OBRTNO-PODJETNISKA ZBORNICA SLOVENIJE

Their core work

The Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia (OZS) is a national business association that supports Slovenian SMEs in accessing EU innovation funding and improving their innovation management capabilities. As part of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) in Slovenia, they provide hands-on coaching to small businesses on how to use EU instruments like the SME Instrument and FTI (Fast Track to Innovation). Their core work involves deploying Key Account Managers (KAMs) who assess SME innovation readiness using the IMP3rove methodology and guide them through EU funding applications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015-2016), OZS focused narrowly on basic SME innovation management coaching using IMP3rove assessments and the KAM approach, primarily around the SME Instrument. By 2019-2021, their scope broadened significantly to include awareness of FET Open, Fast Track to Innovation (FTI), and the SMEMpower program, indicating they evolved from single-instrument coaching to multi-program EU funding advisory. The consistent thread is SME support, but the toolkit and breadth of instruments covered has grown steadily.

OZS is expanding from narrow SME Instrument coaching toward broader EU innovation program advisory, making them increasingly useful as a gateway to Slovenian SMEs across multiple funding schemes.

How they like to work

OZS has exclusively participated as a partner, never leading a project, across all four H2020 engagements. With only 7 unique consortium partners all within a single country, they operate in a tight, nationally-focused network — likely the Slovenian EEN consortium. This makes them a reliable, long-term local partner rather than a connector to diverse European networks.

OZS works within a compact network of 7 partners concentrated in Slovenia, reflecting their role as part of the national EEN consortium rather than a broad European connector. Their network is stable and recurring rather than diverse.

What sets them apart

OZS provides direct access to the Slovenian craft and small business community — a segment often underrepresented in EU research consortia. As a national chamber with EEN membership, they can mobilize SMEs for pilot testing, technology adoption studies, or dissemination activities across traditional manufacturing and craft sectors. For consortium builders needing a Slovenian SME engagement partner, OZS offers an established coaching infrastructure and trust relationship with local businesses.

Highlights from their portfolio

• We4SMESLO_4
  Broadest scope of any edition, expanding coaching beyond SME Instrument to include FET Open and FTI — signaling OZS's growing EU program literacy.
• We4SMESLO 5
  Most recent iteration (2020-2021) incorporating SMEMpower and IMP3rove, representing the mature version of their SME coaching methodology.