TRAns-national Collaboration Empowering Key European Industries

ended

TRAns-national Collaboration Empowering Key European Industries - TRACE-KEI project fits into the EU action for the improvement of cluster management as a mean to strengthen EU SMEs and increase their competitiveness. Besides that, TRACE-KEI project aims at engaging EU policy-makers in the efforts to define cluster development strategies and to match regional policies with cluster development needs. TRACE-KEI project is an industrial programme to strengthen management and improve the quality of dedicated services for SMEs among cluster managements in the Agro-Food, ICT and Energy sectors. In order to achieve the overarching objective of the call TRACE-KEI project gathers 7 clusters from 7 COSME (6 EU and 1 non-EU) participating countries (Italy, Hungary, Germany, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia) working together. TRACE-KEI aims at strengthening the cluster management, in terms of market foresight, strategy definition, and improve the quality of services offered to their associate SMEs firstly in the partner clusters and as a cascade effects in the clusters’ territories and countries. The project’s aim is to create a spill over effect among clusters and among the involved regions. A more intense cross-sectorial and cross-borders cooperation is one of TRACE-KEI main objectives in order to overcome the economic crisis and to increase the EU enterprises’ competitiveness. TRACE-KEI project’s approach is bottom-up and will work at two levels: • From one side, the cluster managers’ needs will be identified and the knowledge gaps bridged through training and mentoring • From the other side, the needs of enterprises will be evaluated and actions to address these weaknesses will be performed (tailored services set-up, strategy definition, etc.) TRACE-KEI will be the place where exchanging expertise on management skills in order to increase the global performances of all partner clusters and improve the competitiveness of EU SMEs.