IDENER has recently joined “Vision2020: The Horizon Network” as part of the company strategies and efforts aimed to strength and increase its cooperation possibilities across Europe. “Vision2020: The Horizon Network” is a global platform to allow research organisations and companies to participate effectively in the next European funding programme.

Specifically, this network is structured around the proposed themes and priorities of the upcoming Horizon 2020 programme. This approach will allow the direct mapping of Vision2020 working groups to the various Horizon 2020 Work Programmes as they are released. Moreover, a foundation of research intensive academic institutions and corporations (RTOs) is complemented by a large number of research-focused SMEs (being one of them IDENER). These participants will be organised into an evolving series of ‘clusters’, which will be used as a basis for contributing to Horizon 2020 Work Programmes and launching proposals.

In order to take advantage of the possibilities that this strategic approach provides, an event was organised in London on 25th October 2013 where main RTOs and SMEs met in order to be connected in preparation for the upcoming €70 billion Euro Horizon 2020 European funding programme. Bernd Reichert (Head of SME Unit in DG Research & Innovation, European Commission) was a keynote speaker presenting opportunities in Horizon 2020 for SMEs, alongside with representatives from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, representatives of SMEs that are active in European research and innovation and representatives of the Vision2020 platform.

This way, IDENER joins this initiative as one and only participating SME in Spain at this time, and will have the opportunity to propose relevant research work and link up with and join project consortia as they are forming, either as full long-term participants or as ‘mini-project’ partners for more short-term targeted involvement.

* Current members of “Vision2020: The Horizon Network” can be checked here.