They are a steady-state SME support provider with no indication of thematic diversification — expect the same core offering under future EU programmes like Horizon Europe.

How they like to work

They participate exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, across all four projects. With 16 unique partners but collaboration recorded in only 1 country, they appear to work within a consistent Italian regional network — likely other Enterprise Europe Network nodes, chambers of commerce, and innovation agencies in Northeast Italy. This suggests a reliable, embedded local partner rather than a wide-reaching international player.

Their network of 16 unique partners is concentrated within Italy, reflecting their role as a regional node in a national SME support ecosystem. The repeated KAIROS project suggests a stable consortium that renews collaboration across funding cycles.

What sets them apart

Their distinctiveness lies in serving the bilingual South Tyrol region, bridging Italian and German-speaking business communities at the crossroads of Italy and Austria. For consortium builders needing an SME engagement partner in Northeast Italy, they bring established relationships with local SMEs and a proven track record of running SME Instrument support services across multiple funding rounds. They are not a research organization — their value is in business outreach and innovation coaching.

Highlights from their portfolio

• KAIROS
  Ran for three consecutive funding rounds (2017-2021), demonstrating sustained EU confidence in their SME support model for the Triveneto region.
• MAKEOVER
  Their first H2020 project (2015-2016) that established the innovation management and key account service model later continued through KAIROS.