Tag: Innovation ecosystems

EBRAINS: A Research Infrastructure to Advance Neuroscience and Brain Health

September 1, 2022 @ 8:00 am – December 31, 2026 @ 5:00 pm CEST

(PROJECT)

EBRAINS. “EBRAINS.” Accessed 13.08.2025. https://www.ebrains.eu.

EBRAINS is an international non-profit association (AISBL), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. It is made up of 8 Full Members and 35 Associate Members. The Research Infrastructure is organised around a central hub that coordinates a pan-European network of services delivered through National Nodes. EBRAINS is governed by three bodies, the General Assembly, the Governing Board and the Management Board. A National Node Board gathers Node representatives. EBRAINS also has two Advisory Committees, the Science and Technology one and the Ethics and Society one which will soon be instated. EBRAINS is funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.

A state-of-the-art ecosystem for neuroscience

EBRAINS is on a mission to revolutionise how neuroscience is conducted. The digital ecosystem that we provide enables advances in brain research that translate to innovations in neuroscience, healthcare and technology.

Towards a European Brain Partnership to accelerate scientific, technological, and societal needs.

EBRAINS’ ambition is to enable breakthroughs in different areas of brain science. We are proud to be part of several game-changing projects and initiatives, in which we join forces with leading institutions to achieve tangible results and outcomes. If you’re interested in working with us on specific projects, different possibilities exist. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.

EBRAINS is organised around a central hub that coordinates a pan-European network of services that are delivered through national nodes.

ENFIELD: European Lighthouse to Manifest Trustworthy and Green AI

September 1, 2023 @ 8:00 am – August 30, 2026 @ 5:00 pm CEST

(PROJECT)

NTNU. “ENFIELD”. Accessed 13.08.2025. https://enfield-project.eu.

ENFIELD is set to establish a distinctive European Center of Excellence focused on advancing fundamental research in Green, Adaptive, Human-Centric, and Trustworthy AI and applied research within key sectors like Energy, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Space.

Promoted by 30 leading research institutions, businesses, and public sector representatives from 18 countries, the project builds a vibrant AI community of the brightest minds from across Europe.

ENFIELD network will deliver over 75 unique AI solutions, 180 high-impact publications, strategic documents and extensive outreach efforts.

Our Mission

Our goal is to develop AI solutions that address challenges in sectors such as healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and space, while promoting sustainability and ethics.

The ENFIELD Project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DG CNECT. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.  The University of Nottingham’s participation in the Horizon Europe Project ENFIELD is supported by UKRI grant number 10094603. 

NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

European Week of Regions and Cities

October 13 @ 8:00 am – October 15 @ 5:00 pm CEST

(EVENT)

European Commission. “European Week of Regions and Cities”. Accessed 13.08.2025. https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu.

A Hub for Regional Innovation and Collaboration

The European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) is Brussels’ flagship event on Cohesion Policy, co-organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).

Since its launch in 2003, when regional offices in Brussels opened their doors to regional policy experts and practitioners, the #EURegionsWeek has grown into the European Union (EU)’s largest event dedicated to Cohesion Policy. Each year, it attracts thousands of participants, including:

Politicians
Public officials at all levels (EU, national, regional and local)
Private sector representatives
Policymakers
Academics
Journalists
Civil society and citizens

The event serves as a communication and networking platform fostering cooperation, exchanging knowledge and addressing regional and urban challenges. Each edition features a unique motto, thematic focus and visual identity that align with the EU’s political priorities.

By bringing together a diverse community, the #EURegionsWeek creates an open and collaborative space in Brussels and across Europe for capacity-building, learning and experience-sharing. It facilitates cooperation between regions and cities, engaging political, administrative, private sector representatives in a single forum. The programme combines innovative and participative sessions with traditional workshops, designed and implemented by selected partners. It also offers formal and informal networking opportunities, high-level discussions and interactive activities to ensure a memorable and impactful experience for participants and partners.

European Commission (DG REGIO)

Brussels

Brussels, Belgium + Google Map

Visit the Event Website

RIVCircular

May 1, 2025 @ 8:00 am – May 1, 2027 @ 5:00 pm CEST

(PROJECT)

RIVCircular. “RIVCircular.” Accessed 14.08.2025. https://www.rivcircular.eu.

RIVCircular is part of the European Innovation Valleys (RIV) initiative under the Horizon Europe Program (Pillar III – European Innovation Ecosystems) and is coordinated by the Community of Madrid.

The project adopts a holistic approach to the circular economy, promoting interregional cooperation and knowledge exchange to drive sustainable innovation.

Aligned with the New European Innovation Agenda’s flagship goal of accelerating and strengthening innovation across EU ecosystems while bridging the innovation divide, RIVCircular fosters collaboration among six European regions: southern (Madrid), central (Hauts-de-France), northern (Innlandet and Brandenburg), and eastern (Košice and Kyiv).

This project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however this of the author(s) only and do no necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project Nº 101161013.

Community of Madrid

IMS Commercialisation

June 18, 2020 @ 8:00 am – June 1, 2021 @ 5:00 pm CEST

(PROJECT)

The IMS commercialisation project was managed by an affiliated company that VentureNet acquired in 2023. The project was co-financed by the Norwegian development bank, Innovation Norway.

The project developed a prototype of an Innovation Management System, which provided the technical foundation and building blocks for VentureNet’s Information Management System (IMS) and secure data exchange platform.

Among the unique and groundbreaking IMS features are dynamic data enrichment capabilities with human-in-the-loop (HITL) models, low-code/no-code development functionality, and container technology for rapid deployment of digital applications, which can be customized for specific customer needs at a fraction of the time and cost of comparable application development platforms.

Furthermore, digital applications that are developed by VentureNet can be integrated seamlessly with VentureNet’s marketplace to enable secure data exchange in digital marketplaces that adhere to EU data privacy regulations and common standards for International Data Spaces, Cybersecurity, Safety, Data Governance, Interoperability, and Cyber Resilience.

Contact us to learn more about the IMS and how your organisation or region can leverage the IMS to manage your data, develop data-driven systems with trustworthy AI, build a virtual innovation ecosystem with resilient digital supply chains and access to secure international digital marketplaces.

VentureNet

contact@venturenet.no

Establishment of a Virtual Innovation Ecosystem

January 20, 2023 @ 8:00 am – December 1, 2023 @ 5:00 pm CET

(PROJECT)

The virtual regional innovation ecosystem project was a business network development initiative in 2023, which was managed by VentureNet AS in collaboration with leading innovation ecosystems in the Inland region of Norway (Klosser Innovation AS, Vaager Innovasjon AS, and Skåppå AS) and the University of Inland Norway. The project received co-financing from Innlandet County.

The project built on results of a previous FORREGION project on regional innovation ecosystems and laid groundwork that contributed to establishment of several projects to develop national and Nordic Innovation Ecosystems with a connections to the Inland Region of Norway and Greater Oslo Region.

Project results

This project created a large national and international partner consortium of innovation actors, business actors, research institutions and universities, which led to the establishment of several project consortia since the start of the project, and which submitted 9 applications for collaborative projects to the Research Council, EU ERDF (Interreg), and EU Horizon in 2023 alone.

In addition, work is underway to establish 6 large coordination and innovation/development projects in consortia consisting of, among others, Klosser Innovasjon, Vaager Innovasjon, Skåppå, Smart Innovation Norway, the Norwegian Agency for Digitalisation (Digdir), NCE Heidner, NCE Manufacturing, NCE Smart Energy Markets, Cluster for Applied AI, Norway Health Tech, Rikshospitalet, University of Oxford, University of Oslo, NTNU NORCICS, SINTEF, Institute of Energy Technology (IFE), Norwegian Computing Centre, Inland University College, Østfold University College, several municipalities, private business actors, and foreign innovation actors.

Results are described further below related to the effects and continuation of the project.

1. Replicable ecosystem collaboration model to build stronger regional ecosystems.

Workshops being planned in 2024 and 2025 with key stakeholders in Innlandet, Oslo, Østfold, Sweden, Spain and Germany to identify/plan key networking events and conferences with stakeholders and sponsors.
Networking events and conferences from June 2024 to interconnect ecosystems, match businesses and investors.

2. Virtual innovation ecosystem with hubs & nodes for regions and strategic industries.

Digital Infrastructure: open to integration with external systems and fully customizable.
Network: 250+ local key stakeholders identified by Siva-incubators; 30+ European regions in partner network.
Hubs: 10 regional hubs (incl. tourism, career hubs), 6 initial industry hubs, 14 hubs for Innlandsporteføljen.

3. Plan for Events, Conference and Projects to interconnect local/regional ecosystems.

Conferences: major European “Smart Impact” conference opportunity in 2025-2026.
4 “Ecosystem” plans (RIV, Interreg, EIE, Hub-Node)to finance workshops, networking events and conferences.
12 R&D plans (IPN, Pilot Helse, RFF, EUH, SFI) with leading R&D institutions in AI and cybersecurity.

Would you like to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in your region?

Contact VentureNet for more information about the project’s results and collaboration opportunities.

VentureNet

contact@venturenet.no

Norwegian Digital Innovation Ecosystem Launch: Development of Critical Digital Infrastructure in Norway

June 6, 2024 @ 9:30 am – 5:30 pm CEST

(EVENT)

The launch event for the Nordic Digital Innovation Ecosystem brought together stakeholders from leading research, innovation, public and private sectors to discuss development of next-generation digital infrastructure in Norway.

To ensure a well-functioning and competitive digital future for Norway and the Nordic region, it is crucial that business and the public sector actively contribute to the development of our digital infrastructure. Join an important initiative by taking part in the work to:
• Create value through data sharing and digital trust.
• Build a robust and secure digital infrastructure.
• Develop new and innovative technologies.

In connection with the rapid development of important national initiatives with tight deadlines, we have had the opportunity to discuss development plans with Ulrich Ahle, CEO of Gaia-X, a European initiative for secure digital infrastructure, who is visiting Hamar on June 6. Ahle will participate in the opening of a national center for data-driven innovation that includes a Nordic Gaia-X hub and Fiware iHub.

Visit the digital platform and video clips on VentureNets Online Marketplace and on Youtube.

VentureNet

contact@venturenet.no

Brussels

Brussels, Belgium + Google Map

Visit the NDIE platform

Nordic Digital Innovation Ecosystem

May 22, 2024 @ 8:00 am – December 1, 2026 @ 5:00 pm CEST

(PROJECT)

The Nordic Digital Innovation Ecosystem (NDIE) is an ongoing business network development initiative to support development of trustworthy systems and infra- structure in critical sectors by connecting public and private sectors and research institutions and supporting project establishment.

The project was initiated in 2024 and managed by Klosser Innovasjon AS and VentureNet AS in collaboration with the Norwegian Computing Center (NR), the Norwegian Center for Cybersecurity in Critical Sectors (SFI NORCICS), the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), and Smart Innovation Norway, with financial support from Innlandet County in Norway.

Within 5 months of the project’s start, NDIE organised and executed 9 successful international events, including some of Norway’s first seminars and webinars on European Data Spaces and a trailblazing 2-day Nordic Matchmaking Event at DNV Headquarters and NR Headquarters in Oslo.

Some of the speakers included representatives from the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency, Sykehuspartner, Det Norske Veritas, DNV-Nixu, FICEC, F-Secure, Defendable, Business Finland, the City of Wien in Austria, Gaia-X, and FIWARE.

Visit the digital platform and video clips on VentureNets Online Marketplace and on Youtube.

VentureNet

contact@venturenet.no

VentureNet: Reducing barriers to innovation and business development through secure data exchange

September 1, 2022 @ 8:00 am – September 30, 2023 @ 8:00 am CEST

(PROJECT)

The VentureNet data exchange project was a research project completed in 2023 in collaboration with SINTEF and the Norwegian Centre for Research and Innovation in Cybersecurity in Critical Sectors (SFI NORCICS) based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The project received co-financing from the Research Council of Norway and Innlandet County through the FORREGION program.

Background

A major EU industrial research project on data harmonization, euBusinessGraph, identified major challenges with access to business data, citing that “it is extremely expensive, time consuming and error prone to find, interpret and reconcile”, especially across industries, geographic regions and languages.

Machine learning (ML) plays an important role in automating data processing tasks such as natural language processing (NLP), but human input is needed to train ML algorithms and thereby improve the accuracy of ML models. One of the challenges identified by data scientists is a lack of machine learning models with humans-in-the-loop (HITL). 80% of the cost of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects is time spent by data scientists finding, interpreting and harmonizing data. A lack of HITL limits the effectiveness of ML models and their potential to reduce cost in Big Data and AI projects.

VentureNet aims to create a virtual business accelerator hub powered by its proprietary Information Management System (IMS), which centralizes access to multiple digital ecosystems, facilitating data exchange and reducing manual data entry. Developed in collaboration with SINTEF and NTNU, the project focuses on creating a secure data exchange framework with Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) capabilities that can be scaled up in European data markets.

Project Results

The project delivered a report introducing a novel framework and new technical solution for data exchange that will facilitate dynamic harmonization and enrichment of business data with HITL ML models. The envisioned solution is a digital B2B workspace and marketplace that will automate data management tasks and processes and facilitate involvement of non-technical data providers (small businesses) in data enrichment with HITL models.

SINTEF compared VentureNet’s IMS to leading low-code platforms and AI solutions, such as Oracle APEX, AWS Amplify, Open AI GPT, Sheet GPT, and Google Natural Language API and concluded the following:

We compared VentureNet against a few low-code/no-code platforms. Low-code/no-code platforms significantly accelerate software development by simplifying and automating code generation, making it possible for non-developers to create applications, thereby democratizing development and reducing the technical skill barrier. However, these platforms can limit customization capabilities, restrict advanced functionality, and lead to vendor lock-in situations, potentially impeding scalability, and long-term growth for more complex or unique business requirements.

Potential for higher accuracy and filtering of hallucinations, using HITL, especially in sensitive domains, such as healthcare.

The principal advantage of the VentureNet platform lies in its comprehensive integration capabilities. It can fulfill all project requirements, including form processing, API management, low-code graphical user interface elements, and data enrichment. Unlike other generic platforms, VentureNet enables the development of highly customized solutions tailored to specific project needs.

Although it is possible to assemble similar platforms using excellent off-the-shelf tools, coordinating, and integrating these disparate components requires significant time and effort. Additionally, the complexities associated with billing processes can often pose substantial challenges. VentureNet solves these concerns by offering a unique solution that simplifies project management and reduces operational overhead. This approach ensures a streamlined workflow and efficient project execution.

Contact VentureNet to learn more about the project results and collaboration opportunities.

VentureNet

contact@venturenet.no