Work Package 3: Organisational Innovation

The objectives of this WP is to implement and take into action an innovation management structure, leveraging the innovation potential of the ESS while ensuring a smooth ERIC implementation within the project Partners. This includes capacity building in technology and knowledge transfer, and the identification of business cases.

Task 3.1 Completion of ERIC Implementation

RIs like the European Spallation Source are becoming increasingly complex and expensive, beyond the capability of a single research group or nation to realise. The scale of ESS requires a joint effort by several EU countries to be successful.

The vision for Task 3.1 is to identify the specific risks and opportunity categories, develop a plan for prioritising and addressing those issues and carry out the plan. In this way ESS will, as soon as possible and with the least possible disturbance to the project and staff, implement and operate under the new ERIC legal form.

Task 3.2 Capacity building in Technology Transfer

A Technology Transfer Office (TTO) offers support in developing research findings for commercialisation. The objective of the TTO is to turn inventions into innovation by transferring skills, knowledge or technologies among RIs, universities and other institutions or organisations to industrial partners and society.

BrightnESS will support the capacity building process at ESS by organisation of training seminars, provision of expertise in selected cases, staff exchange, and TTO Conferences.

Broad exchange of Best Practices among all ESS Partner organisations will be guaranteed by the organisation of two TTO conferences.

Task 3.3 Capacity Building of ESS Partners in Public Procurement of Innovation 

ESS has been awarded with grant from the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova to build capacity on Public Procurement of Innovation at ESS. ESS wants to leverage this grant, which is running out by September 2015 by sharing the gained in-house capacity with its partner organisations everywhere in Europe. This will be done in a two-fold approach: in theory by training seminars for procurement professionals in the partner labs and in practice by identifying and preparing the launch of one joint PCP with relevant partners.