In 10 years more than 2,6 million companies globally, of which over 238.000 in Italy, have used the services of the Enterprise Europe Network - EEN, the largest support network for SMEs worldwide.
Established in 2008 by the European Commission, EEN was born for this purpose help small and medium-sized enterprises to innovate, grow and internationalise. For 10 years EEN has been offering free assistance to SMEs: from the analysis and management of innovation, research of international partners, to consultancy on technological support, patents and timely information on programmes, funding, EU tenders .
Present in more than 60 countries, with 3.000 experts, the network operates through over 600 contact points, 55 of which are in Italy. In our country the representatives of the network are made up of chambers of commerce, business associations (including Confindustria, CNA, Confcommercio, Confesercenti), development agencies, research centers (such as CNR, ENEA, APRE) universities, technology parks, local authorities .
EEN offers SMEs and organizations that collaborate with them, such as universities, research centres, free of charge, integrated and personalized services for the purpose of increasing their competitiveness and innovation, and valorising research results. It is also involved in identifying international partner for agreements of a commercial, technological and research nature, through its own database.
Indeed, indeed Italy ranks first in these 10 years for the number of companies participating in the BtoB, 23.435, and second for bilateral meetings between operators. In the same period, over 415.000 companies globally received consultancy services on innovation and competitiveness, of which 21.149 in Italy alone.
