OIPEC is a capacity building project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, which aims at transferring the best European practices in university-enterprise collaborations to Russian and Chinese partners.

Nowadays, bridges between universities and enterprises are needed in order to capitalize the innovation potential of all the actors; thus, it is crucial to promote strategies to approach and form durable relationships with enterprises.

The seven partners in the consortium have cooperated in order to share the experience in open innovation and set up an international platform of collaborative laboratories, places where professionals, students and researchers can work together and innovate products and services.

The Open innovation Platform for University-Enterprise Collaboration is an collaborative educational project funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union.

OIPEC means to collect the best practices in European university-enterprise collaborations and transfer them to the Russian and Chinese beneficiaries.

The ultimate goals of the project are:

• the creation of a platform that supports partnerships between universities and enterprises by providing easy access to universities’ expertise for small and medium enterprises
• the increase of the collaborative activities between universities and enterprises, with the aim of generating novel products/services or improving existing ones

The platform consists of three main pillars:

1. arranging a training course and an executive program to improve competences of enterprises’ staff in innovation management and new product/service development;

2. establishing and managing the "Collaborative Open Innovation laboratories" (COILabs), integrated facilities at partner universities with the following functional areas:

• Concept development area, centered on design thinking and raw prototyping
• Rapid prototyping area, providing both design and operational skills
• Entrepreneurial area, to support the development and validation of business concepts

3. sharing the expertise acquired among European, Russian and Chinese universities.

The project structure is made up of seven work packages.

The first Work Package (WP 1) means to transfer the best European practices in new product/service development to Russian and Chinese partners. A set of stakeholders is identified and specific training material is prepared by European partners. Russian and Chinese partners then are introduced to the EU partners’ through seminars and promo trainings. In turn, the non-EU partners adapt the information received to their specific business environment and prepare the training material for Russian and Chinese enterprises.

The second Work Package (WP 2) implements the best practices in Russia and China. Spaces for collaborative innovation (COILabs) are established and the courses on innovation are provided to enterprise executives and to university students. The activities carried out in COILabs are refined together with the participants and validated during the operation phase (WP 3). Meanwhile, the consortium members strengthen ties between different nations by comparing the local collaborative programs and providing cross-border product development opportunities.

In the third phase of the project, the experience gained during the first three Work packages is disseminated and the bases for future developments are laid out. Work package 6 (WP 6) means to promote and organize events in Russia and China in order to share the results of the project and provide recommendations to universities and companies interested in collaborative projects. Work package 7 (WP 7) validates the platform developed financially, formalizes the university-enterprise partnerships and plans direct marketing activities to further promote COILabs.

Work packages 4 and 5 are active throughout the entire project to support the capacity building and education activities. WP 4 provides directions and organizes the project workflow, while WP 5 insures that the development of the project follows the highest standards of quality.

Prof. Gaetano Cascini

gaetano.cascini@polimi.it

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Politecnico di Milano

Bovisa Campus – Building B22

Via G. La Masa 1 – Milan – ITALY