News

EXCITE was a two-year European project from the COSME program aiming to strengthen cluster management and facilitate exchange and strategic partnership between cluster staff and cluster members by using the ClusterXchange system, which promotes short-term exchanges to better connect industrial ecosystems in Europe. The project was focused on skills, processes and services related to digital transformation – both in terms of the cluster organisation itself and its members, to be able to support them in successfully accessing global markets. The project team gathered 6 European clusters: Silicon Saxony (Germany), Mazovia Cluster ICT (Poland), GAIA (Spain), Cluster for Digital Transformation and Innovation (Bulgaria) and Business Hive Vilnius (BHV, Lithuania) and Pôle SCS. 

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

Joint collaboration activities  

A major part of the project was devoted to collaboration and exchange activities between the EXCITE partners to work together towards Cluster Management Excellence and a ray of actions have successfully been caried out to this extend:

• Creation of a catalogue with online training opportunities for cluster manager
• Organisation of Peer Learning sessions open to the EXCITE clusters staff, to discuss best cluster management practices linked to the 5 core related topics: Cybersecurity & Data Management; Communication & digital marketing; Digital Tools & Digital Transformation; Cluster excellence management & leadership skills, SME support; Event Management.
• Presentation and discussions on the EXCITE partner’s respective ecosystems, organisations, and services with the objective of exchanging on good practices and difficulties but also to conduct an in-depth analysis of each cluster’s service offer.
• Organisation of two webinars on Strategic Cooperation and European Funding opportunities; matchmaking events and other EXCITE & CXC promotional events.

ClusterXChange & Study visits  

The other important part of the EXCITE project was the facilitation of exchanges between the clusters’ members to foster collaboration and innovation activities. The ClusterXChange program has been a key tool for the organisation of short-term missions. 

• More than 15 B2B missions have been organised or supported by the EXCITE cluster partners.
• A total of 97 organisations have beneficiated from the ClusterXChange program during the 2-years of the project.
• Out of 97 beneficiaries, 70 were SMEs from all over Europe. 30 of them were members of one of the EXCITE partners.
• Out of 97 beneficiaries, 27 were Scale-ups, universities, or other European clusters.
• 5 Study visits have been organised by the EXCITE partners into their respective ecosystems, inviting the other consortium partners to meet their members, take part in major events and to learn more about the ecosystem. These study visits were also open to ClusterXChange beneficiaries. 

SCS organised a study visit to Sophia Antipolis from 12 to 14 October 2022. During this “Smart mobility mission”, 12representatives of European companies and clusters were able to exchange ideas with our members during the many visits to our technological ecosystem in mobility and intelligent vehicles. 

SCS MEMBERS & EXCITE

Thanks to EXCITE, 15 SCS members have benefited from the ClusterXChange program, out of 70 SMEs that participated to missions organised during the EXCITE project!

• OPTIM Wafer Services joined the mission to SEMICON Europa 2022, to discover the largest European electronics platform connecting industry leaders across entire design and manufacturing supply chain.
• Moabi, Epicnpoc, Benomad and Genow embarked for a 3-days mission at the heart of the German automotive market organised by e-mobil BW GmbH – Cluster Elektromobilität Süd-West! 

“This mission gave us knowledge of how German industry is preparing for the evolution of the automotive industry with a great opportunity for French companies in the field of digitalisation.”  – Jean-Michel Brossard, CEO Moabi

“I was delighted to be part of this mission. Very interesting and promising. A lot of potential collaborations and business opportunities.”  – Ahmed Smaali, CEO Genow

“The mission allowed us to discover the local ecosystem and specialisations in the automotive sector, as well as to exchange with local organisations specialised in automotive equipment. “ – Arno Peduzzi, Business Developer Benomad 

“The mission to Germany allowed us to perfect our knowledge of the automotive industry in Baden Württemberg. Thank you to the Pôle SCS and ClusterXchange for allowing us to meet the friendly team of the e-mobil cluster who remains the gateway to this ecosystem. Finally, we would like to warmly thank Clémence Castell for her commitment and seriousness in the organisation of this mission.” –  Pierre Sigrist, CTO Epicnpoc  

•  In June 2023, EasyGan, ATG Technologies and Focussia travelled to Dresden to uncover the local high-tech ecosystem with the cluster Silicon Saxony. They also had the opportunity to pitch their innovative solutions during the Silicon Saxony Day, an annual event dedicated to fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and networking with focus on microelectronics.

“Thanks to the mission offered by the SCS cluster, I was able to discover the microelectronics ecosystem in the Dresden region. I particularly enjoyed the visits to semiconductor factories, which gave me a real sense of the high levels of automation and cleanliness required in this sector. This mission has also enabled me to establish contacts with academics and industrialists from all over Europe with a view to future collaboration.” – M. André Bonnardot, CEO of EasyGan 

•  Ion Beam Services took part in the Electronic Based Systems Business Mission in Austria, organised, and hosted by Silicon Alps Cluster. This mission brought together professionals from all over Europe specialised in various fields, including microelectronics, sensor technology, cybersecurity, and power electronics.

 « The visit was relevant to my objective of discovering the Austrian microelectronics ecosystem. The visits were interesting and included different types of company: equipment manufacturers, designers, R&D and card manufacturers. We could potentially work with one of the companies we met in the future. The contacts we made were very interesting and could lead to new opportunities. » – Cyrille Guillou, Europe Sales Manager Ion Beam Services 

• Videtics, Ineo Sense, Inocess, LitterSnap, DigDash and TalentCoin joined the mission to the Smart City Expo 2023 in Barcelona, the world’s largest and most influential urban innovation event connecting companies, governments, and organisations to imagine safer and smarter cities for the future. 

 SCS warmly thanks all the partners and participants in this EXCITing European adventure!