1.What is (and does) the Vanguard Initiative 3DP Pilot ?

The Vanguard Initiative 3DP Pilot is an interregional partnership that aims at facilitating the deployment and uptake of Additive Manufacturing in the EU. The ultimate goal is to contributing making the EU industry more resilient, sustainable and competitive. This is a structural initiative, gathering 27 regions, and interconnecting their innovation and industrial ecosystems.

To make it brief, what we do is enabling the implementation of strategic international innovation projects, and joint investments, focusing on activities at “post-prototyping” level (i.e. Technology Readiness levels 5 and beyond).

Taking these ambitions and objectives into account, we activate and serve the ‘quadruple helix’: end-users, tech providers (incl. companies, research and tech centres, universities), but also clusters and regional policy makers. Today, we are a community of more than 350 organisations.  I am acting as a ‘Network Manager’, on behalf of the leading regions of the partnership (South-NL, represented by Brainport Development; Norte, represented by ProduTech, and Flanders, represented by EWI).

2. What has been realised in and through this project in the last 10 years?

One first aspect to be mentioned is that the VI 3DP Pilot effectively enabled many strategic innovative solutions being developed and deployed on the market. Through our ‘integrated’ innovation support, we went from designing portfolios of strategic projects (“demo cases”), to activating ad-hoc funding mixes, towards having companies generating private investments and sales.  The VI 3DP Pilot therefore directly contributed to, for example, improving efficiency of metal printing processes, automatizing AM factories, improving AM-based repairing techniques, etc. One peculiar aspect of the initiative (since this is not a e.g. two-year project only), is its ability to implement a more programmatic (while adaptative) approach, i.e. interlinking different types of projects and actors, reducing fragmentation. Over the years, and reflecting the growing maturity of the technology and of the evolution of industrial needs, we have initiated various types projects and outcomes: technological developments in various fields (various HE/H2020 Innovation actions), setting up training programmes (e.g. LILIAM project), closer to market interregional innovation investments (3DOP project), etc.

Beyond this, and at a more “systemic level”, we have been able to structurally improve the “interregional support landscape” for organisations active in AM (Advanced Manufacturing in general) and willing to work across borders. For examples, we (together with other partnerships) have been directly contributing, through various efforts at policy level, to the generation of two interregional, and rather close to market, funding instruments: the EC funding instrument ‘Interregional Innovation Investments’ (I3) and the Vanguard Initiative VInnovate Funding Mechanism. Beyond funding, we have established structural tools offering SMEs ways to internationalise their ambitions and needs: online matchmaking tool (the Gateway), 3DP Business Innovators Meetings (next one in Tampere), etc.

3.How do you feel about working on this project?

This is a very great project to work on. It combines characteristics that are quite unique.

• First, this initiative is “bottom up” (since activities are only impactful when directly addressing news of industrial actors), but it is also framed by territorial priorities and challenges (in particular, linked to Smart Specialisation Strategies of the regions involved).
• Second, this is an assignment that requires various skills to be deployed, and that mutually reinforce each other’s:
  • “Analytical work” ( e.g.  to spot on strategic gaps between demand and supply of demonstration services in some emerging segments);
  • “Partnership Management”, including strategic connections of ambitions and needs of industrial ecosystems and actors;
  • And actual “design and implementation of programmes, services and activities” that add value to the ecosystems and actors.

All this in an evolving environment, where necessary to adapt strategies and actions to evolutions at policy, and market levels.

• Third, it is cooperating with great persons, on a long term basis, who do share some common visions: the added value of cross border cooperation for strategic challenges, the necessity to overcome fragmentation at EU level, the instrumental role 3DP/AM can have in addressing major industrial challenges (in particular, its ability to address supply chain disruptions, to enable to the joint transition towards a more sustainable and smarter industry, etc.)
• Finally, such a pioneering and agile initiative is a great way to continuously learn. Identifying how such partnerships, interconnecting ecosystems, could have even more impacts in the future…