The meaning of Exploitation in Horizon Europe Projects

Exploitation in the context of Horizon Europe projects refers to the utilization of project results for further research, commercial, societal, or political purposes. This is important because a project’s ultimate success is defined by effective exploitation. This article explores the concept of exploitation in Horizon Europe projects and the main issues of impactful exploitation.

Understanding Exploitation

Exploitation in a Horizon Europe Project means to make concrete use of the project results to create social, economic, and environmental benefits. It involves transforming research outcomes into practical applications, innovations, or policy recommendations that can be implemented, shared, and scaled to address societal needs. By focusing on exploitation, project teams can ensure that their efforts generate tangible impacts beyond the duration of the project.

Who should do Exploitation?

Exploitation should be done by everyone in the project team who can make good use of the project results. This includes researchers, industry including SMEs, authorities, policymakers, civil society and more.

Exploitation starts with identifying relevant stakeholders, including industry partners, policymakers, end-users, and the wider society. Collaboration and engagement with these stakeholders throughout the project help shape the research objectives, ensure alignment with real-world needs, and facilitate the uptake of project results once they are available.

How to set up your Exploitation strategy?

Conducting thorough market analysis is crucial to identify potential applications and commercialization opportunities for project results. Understanding the market landscape, customer needs, and competitive advantages enables project teams to tailor their exploitation strategy and develop business models that maximize the commercial potential of their innovations.

The exploitation strategy can include creating roadmaps, prototypes, software to share knowledge, skills and data to showcase the impact of the project on science, industry, society and the environment after its end.

When to do Exploitation?

Exploitation activities should be considered from the project’s inception. By integrating exploitation planning into the project’s overall strategy, teams can identify potential exploitable results, engage relevant stakeholders, and allocate appropriate resources. Continuous monitoring and adaptation of the exploitation plan ensures that it remains relevant and aligned with emerging opportunities and challenges.

Exploitation should not be limited to the project’s duration but should be considered long-term. This may involve identifying follow-up funding opportunities and securing partnerships beyond the project’s lifecycle.

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