Belgian State Visit to the Netherlands

From 28 to 30 November Their Majesties King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were on a three-day State Visit to the Netherlands. According the news article of ‘the Royal House of the Netherlands’ this State Visit confirms the close wide-ranging relationship between the countries and underlines their historical ties and shared values.

Visit to ESA/ESTEC in Noordwijk

On Tuesday 29 November King Philippe visited the European Space Agency/European Space Research and Technology Center (ESA/ESTEC) in Noordwijk. Verhaert is very closely connected with this location, which is one of our innovation centers. Furthermore, we are currently managing ESA’s Technology Transfer Network of brokers and we have the role of broker in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Symposium on entrepreneurial cooperation

In the context of the Belgian State Visit to the Netherlands, Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEx) organized a symposium on entrepreneurial cooperation. Sam Waes, coordinator of Verhaert’s Technology Transfer program, had the honor to present Verhaert in presence of His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium. He focused on space technology and how it can be used to innovate on Earth. We exploit technology and know-how from space and initiate a technology transfer process between technology provider and receiver. Space technology can take companies to the next level.

Visit technology.verhaert.com for more information about our Technology Transfer program.

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Evaluation of intangibles and novel technologies

The European TTO Circle Network organized a workshop focusing on the evaluation of intangibles and novel technologies. One of the key objectives was to discuss different methods to evaluate Intellectual Property in the best way. They invited external partners from the private sector, an opportunity for Verhaert to share its approach on the technology valuation process.

Technology valuation process and the role of the broker

Zane Smilga, coordinator of InnoLab, highlighted the value of technology, the process and the innovation brokerage. The brokers are the fundamental link between technologies, ideas and people. They help to explore multiple alternatives and define the value of the context for future business. There are a number of tools available to envision, validate and prove the potential value of a technology. Interested to know more about the value potential of technology? Contact Verhaert to explore breakthrough opportunities and necessary services to increase value.

Boost innovation in Europe

Europe needs more innovation: to strengthen its global competitiveness, enhance its economic position and tackle major social challenges of the 21st century. One way to encourage innovation is through technology transfer. To facilitate and support cross-border networking of national knowledge transfer offices, the European Commission established the TTO Circle Network. This initiative aims to enhance collaboration on knowledge transfer among Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).

In March 2017, they will launch a report that captures all the discussions of the workshop with an analysis on possible commercial and policy implications.

Download the presentations at the TTO Circle Platform.

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Download the MedTech accelerator flyer.

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Proactively manage heart failure

Smartbeat is a project in the forefront of medical innovation focusing on the treatment of heart failure. For many years cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in the western world. They are affecting the daily lives of countless patients, caregivers and medical staff. To manage heart failure proactively, we need an advanced monitoring solution.

Sensors to measure a patient’s vital signs

Cardiovascular diseases are complex and many factors should be taken into account. However, there is an enormous potential in the data of a patient’s vital signs: heart rate, rhythm, blood pressure and pulmonary congestion. The Smartbeat project aims to measure them daily with a suit of easy to use sensors. This potential is only fully exploited when the data is processed, exchanged and presented to the patients and caregivers in a way that empowers them.

Focus on technology, people and context

Verhaert is one of the consortium partners in the Smartbeat project. We embraced the opportunity to implement our philosophy of ‘the sweet spot of innovation’, bringing together technology, people and context. Our goal is to develop an efficient tool that will have a positive impact on the lives of patients, caregivers and medical staff.

Elements of the system architecture

Together we have finalized the system architecture of the Smartbeat project which will enable us to develop an effective technology. The elements of this system architecture:

• A suit with easy to use sensors that measures the patient’s vital signs
• A data analysis module that processes and regulates the data in the system
• A portal for caregivers and medical staff to access data in an easy way and send messages to patients
• A Smartbeat companion app that empowers the patients by presenting feedback, messages from caregivers or medical staff and reminders about medication and the treatment

In the coming months, the consortium will build upon this architecture with the input of patients, caregivers and medical staff. We will sharpen the system to get even closer to the sweet spot of innovation.

For more information visit www.aal-europe.eu.

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Next generation domestic surveillance camera

Bosch, a leading manufacturer of professional surveillance cameras, indicated a potential opportunity to extend their product portfolio to the domestic market. But what about the hidden needs, purchase drivers and job-to-be-done? Verhaert did a profound research with the ambitious objective to define the next generation domestic surveillance camera. One that would attract the ‘home automation’ market in Europe and North-America.

Design-driven research, exploration and validation

The intensive global design-driven research was followed by a thorough design exploration and international validation. This has led to an uncontested, though very intelligible new reference design in the IP camera market.

Smart two-in-one outdoor camera

The result is Bosch Smart Home Eyes Outdoor Camera, a remarkable front door camera which acts as a two-in-one. It detects when someone is outside the door, but also works as a porch light for late night callers. Users can connect the camera to any IFTTT supported device, like Philips Hue, to fake one’s presence or to receive an alert when someone is at the front door.

Elegant outdoor lighting in an attractive design

The design of Bosch Eyes Camera is the embodiment of the company’s ‘invented for life’ slogan. It reflects the ambition to enhance the quality of life with solutions that are both innovative and beneficial. In a final design stage we embraced Platinum Design – who did already a great styling job on former smart home devices – to guard the design details resulting in a very coherent Bosch product family. Because we are convinced that good design is thorough down to the last detail. With its friendly look Bosch Eyes Camera differentiates from the aggressive ‘bullet-shaped’ camera while still being perceived as very performing towards image quality and detection accuracy.

The Bosch Smart Home Eyes Outdoor Camera will be soon available in Germany, United Kingdom and Austria. The rest of Europe and North America will follow.

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Shift towards open innovation

To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation processes, we see companies shifting from a so-called closed innovation towards a more open way of innovating. To create customer value, they search for new technologies and ideas outside the company. Open Innovation can be described as ‘combining internal and external ideas as well as internal and external paths to market to advance the development of new technologies’ (source: openinnovation.eu).

Managing and organizing open innovation in SMEs

The last 10 years Open Innovation has been mainly embraced by large companies. The evidence for the value of Open Innovation in SMEs is significant. However, there are still crucial challenges to be tackled regarding the management and support of Open Innovation in European SMEs. INSPIRE aims to investigate how open innovation processes can be professionally managed and organized in SMEs.

Integrated toolbox for SMEs and innovation practitioners

To achieve this goal, INSPIRE will study a critical mass of SME Open Innovation cases. Of more than 300 examples collected from different countries, 120 were selected for detailed exploration. The findings will be translated into an Integrated Toolbox, a targeted support framework to be offered and exploited by SMEs and innovation practitioners in Europe. The findings of INSPIRE will be disseminated extensively to a wide audience. This in order to raise awareness and drive the formation of a living community which can promote better Open Innovation processes in SMEs by sharing knowledge, experience and opportunities.

Multidisciplinary consortium of organizations

To access the whole open innovation chain across a range of geographical, economic and SMEs’ context, the consortium includes a variety of competences. There are 8 European countries participating in this project, including strong academic research partners in innovation management. The project is coordinated by the University of Brighton and will run until March 2019.

With our profound experience in managing the innovation process, Verhaert will have a strong contribution to this project. More specifically, Verhaert will have a leading position next year in developing models for the toolbox. We expect that the outcome will help the European SMEs to manage open innovation in a professional way so they become more competitive in the long term.

Visit the website of www.brighton.ac.uk for more information.

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Fifth innovation service center in Europe

Masters in Innovation is the umbrella brand of the Verhaert Group, a leading European product innovation group with innovation services centers in Belgium (Kruibeke and Nivelles), Portugal (Aveiro) and the Netherlands (Noordwijk). Recently they signed a definitive agreement to acquire Moebius Design, a design and engineering company located in Gentbrugge (Belgium) combining technology and creativity.

Strengthen innovation services as group

The acquisition of Moebius Design will allow both organizations to enlarge their offering in on-site design and engineering services, which are complementary to their project based business. This strengthening will increase the flexibility and impact of both companies and further improve their services levels towards clients as an integrated service provider of product innovation. Additionally, the acquisition will boost the group’s services portfolio for SME’s, an important market segment in the Benelux on both economic and societal perspective. This partnership brings the staff of Masters in Innovation to 165 employees and a turnover of more than 20 M€.

Moebius Design accelerates strategy for the future

In the last years, Masters in Innovation has scaled double and has set an ambitious target to double again by 2020. This in order to keep up with market demand and the evolution of its international competitive landscape. This acquisition accelerates the achievement of this ambition with a strong market position in Belgium.

“This acquisition is a major milestone in the implementation of our Verhaert NXT plan towards 2020. It accelerates our strategy to further develop our business under the umbrella brand Masters in Innovation and the specialized companies Verhaert, Load, Lambda-X and now Moebius. As a group we believe that we are able to support our operating companies and inspire them to grow. By connecting them to the Masters in Innovation ecosystem, we share best practices and train our experts constantly, hence to increase the success of our client’s innovation initiatives.” says Koen Verhaert, Ceo of the Verhaert Group.

Commenting on the deal, Bart Haesendonck and Dirk Van Maele, founders and directors of Moebius Design said: “This acquisition will allow Moebius to further grow in its activities and strengthen its back office infrastructure with the shared services of the group. In this setting we look forward to bring the business to a next level in the coming years and to be part of this great endeavor.”

moebius.consulting

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Innovation Day focuses on ‘agility in innovation’

Innovation Day is a unique conference which aims to inspire innovation professionals to manage the innovation of tomorrow. With examples, methods and tools you will be encouraged to incorporate agile innovation in your organization.

» Track 1: Learn from the spirit of tech startups
The startup community is booming everywhere and is often blowing away corporates in terms of innovation efficiency. What can companies learn from startups and the way they operate? How can we take advantage of both worlds and bring startup thinking in our companies?

» Track 2: Use available technologies to accelerate your innovation process
New technologies are often key enablers in breakthrough product concepts, but developing technology tends to take time. How can we make use of available technology to accelerate the process and therefore make it agile again?

» Track 3: Alternative strategies to make products more future proof
With today’s pace of change the battle seems lost by definition. In this track we explore an alternative strategy to make our products inherent adaptive and therefore more robust and future proof.

» Track 4: Collaborative teams are the foundation of successful innovation cultures
Agility in innovation is about people for people. Discovering what really drives value for the user. Getting your team and organization ready to handle the uncertainty and changing context inherent to innovation.

*You can no longer register for this event*

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3 reasons why you should attend this innovation conference:

• explore different ways to accelerate your innovation team/organization
• better align your innovation projects with your market needs
• make your products more resistant to the speed of innovation

Sign up and create your personal program. Based on 4 tracks you can select the 5 sessions of your interest. Each track addresses the challenge to become more agile from a different perspective.

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At the end of August we announced a new Open Call for Demonstrators, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). Are you looking for funding to develop a technology transfer demonstrator? 7 projects of both space and non-space companies can request funding up to 38.000 euro to develop a technology transfer demonstrator. Space technology includes hardware, software, know-how, procedures, methodologies, systems, services …

Submit your proposal regarding the transfer of space technology to a non-space application before 4 October 2016, 3 p.m. CEST.

Visit our website for more information: spacesolutions.be

Questions? Please don’t hesitate to contact us. The bridge between space and terrestrial applications is smaller than you think. We are looking forward to receive your applications.

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