HBP National Innovation Communities
HBP is striving to strengthen the role of industry in the project by offering companies a set of incentives to be closer to the HBP development and results. One of the strategies to facilitate the interaction between HBP and industry is the creation of National Innovation Communities (NICs).
NICs are structured national networks where HBP members or representatives regularly interact with interested industry members, associations, hospitals and other relevant stakeholders to exchange information, provide knowledge on EBRAINS and to align HBP efforts to industrial demands.
Some specific objectives of the NICs are:
- To disseminate relevant and timely HBP knowledge and technologies with potential industrial interest within the NIC's members, facilitating the exploitation of BP results.
- To provide members an early access to the HBP platforms, with the objective of testing the applicability of their embedded tools in industrial settings and for specific application domains.
- To identify scientific and technological areas with potential industrial interest at a national level. This will facilitate the launch of specific partnering projects with the participation of industry and catalyse the establishment of mechanisms to increase private and public funding with the support of public administrations.
- To identify possible innovation projects, such as industrial proofs of concepts to move HBP results to higher TRLs, linked to HBP goals with the participation of project partners and NIC members.
So far, the Spanish NIC has been launched, and the process creation of three more in Belgium, France and Switzerland is in progress.
