STRATEGIC INNOVATION IN LIEGE

[BIZ/GOV: Liège, March 28]
Strategic innovation is a major, 650-Company, EUR 5.8m project in Meuse-Rhine to help the business community to innovate their work processes, products and services. It is supported by funding from the EU’s Interreg III A project. Headed by MERIT (the Maastricht Economic Research Institute, for innovation and technology) with SPI+ coordinating the project for the Province of Liège, has presented its program for 2007-2013, in the presence of the Walloon minister Jean-Claude Marcourt.

SPI+ was contacted in 2004 by MERIT, the Limburg University center in Hasselt, and the German ZENIT GmbH organization to take part in this strategic innovation project for Meuse-Rhine business. As regards the Province of Liège, the project now receives 50 percent from the EFRD and 50% from the Walloon region, a total of EUR 742,000 for this province Liège out of the total grant.

In concrete terms the project incorporates three phases:
- Phase 1: the completion of large scale major audits, involving 650 companies, 100 of these companies are in Liège and they employ a total of 4,175. The sectors concerned are: engineering (11%), nutrition (10%) and IT (8%). Three external service providers will be involved, these are Centexbell, Deloit and Ernst & Young.
- Phase 2: this covers assistance in implementing innovation in the audited businesses. In the Province of Liège, 30 businesses are supported, assistance has been largely in the area of communication (37%), extended diagnoses from phase 1 (20%) and IT development (13%), there are also various other service providers.
- Phase 3: clustering. The establishment of operational cooperation among the businesses.

Looking forward:
The project will end in mid-2008 after a three year period, currently phases 1 and 2 are being completed.

The 2007-2013 program already includes new opportunities in international cross-border cooperation for the Province of Liège with total European funding of EUR 72m for the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion.

This budget should serve the three priorities established by the Euroregion, which are:
- improving business competitiveness
- support for sustainable development
- the promotion of socio-cultural integration and prosperity
http://www.spi.be/