Sectoral groups bring together EEN partners interested in joining forces and providing targeted services to companies in a given sector and also play a significant role in the quality and performance of the Network as a whole. EEN partners are involved in the work of sectoral groups in accordance with the importance of the given sectors for the region they come from. Sectoral groups combine international business expertise with knowledge of the local market so that support would be tailored to the needs of the company.
The main task of all 17 sectoral groups is to combine demand and supply, i.e. companies from different countries operating in the same, similar or complementary sector.
The main activities of the groups include three categories: networking services, providing feedback from SMEs for policy purposes and other activities.
Sectoral groups support the key activities of the Network by providing three basic services:
- Support of the realization of business cooperation,
- Support for innovations, primarily through transnational technology transfer and exploitation of research results,
- Support for research work, mainly through providing support and advice to companies interested in participating in Horizon 2021 programs and projects.
In addition, sectoral groups also:
- Organize thematic workshops or internal trainings for the Network,
- Collaborate with clusters in a cross-border context,
- Cooperate with national contact points for EU programs,
- Cooperate with service providers of SME instrument users,
- Cooperate with third parties,
- Create publications (company profile catalogs, studies…)
In addition, members of sectoral groups also provide other services that are needed or requested by users, e.g. to provide support to users in finding financial resources for their development, in addition to the connection services.
Given the significant potential for interaction between sectoral groups covering different but compatible sectors, the groups also organize joint activities such as business meetings that bring together actors from different sectors.
