CORINNA

The main objective pursued within the Corinna project (2004-2007) was to maximize the development of the technological innovation potential of the regions involved through their cooperation in areas identified as common or complementary research fields. To date, the intensity of collaboration in technology and innovation between the border regions of Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Hungary is still limited compared to other similar areas. Differences in the policies of local governments and their structures, regulations and supporting legislative instruments as well as language barriers slow down efficient cooperation at both the political and the productive / corporate levels. Welcoming these challenges Corinna wanted to increase the exchange of knowledge among the various partners on specific topics such as regional innovation systems, policies and strategies, best practices to promote innovation and the ability to develop cooperation on projects in specific areas.

Partners

• Carinthian Economic Promotion Fund (KWF)–Klagenfurt, A Joanneum Research Institute – Graz, A
• Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)–Vienna, A 
• Economy Service Burgenland (WIBAG)– Eisenstadt, A, Hungarian Science and Technology Foundation – Budapest, H
• West Hungarian Research Institute – Gyor, H, 
• Institute for Economic Research (IER)– Ljubljana, SLO 
• Friuli Innovazione – Udine, I 
• Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation – Stuttgart, D

Results

During the three years of the project were organized fivethematic meetings between experts, coordinated by Friuli Innovazione, which addressed problems concerning Innovation, Research and Development, with the aim of finding possible solutions and synergies to promote interregional collaboration. Altogether almost 80 European experts took part in the Expert Group Workshops.
In October 2006, the first Export Group Workshop was held at the BIC-Burgenland in Eisenstadt (Austria), entitled "Strategies, Programs, Activities for Creating a Common Cooperative Region", attended by national and regional experts. On November 9th 2006 in Udine there was the second Expert Group Workshop; the subject of the discussion were the possible strategies to promote innovation, in a comparison between experts from Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Friuli Venezia Giulia; The meeting was also attended by members of local, national and European networks such as IRC, BIC and APRE. Among the interventions, we point out that of dr. Strogylopoulos, representative of the European Commission in Brussels, who presented the strategies and tools for disseminating innovation in Europe as reported in the Paxis Manual by the Commission ("The Pilot Action of Excellence on Innovative Start ups"). The third Expert Group Workshop on renewable energy was held on 30 November 2006 in Sopron, Hungary. At the round table some industry experts from the partner regions discussed possible common strategies to be adopted in the renewable energy sector. A representative of CETA - Center for Theoretical and Applied Ecology participated in the FVG. On April 11th 2007 at the Lakeside Park in Klagenfurt (Austria) the fourth Expert Group Workshop was held on the theme "Technology Parks and Technology Transfer: Making Full Use of Cross-Border Opportunities".
Finally, on November 28, 2007, Vienna hosted the fifth Expert Group Workshop entitled "Regional Innovation Policy Measures in the CORINNA Regions"; on this occasion the partners drew the conclusions of what emerged and realized during the project, especially in terms of regional policies to support innovation.
Another important result of Corinna was the organization of the Company Mission, bilateral meetings between representatives of companies and research organizations coming from the different project partner regions and operating in the same technological sectors or in complementary sectors. During the project, 6 Company Mission were organized on various themes involving a total of 116 companies of various nationalities, giving rise to over 220 one-to-one meetings.nFriuli Innovation organized, in collaboration with the Association of Industrialists of Udine, the Slovenian IRC of Ljubljana and the IER of Ljubljana, the Italy-Slovenia Company Mission in the "Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning with the focus on energy efficiency" sector, held on December 7, 2006 in Idrija (Slovenia). On 30 May 2007, instead, Friuli Innovazione hosted and organized the Friuli Venezia Giulia - Carinthia (Austria) Company Mission at the "Luigi Danieli" Science and Technology Park in Udine, entitled "Collaboration Opportunities in the Field of Information, Communication and Technology , in the Alpe Adria Region ". The day, which was attended by Friulian and Austrian companies, was carried out in collaboration with the Association of Industrialists of Udine and IRC Austria - Regionalbüro Kärnten.

Also within the Corinna project an analytical research was carried out on the R & D systems of the Regions involved and an Interregional Research and Development database was created. The database contains a lot of information (name, address, telephone, fax, e-mail, contact person, sector of activity, number of employees, etc.) relating to companies, research centers and universities located in the regions involved and interested to transnational collaborations. This tool allows you to select data according to different needs (by sector of activity, by region or by type of institution) on 1200 total entries, thus creating a real "Region Corinna" virtual. The first official presentation of the database took place during the InnovAction 2007 exhibition in Udine, during an information seminar organized by Friuli Innovazione.

Another result of the project was the preparation of a document summarizing regional policy instruments to support the innovation available in the various areas involved. The document was also produced through the contributions collected in the two Policy Benchmarking Workshops (22 June 2006 in Udine, 23 November 2006 in Graz) and in the two Strategy Development Workshops (16 March 2006 in Ljubljana, 9 May 2007 in Keutschach). The first Policy Benchmarking Workshop, held on June 23, 2006 in Udine at the "Luigi Danieli" Scientific and Technological Park, was attended by experts from all the partner regions; for Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Department of Productive Activities intervened, in the person of the lawyer. Lydia Alessio Vernì.

At the end of the project the book "Interregional Innovation Policy" was published. Opportunities and challenges in the Alps-Adriatic Region".