The EU-funded MediaFutures project led by Prof Elena Simperl will address this challenge by reshaping the media value chain. It will set up a virtual European data innovation hub to support entrepreneurial and innovative projects.
Most governments across the world run programmes that aim to provide microenterprises and SMEs with better opportunities to compete with big business. For the European Commission, for instance, SMEs are the ‘backbone’ of the European economy as they employ more than 100 million people.
Data has changed our lives in more than one way, from how we socialise online and run businesses to how we access public services and do science. It has been called the “raw material” of the digital age, fuelling creativity and innovation. And yet, its use has also raised challenges, including privacy, online polarisation, and digital inequality.
This work was motivated by Professor Elena Simperl’s experience of leading and supporting competitive EU-funded projects that offer business incubation and acceleration services to data-centric startups and SMEs (namely ODINE, DataPitch and DMS Accelerator projects). One of the key strengths of such programmes lies in their ability to attract, select and effectively allocate resources towards the most promising companies.