As part of its ecosystem-driven approach, IDEALIST collaborates with sister projects that share the same ambition of supporting manufacturing SMEs across Europe.
One of these initiatives is BRIDGESMEs, whose activities and vision are presented below.
Like IDEALIST, BRIDGESMEs is fully aligned with the European ambition to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their transition towards Industry 5.0. At a time when European industry is called to become more resilient, sustainable and human-centric, BRIDGESMEs focuses on a key lever for change: the creation of strategic alliances between solution providers and industrial SMEs. By connecting technology-savvy actors with manufacturing companies, the project aims to accelerate innovation uptake, enable new business models and strengthen regional and cross-regional innovation ecosystems. As a sister project of IDEALIST, BRIDGESMEs shares the same vision of empowering SMEs through collaboration, capacity building and ecosystem-driven approaches.
Key BRIDGESMEs activities planned for 2026
In 2026, BRIDGESMEs will further intensify its activities to support SMEs and innovation ecosystems across Europe. First, BRIDGESMEs technical partners are developing a comprehensive set of online training courses designed to support upskilling and reskilling programmes for industrial SMEs. In total, there will be 14 training modules addressing different dimensions of Industry 5.0, helping companies and their workforce to better understand technological, organisational and human-centric transformations.
In parallel, BRIDGESMEs will promote the organisation of open-door seminars by Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) involved in the project, notably AIMEN (Spain) and the Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic). These seminars will provide SMEs with targeted training opportunities and direct access to intelligent and reconfigurable facilities, including fab-labs, pilot lines and testbeds. Through these open-door events, RTOs will showcase cutting-edge technologies such as digital industry solutions, machine-to-machine communication, digital continuity, automation and robotisation, advanced monitoring, collaborative and wearable robotics, eXtended Reality (XR) solutions, big data management and artificial intelligence, as well as advanced manufacturing technologies including additive manufacturing and laser-based manufacturing.
Furthermore, BRIDGESMEs plans to organise an online pitching session in April 2026 in partnership with the European project RISE-SME, focusing on the automotive and mobility sector. This interactive event will bring together industrial SMEs and solution providers to address concrete industrial challenges faced by the sector. Through short, targeted pitches and moderated exchanges, the session aims to increase the visibility of innovative solutions to new audiences, stimulate dialogue between demand and supply sides, and trigger new collaboration opportunities among participants. By fostering cross-project synergies and sector-specific matchmaking, this initiative will contribute to accelerating innovation uptake and supporting SMEs in navigating the ongoing transformations of the automotive and mobility industries
In addition, BRIDGESMEs will join forces with IDEALIST for a joint strategic foresight workshop organised in cooperation with GIE ALBATROS, one of IDEALIST’s key partners. The workshop will take place in February 2026 in Mérignac (France) and will focus on the aerospace sector, a strategic and fast-evolving industrial domain for Europe. The objective of this foresight exercise is to enable SMEs to step back from day-to-day operations, collectively reflect on the major challenges and transformations shaping the space value chain, and start outlining concrete action plans to anticipate future developments. Beyond the analytical dimension, the event will strongly emphasise networking and matchmaking, fostering exchanges and connections between participating SMEs, solution providers and ecosystem actors, and paving the way for future collaborations at regional, national and European levels.
Finally, two additional peer review meetings will be organised by CNR-ISP in the coming months. These events build on a rich series already launched in 2025: an online peer review meeting held in October 2025 untitled “From awareness to trust: strategic communication and engagement models for Industry 5.0”, followed by an in-person peer review meeting organised in Naples in December 2025 on “Fostering ecosystems readiness: local activation and cluster-led innovation”. The peer review meetings aim to promote inter-cluster cooperation within and across ecosystems, to explore insights, exchange experiences and jointly identify challenges and good practices. A key objective is also to co-develop evidence-based policy recommendations to better support Industry 5.0 implementation at regional, national and European levels.
For the curious: more about the BRIDGESMEs project
BRIDGESMEs is a Horizon Europe-funded project that aims to foster the creation of strategic partnerships between manufacturing enterprises and tech-savvy companies. By supporting businesses in rethinking their business models and operations, the project contributes to greater resilience, enhanced sustainability and a stronger human-centric approach to industrial transformation. Together with SMEs, BRIDGESMEs strengthens innovation ecosystems and unlocks new opportunities towards Industry 5.0.
For more information, visit the project website: https://bridgesmes.eu.