Qualify Project

The QUALIFY project started in the first day of 2016 and it will end at 31 december 2017, it is co-financed by COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.

It is funded by Portugal 2020, within the scope of the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Program, in the amount of 671 227,38 euros, 570 543,27 euros of this amount comes from the European Regional Development Fund.

Main objective: to strengthen the entrepreneurial capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises to develop differentiated processes, goods and services, through qualification and information, so that they act in a sustainable way, asserting themselves dynamically and competitively in different markets.

Thus, considering that the well-being and quality of products and services are not in themselves a guarantee of the viability of business projects, is necessary to create common instruments to support the exercise of economic activity, enhancing the competitiveness of companies, by better and more information.
In this way, through Qualify project AIDA is fulfilling this purpose by carrying out different activities and studies, namely in the scope of Corporate Sustainability, sustainable management, support for international investment, promotion of cooperation and co-participation among SMEs, as well as initiatives which will help to obtain economic information, such as the creation of an Economic Observatory of Aveiro District.

It is also encouraged the inclusion of SMEs in communication and knowledge networks that will allow share experiences and identify possibilities of partnership that can help achieving scale and negotiation capacity through the OPEN DAYS, carried out in reference companies like SAKTHI Portugal SP21 and SIMOLDES group.
The partnerships network that will be encouraged by promoting cooperation and co-participation practices will be decisive for the promotion of business opportunities, as well as for promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology fot the market and economy, entrepreneurship and funding and investment.
In this way, it is intended that the training of SMEs be internalized by the organizations as an effective strategic resource for the modernization of the Portuguese economy, contributing to its competitiveness.

The same is true for SME certification, considering that international standards and their use in technical regulations on products, services and production methods play an important role in facilitating trade and sustainable development by promoting safety, quality and compatibility technique.

In this sense, an open source software platform will be created, New Generation Open Quality, capable of dematerializing quality management processes and meeting the new requirements of Quality Management Systems, specifically allowing the adoption of new models and approaches resulting in the new ISO 9001: 2015 reference.

It should be noted that, taking into account the regional disparities in information access, qualification and training, some actions will be decentralized, namely working sessions, open days and networking actions, they will happen in the northernmost counties of the region of project scope (two NUTS II), namely in V. Cambra, SM Feira, Oliveira de Azeméis and S. João da Madeira.

The project is based on the following activities:

Activity 1- Identification and awareness actions for Critical Competitiveness Factors, particularly in the field of Innovation

Action 1.1 – Corporate Sustainability – Innovate to Compete
Action 1.2 – Action Specialists for Sustainable Management
Action 1.3 – Digital Knowledge Space for Sustainability
Action 1.4 – International Business Congress
Action 1.5 – Networking Breakfast

Activity 2- Promoting Co-operation and Cooperation Practices among SMEs

Action 2.1 – New Generation Open Quality
Action 2.2 – Development of an open source software platform, New Generation Open Quality
Action 2.3 – Cooperation and Co-op Meetings between SMEs, OPEN DAYS

Activity 3 – Promotion of Initiatives to Promote Economic Information

Action 3.1 – Information Platform and Economic Observatory of the District of Aveiro
Action 3.2 – Investor Support Guide
Action 3.3 – Business and Culture with the markets of Senegal, Peru and Cuba (MANUAIS)
Action 3.4 – Guidance Manual for Sustainable Management
Action 3.5 – Graphic identification of the project
Action 3.6 – Informative Magazine INFOAIDA
Action 3.7 – Newsletters
Action 3.8 – Dissemination Seminar
Action 3.9 – Management and Monitoring