The European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA) organized its 7th annual Brokerage Event for Innovation Agencies on April 7th. The event joined more than 30 speakers presenting opportunities for development agencies, successful project results, project ideas, partner searches as well as their agencies and organisations.

Four keynote speakers started the morning session:

• Roberta DALL'OLIO, President of EURADA, stressed the importance of the brokerage event, since having a strong network and forging new synergies plays a vital role in boosting companies.
• Crispin Waymouth, Deputy Head of Unit for Industrial Forum, Alliances, Clusters at the European Commission’s DG GROW, stressed three key points: resilience, strategic dependencies and the acceleration of both green and digital transitions. Mr Waymouth elaborated on the EU initiatives on Clusters, such as the main objectives for 2022 and the priorities of the Enterprise Europe Network.
• Eric Koch, from the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), explained the Interregional Investment Instrument and its position in Innovation Ecosystems.
• Laurentiu David, from Interreg Europe Joint Secretariat, highlighted Interreg Europe’s role in improving regional development policy instruments, including Investment for Jobs and Growth programmes.

After this section, 10 speakers representing different organisations took the floor to share their experiences on successful projects. Additionally, 7 speakers showed us their ideas for future European projects, what these are about, and explained which partners they are looking for. Finally, the last section aimed at identifying potential partners for projects where 8 speakers presented their agencies, their areas, initiatives and what they could offer.

Esteban Pelayo, Director at EURADA, wrapped up the event by underlining the importance of the regional ecosystem and the cooperation among them, especially post-pandemic and in light of the war on Ukraine.

In parallel to the Brokerage Event, the matchmaking was organized from April 7th up until April 21st. During those days,188 participants participated in more than 60 bilateral meetings.

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