Quality certified by European Business Network (EBN)

One of the hallmarks of CEEIARAGON is the EU|BIC mark, awarded by the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN), which certifies compliance by BICs with certain quality standards in the services they offer and in their own operating and management model.

This mark represents the only officially recognised international standard model of innovation based on incubation and acceleration.

The award of the mark is associated with the achievement of optimal results in relation to the promotion of private sector R&D&I, innovative entrepreneurship and the competitive improvement of SMEs in the respective fields of action.

The EU|BIC mark indicates that the certified BIC is seriously committed by making its resources available and providing services to innovative entrepreneurs and/or established SMEs with needs to incorporate innovation in their processes and/or products.

The European Court of Auditors also endorses the important role of BICs/EICs in its special report on the contribution of ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funds to the development of incubators in 2014, describing BICs as "incubators of reference".

The European Commission, to whom we owe the origin of this figure from the implementation of programmes that promoted its creation in different territories of the European Union in the 1980s, has valued in successive monitoring reports, the role of BICs/EICs in the service of any policy in favour of SMEs in different contexts, developing at local, regional and national or European level the capacity building of these companies.

The European Commission highlights this role of EICs/BIECs among its achievements. The extension of these centres to all regions of Europe serves as a catalyst for initiatives to exploit research results, business creation by researchers and, in a broader sense, academic dissemination.