The essence of the approach advocated by SineQuaNet is to propose access to expertise and, if necessary, to technical facilities, for the limited duration needed by SMEs, on a fair and reasonable cost basis - itself a sine-qua-non for admission to the SineQuaNet network.

Looking to achieve a win-win-win situation

During and since Phase 1 (2005-2007) of the initiative, SineQuaNet continues to identify and establish where, how, how many - and at what cost - experts and facilities can be made accessible to SMEs.

Companies and organisations interested in proposing the use of their experts and measurement, test, and calibration facilities to the SineQuaNet network can do so by writing to the SME Policy Development Office.

The sources of experts and facilities may be from : SMEs themselves, from large companies, research organisations, and other networks, as well as from within ESA.

SMEs in search of access to these resources will be expected to cover the cost of the support received. In this way, SMEs requesting access will benefit by reducing financial risk over the long-term - as would be the case if they had to invest (or simply cannot afford to invest) in developing technical facilities or resources where return-on-investment (RoI) may be affected by exploitation falling far short of full use.

Conversely, sources of expertise and facilities stand to benefit by improving RoI on their sunk investments.

In this way, SineQuaNet strives to ensure a win-win situation for all stakeholders - whether they are providers or users of expertise or facilities - or more generally, with a vested interest in reinforcing and sustaining the competitivity of Europe's space industry.