EIC Synthetic Datathon

Why we did it

With a flexible timeline, the purpose of this asynchronous datathon was to invite researchers to explore EIC data through demonstrator projects, requiring minimal commitment while offering a platform to influence future research, scope collaborations, and work towards impactful publications. The datathon offered researchers the chance to dive into and analyse data from one of the EU’s largest innovation funders. It was a chance to tackle relevant and pressing questions in the field of innovation technology, leveraging the wealth of EIC data. The EIC was eager to make its data available for impactful research, but this required navigating the complexities of permissions and data use. This datathon served as a sandbox with synthetic data to explore how a public funding organisation can share data responsibly and effectively. The resulting projects aim to demonstrate to the EIC and other innovation agencies the valuable insights that can be derived from their extensive, yet underutilised, internal data.

How we did it

This asynchronous datathon managed to solve the privacy issues about data sharing through synthetic data. Data access restrictions precluded sharing with external researchers. Hence, IGL ideated a strategy that allowed researchers to work with a synthetic version of the requested data; their code was then run by IGL on actual data and the anonymised results were shared with the researchers. This approach solved the issue while still creating a sufficiently attractive space for academics to engage with the EIC and provide ideas on the potential of existing data. 

You can gain more insights by reading our blog "Exploring policy solutions through synthetic data: Our Datathon experience"

 

Projects
Synergies (and Clashes) between National and European Innovation Funding Systems
Henrik Hermansson, David Birksjö, Abdulaziz Reshid, Erik Hegelund, Peter Svensson
By combining data from the EIC with data covering the major part of Swedish innovation grants, as well as registry data, we aim to analyse the interplay between national and European innovation funding systems. We expect new insights into whether and how the innovation funding systems complement each other and will study the following research questions: (1) Does the interaction between national and European innovation funding programmes generate a synergetic effect on innovation inputs and outputs and the economic performance of Swedish firms? (2) Do programmes such as the Seal of Excellence cause increased probabilities and levels of financing from other actors at national or supranational levels?
Breeding Unicorns? Evidence of Learning by New Ventures in the EIC Accelerator program
Andres Madariaga Espinoza, Stijn Kelchtermans
Funding instruments programmes such as the EIC Accelerator offer start-ups a high-powered learning experience composed not only of the coaching and mentoring provided to selected ventures but also of expert feedback to all applicant ventures. Yet, little attention is often given to how the process such as application, evaluation, and funding decision may benefit new ventures, even if they do not receive a positive EIC jury decision at the final funding stage. Our analysis aims to contribute to these findings.
Are EIC R&D programmes conductive to innovative networks?
Enrico Vanino, Andreas Maschke, Carlo Corradini
This project aims to investigate the role played by EIC-funded grant-based support in creating innovative collaboration networks. By comparing successful and unsuccessful applications, we would like to understand if it is the funding received that helps organisations to create new collaborations between partners not working together before, or if instead unsuccessful projects still go ahead in the creation of the partnership to generate new innovations, and thus highlighting alternative mechanisms through which this type of programmes operate, by catalysing and forging new partnerships at the application level.
From novel ideas to the "same old story”: assessing the degree of novelty and similarities of proposals across the EIC platforms
Daniela Silvestri, Alessandro Lucini Paioni, Manuel Gigena
Small and young ventures face many challenges in developing their novel ideas thus securing funding from the EIC is crucial. However, it is not always straightforward to assess how novel such ideas are. Leveraging the unique data provided via the EIC Datathon, the goal of this project is to explore the novelty of proposals submitted to the EIC across types of calls and platforms. In so doing, this project might gauge the extent of similarity between prior submissions and current ones in order to better understand the extent to which old ideas are reused and what are the implications for the EIC.
Holding Up Deep Tech
Roger Masclans-Armengol
Unlike Biotech and AI sectors, which have attracted increasing investment despite similar capital intensiveness, some equally science-based deep tech fields face systemic challenges in attracting funding. To address the empirical gaps in understanding these dynamics, this project aims to leverage EIC data, focusing on three main areas: the impact of commercial agreements, investments, and acquisitions between startups and incumbents on incumbent firms' stock market responses; the characteristics of science-based startups that influence their growth and exit dynamics; and a causal analysis with startups that failed to secure funding. The objective is to offer new insights into the systemic issues facing science-based startups and suggest pathways for policy and incumbent strategies to support these innovations.
Unveiling the Path from Breakthrough Ideas to Marketable Innovations through a Process-Oriented Evaluation
Adrián A. Díaz-Faes, Dima Yankova, Pablo D'Este
EIC metadata on Pathfinder and Accelerator projects can provide a remarkable opportunity to collect comprehensive fine-grained information covering the entire pipeline from exploratory research to marketable innovation. It may allow to identify key features that enable high-risk innovative projects to successfully transition from idea generation to idea implementation. We hypothesise that project information can enable the measurement of relevant research-process dimensions rarely brought together: team diversity, applicants’ prior scientific and innovative performance, balanced partner participation, and productive interactions between research partners and stakeholders.
Evaluating Research Topic-Focusing by Policy Makers
Thor Larson
This project aims to measure the effects of research topic-focusing when policymakers set the topics – in this project, by comparing EIC Pathfinder Challenges (topic-focused) against EIC Open Calls (topic-unfocused). By exploiting yearly variation in Challenge topics, we will estimate the effects of topic-focused research policy on key measures of research success. Within the context of Pathfinder, this work may help understand the benefits and drawbacks of having top-down funding topics compared to bottom-up calls in the context of a public innovation funding programme.