EENPower

ongoing

The dynamic business landscape is featured by escalating global security threats, persistent supply chain disruptions, skills shortages for future jobs, intense competition for talent, and rapid advances in transformative technologies such as robotics and mechatronics, microelectronics, renewable energy technologies, quantum computing, AI, VR/AR, blockchain, cloud and edge computing. The geopolitical rivalry for leadership over these technologies is causing further severe supply chain disruptions due to the decoupling and derisking policies, on top of the previous ones caused by the pandemics, geopolitical challenges and the energy crises. The lack of adaptive capacity on this landscape poses serious threats to Bulgaria’s long-term resilience. While the country ranks 49th in the 2024 FM Global Resilience Index, and has maintained its position in the top 40 of the Global Innovation Index, it performs unsatisfactory in areas such as energy productivity, capitalisation and value of the venture capital received, cybersecurity and use of AI, and degree of innovative transformation. Mindful of this, a consortium of 9 EENPower partners, currently hosting the EEN, well-established in the local innovation system and valued by the business for their cutting-edge knowledge and quality of service, is committing to build on current success in the EEN family and navigate local SMEs through the pressing challenges. With its wide blend of expertise and experience, in synergy with Digital Innovation Hubs and other key stakeholders, the project is to advance to the local SMEs the Network’s unique value proposition – services tailored to the individual client needs. It is expected to custom-support nearly 1000 individual clients, ‘EENPower’-ing them with enhanced resilience, sustainability, digital and deep-tech uptake and international competitiveness, leading to nearly 350 achievements with tangible impact for the client.