SIP-SME Service Innovations Process für Klein- und Mittelunternehmen

Due to the increasing global competition, the companies have to expand their innovative products and services offer in order to stay competitive.  Service innovation processes are in the focus of Upper Austrian and South Bohemian politics, science, and businesses as a mean to increase the competitiveness potential of SMEs. In both regions, innovation impulses have been identified, but the problem is that their potential remains unused due to the lack of experience and resources of SMEs. Both regions have sufficient capacities and opportunities, but the structures of the R&D centers often do not fit perfectly with those of the regional economy structures.

The project partners, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (FH OÖ), the South Bohemian University of Ceské Budejovice (EF JCU), Business Upper Austria (Biz-Up), and the South Bohemian Science & Technology Park (JVTP), conduct interviews with experts to develop an online tool enabling a continuous service innovation process for SMEs in both regions. With this project, the problems of both border regions could be solved as the tool promotes the utilization of existing innovation impulses through cross-border cooperation. Thus, the long-term potential for innovation is exploited and, above all, the performance of SMEs is strengthened. SMEs from both regions are selected and observed and based on the best-case compendium results, a final tool is developed. Through the tool, all innovation-oriented SMEs in the two regions obtain more methodological support for innovation management. This tool will be converted into a software tool and will be freely accessible online.