The University of Genoa is participating in the European project SMERF – SME Ready for the Future, co-funded with €2.5 million by the Interreg Central Europe programme. The project, which began in 2023 and is nearing completion, aims to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) in innovation, digitalisation and the adoption of sustainable practices. The consortium involves eight partners from seven countries, including research institutes and business support organisations, with the aim of fostering collaboration and the exchange of expertise at the European level.
Within SMERF, UniGe worked through the MCAE Lab from DIME, coordinated by Professor Giovanni Berselli, with support from the working group, in which Federico Manara, a PhD student at the Italian Institute of Technology, served as the key operational figure.
The group has contributed to both development activities and direct engagement with local SMEs, identifying their needs, challenges, and growth opportunities.
The 4 innovation pillars
The project is based on four key dimensions considered essential for preparing businesses for future challenges:
It is from these dimensions that the role of the Innomediary emerges – an innovation mediator who supports SMEs by drawing on cross-cutting expertise across all these pillars.
SMERF results
The University of Genoa’s contribution has led to a number of concrete results, including:
• the creation of the Inspiration Knowledge Base, an online platform bringing together best practices, regional services, webinars and useful resources for businesses and stakeholders;
https://readyforfuture.eu/• the development of the SMERF Diagnosis Tool, a free, state-of-the-art self-assessment tool tested on over 160 European SMEs, capable of providing preliminary and in-depth assessments and suggesting training, mentoring and consultancy activities;
https://smerftool.eu/users/sign_up• an Individual Support Programme, in which three SMEs per partner benefited from a personalised programme based on the tool’s results.
The project will end in March 2026, following three years of international collaboration. UniGe highlights how SMERF has enabled the creation of a direct link between Universities, SMEs and regional institutions, providing a detailed picture of the needs of the Ligurian business community and, more broadly, of Central Europe.