On 11 March 2021, the MINE.THE.GAP consortium hold an international Info Day open for all interested companies and entities in the project and the first open call. After the welcoming words of Santiago Cuesta López, MINE.THE.GAP coordinator and managing director of ICAMCyL, Daniel Gassmann, Head of Sector Innovation Support in EASME, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, highlighted to opportunities that this European project offers to applicants. While achieving direct funding from the European institutions can be competitive and complicated, third party funding like MINE.THE.GAP facilitates the access for companies and opens ways for innovation projects. Antonio Novo Guerrero, President of the European Clusters Alliance and Managing Director of  cluster IDiA, introduced the cascade funding scheme behind MINE.THE.GAP and presented the European Cluster Collaboration Platform and the European Clusters Alliance as contact and support points to create connections across Europe.

The main part of the Info Day was about the objetives of the MINE.THE.GAP project and the presentation of the first open call. Santiago Cuesta López explained the two voucher schemes available to SMEs, the eligibility criteria, and the type of actions that are funded through the vouchers. MINE.THE.GAP aims to tackle the current top challenges of the raw materials and mining sector by including ICT, circular economy, resource efficiency, and advanced manufacturing solutions in the value chains. Therefore, SMEs form collaborations between two or three companies for a MINE.THE.GAP funded project. Nina Hoppmann, Project Manager at IDiA, showed how to search for partners on the website and how to apply for the funding.

Did you miss the Info Day? Have a look at the presentations:

Santiago Cuesta López, ICAMCyL: MINE.THE.GAP Info Day Presentation Open Call
Antonio Novo Guerrero, IDiA: MINE.THE.GAP Info Day Innosup and ECCP

For all questions about MINE.THE.GAP, check the FAQs under Open Calls and contact us!