Integration with international technology transfer networks has always been a strategic aim for RTTN.
In the first years of RTTN, the largest European technology transfer network was the Innovation Relay Centres (IRC) Network, but no integration was possible, due to the EU regulations. Hence, RTTN developed bilateral projects of R&D cooperation with individual countries.
The accumulated experience allowed, in 2007, initiating a project for entering the newly established Enterprise Europe Network, jointly with two other Russian networks. The EEN's format opened novel opportunities for RTTN.
Since 2008, RTTN, as a member of the Russian consortium, was providing the supporting services for European and Russian SMEs in the area of technology transfer and technical cooperation. The services were provided in compliance with the established methodology and standards of the Enterprise Europe Network.
Till end 2014, over 600 technology offers and requests from Russian companies were published in the EEN database; over 900 expressions of interest were received from European companies and over 360 generated from the Russian companies. This work resulted in achieving over 80 transnational partnerships, from which 34 Partnership Agreements were validated by EACI/EASME since 2008.
In 2013-14, the Russian Consortium, having achieved 40 recorded Partnership Agreements between Russian and European companies, took the 2nd place in the number of PAs among the "third (non-EU) countires".
RTTN contributed to the EEN methodological database by submitting three Good Practices, addressed, first of all, to the organizations from the "third countries", with account for their specificity. The guide "How to Effectively Network/Communicate in International R&D projects", developed with participation of RTTN experts was included into the Network library "Help your clients".
The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) expressed a wish that the RTTN's competences and experience would be further applied for the development of EU-RF cooperation in the business, technology and research areas.