Creative Workshop builds Bridges for Innovation

On 26–27 March 2025, Santiago de Compostela became a hub for insight and collaboration, hosting the Creative Interregional Workshop on Matchmaking Good Practices and Innovation Opportunities. Organized by Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN), the event brought together regional partners from Romania, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy  and Hungary for two days of interactive sessions, study visits, and strategic dialogue.

The first day opened with a keynote speech followed by a standout Good Practice example: Innovacoop from Emilia-Romagna, Italy. A digital innovation hub focused on cooperative development, Innovacoop impressed attendees with its coordinated services in AI training, business intelligence, and project development—all tailored for over 1.300 registered cooperatives in the region.

This set the tone for a highly engaging co-creative seminar, structured around three thematic sessions:

1. Co-creative Session 1 introduced key materials such as the Summary Matrix and the Roadmap for Policy Instruments (PIs) improvement.
2. Co-creative Session 2 allowed peer review of regional proposals to enhance innovation governance and SME support.
3. Co-creative Session 3 featured bilateral and multilateral meetings, where participants deepened collaboration and laid the groundwork for future study visits.

Partners exchanged perspectives on topics such as:

• The evaluation of digitalization projects,
• The reimbursement of services within eDIHs,
• Use of DMA models like ACATECH and the challenges of cross-industry translation,
• And the integration of artificial intelligence into regional funding mechanisms.

The second day was dedicated to site visits that showcased Galicia’s cutting-edge research and technological infrastructure.

First stop: CESGA – Galicia Supercomputing Center, a powerhouse of computation with more than 22.000 cores, over 100 Nvidia GPUs, and high-performance infrastructure enabling advanced research and AI applications.

Second stop: CITIUS – Singular Research Centre on Intelligent Technologies, where partners discovered projects in robotics, virtual reality, and intelligent systems. The center’s spin-offs—like Situm, Inverbis, and Energis—stood as examples of successful academic-to-market innovation, aligned with the goals of eDIHs.

The afternoon included a Steering Committee meeting, where project updates were discussed: financial progress, mid-term reviews, upcoming semester planning, and a call for pilot actions funded through Interreg.