RAPIDE from 3 to June 2010 EUROPEAN UNION European Regional Development Fund Benjamin Kuscher RAPIDE Project Manager

RAPIDE’s learning curve... Past ›Learning Summit in Cornwall Summer 2007 ›18 member states, 25 regions ›High level of enthusiasm ›INTERREG IVC application 2008 ›13 partners, 12 regions, 11 member states ›High risk to approve this project ›3 themes; ›RAPIDE partnership ›RAPIDE finance ›RAPIDE risk

RAPIDE’s learning curve...Present ›17 Regional Action Plans Innovation Vouchers+ 2.Pre-Commercial Procurement 3.Business Angel Networks 4.Start-up Assessment 5.Innovation Partnerships 6.RAPIDE digital story telling for a better pitch

RAPIDE – Who are we ›South West of England – UK ›Galicia – Spain ›Kujawsko-Pomorskie – Poland ›Örebro – Sweden ›Region of Western Greece ›Saxony-Anhalt – Germany ›Tartu – Estonia ›Wales – UK ›Presov – Slovakia ›South Bohemia – CZ ›Lapland – Finland ›Észak-Alföld – Hungary

What the partner got out of RAPIDE ›South West of England – UK ›Europe is not an island ›Galicia – Spain ›Never make elections during a project ›Kujawsko-Pomorskie – Poland ›To make the opening event is a challenge

What the partner got out of RAPIDE ›Örebro – Sweden ›Everybody loves Sweden ›Region of Western Greece ›We love our FLC ›Saxony-Anhalt – Germany ›The federal government copies the regional ideas

What the partner got out of RAPIDE ›Tartu – Estonia ›Good work brings us into new projects ›Wales – UK ›Do not change the department during the project ›Presov – Slovakia ›With a good idea you can convince the central MA (NO floods)

What the partner got out of RAPIDE ›South Bohemia – CZ ›Innovative, small and doable ›Lapland – Finland ›Lapland only goes for big money ›Észak-Alföld – Hungary ›To be active brings you closer to the cherries ›

What the EC got out of RAPIDE ›European Commission ›Europe at its best ›Strong dialogue between the EU and regional practioners ›Capitalise on new ideas and developments on the European level ›Commission benefits from development, testing and implementing of new ideas within the RAPIDE regions

Recommendations for Fast Track ›The project theme should be clearly defined at the outset to allow a quick start ›Each DG should nominate an expert on the theme ›DG REGIO geographical units need to be regularly briefed and to support the project ›Implementation of actions should start within the project life cycle to avoid any loss of momentum

For more information RAPIDEwww.rapidenetwork.eu Interreg IVCwww.interreg4c.net DG Regioec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm EUROPEAN UNION European Regional Development Fund Benjamin Kuscher RAPIDE Project Manager South West of England Regional Development Agency