By implementing this project, CKM team wanted: - to develop skills in our team for supporting tech start-ups and tech driven SMEs in North Macedonia, in the area of innovations and internationalization, building strategic partnerships, and identifying funding opportunities; - to develop skills for informing, educating, and supporting enterprises and institutions in North Macedonia on the new Horizon Europe programme which will support innovations, R&D work, and cooperation among SMEs and organizations in the EU and applicant countries in the next seven years; and - to develop capacities to increase our networks with similar organizations and research centres from EU member states.
The Center for Knowledge Management (CKM) is a small research center (think and do-thank) established in 2008. As an organization, we work at three specific levels. At macro level, we conduct research and analysis in the area of local, national, and regional development for the purpose of exploring current and proposing new policies, measures and projects in the area of economic development, science and technology, business enabling environment and entrepreneurship. At micro level, we work towards supporting technology transfer, innovation and competitiveness across the dominant industries and sectors in the country and the SEE region. At organizational level, we work with SMEs, start-ups, entrepreneurs, on strengthening their innovation potential. In terms of European cooperation and mobility, in the past five years we have increased our capacities and gained significant experience in the work with EU projects (Interreg, BalkanMed, SEE TP, CEI and Erasmus plus). CKM, is the first organization ever coming from a non-EU country that has led an Interreg transnational project – Innoplatform. Within this project we developed a platform for supporting the introduction of innovations in SMEs and established a regional network of Centres of Excellence in Innovations in the BalkanMed area with small prototyping studios. The purpose of these Centres is to provide knowhow and R&D services to SMEs and start-ups in the region. In 2018, CKM was recognized by EUROSTAT as an official Research Center, and one of three EU recognized centres in North Macedonia. In line with our organizational vision, we at CKM planed to focus on supporting tech and innovative start-ups and SMEs in the next five years (22020-2025). The number of these SMEs and start ups has risen in North Macedonia because of the strong support of the National Fund for Innovations and Technological Development (more than 500 SMEs were supported by the Fund for Innovations). CKM's strategy was placed on helping them increase their impact through informing, educating and supporting their efforts to find strategic partners and funds through the new Horizon Europe programme. The Horizon Europe is the successor of Horizon 2020 and is the largest EU funded programme which supports research and innovation. North Macedonia is a EU applicant country and belongs to the Programme; however, our national and organizational capacities to capitalize on these opportunities are poor. Few organizations from North Macedonia managed to enter the Horizon 2020 program in the previous seven years, and there are virtually no organizations, nor other capacities in the country to successfully support this process. Out of the 10 million euros, North Macedonia contributed to the H2020 , its enterprises and organizations absorbed only 4 million euros by 2018. The opportunity cost of this loss is not just in the funding, it is a loss in developing cooperation and ties with European partners, and a loss in opportunities for collaboration on projects of substantial impact for our society and country. CKM team applied for the mobility, because we believe we had to increase our human and organizational capacities in developing project applications and managing Horizon Europe Projects coupled with capacities for supporting high tech start ups.