Name / Title | iCON |
Case Study Region | Goriška region, Slovenia |
Geographical coverage | Slovenian-Italian border region |
Type | Business; project; training scheme; advice service |
Main activity / focus | Supporting business development in border region (Slovenia-Italy) by co-operation, education and networking of supporting institutions and firms. Project is focused on creating business environment which will enable entrepreneurs with instruments for their further development. |
Target beneficiaries / market | - Firms in the Slovenian-Italian border region.
- Business-support institutions of mentioned region.
- Young and elderly people interesting in entrepreneurship.
- Business associations.
|
Year established | 2010-2013 |
Current Funding source(s) | Co-financed by EU territorial co-operation (programme of cross-border cooperation Slovenia-Italy in 2007-2013): 3 million €. Also partners´ contributions. |
Participants
| 15 partners from Slovenian and Italian side of the border have already participated in project preparation: – RDA Rod Ajdovščina, Slovenia, – Chamber of Commerce (on national and regional level in Slovenia, similar also in Italy), – Chamber of Craft and Small Business (on national and regional level in Slovenia, similar also in Italy), – various business associations in Slovenia and Italy, – Slovenian economic association in Italy (Slovenian Regional Economic Association in Trieste), – universities in the tackled area, – individual entrepreneurs as participants at proposed activities. |
Website | http://www.icon-project.eu/ |
Description | The pre-condition for this cross-border strategic project has to be found in good experiences from the previous business co-operation (project PRIME). The first ideas came up at the end of 2007, the project was approved in 2010. The main objectives are: - analysis of existing business connections and networks (concentration by territory and sector of activity);
- entrepreneurs networking by formation of approx. 10 business networks based on analysis results and entrepreneurship interest (renewable energy sources, nautics, tourism, ICT, engineering etc.);
- establishing the network of business support institutions in border region (knowledge transfer, supporting innovativeness, joint services);
- developing project information system (DBE: Digital Business Ecosystem) as an actual database for entrepreneurship development;
- education of actors who will co-ordinate the cross-border business development;
- special attention to marginalized groups (young, old) with interest for being active in entrepreneurship environment (cross-border trainings, education modules etc.);
- to increase recognizability and increase direct investment in this border region.
This could be a good practice example for numerous border areas that face vitality decline (especially in the field of economy). |
Contact details | Slovenian lead partner: Mr. David Bratož; ra.rod@siol.net RRA ROD Ajdovščina, Gregorčičeva 20, 5270 Ajdovščina, Slovenija Italian lead partner: Mr. Andrej Šik; andrej.sik@servis.it Slovensko deželno gospodarsko združenje, Trst/Trieste (Italy) |