Innovation and technology are recognised as a major driver for competitiveness and for long-run endogenous economic growth. However, most of Mediterranean regions are characterised by a high prevalence of micro enterprises, with difficulties to acquire the necessary skills to innovate and grow. MED-QUAD will address this challenge through the cooperation among universities in 6 countries. The project aims to nurture the innovation potential of the regions, by building up a cross- border cooperation scheme of the Quadruple Innovation Helix. The main actors are the universities which will improve their capacity to be and act as &ldquocivic universities&rdquo in cooperation with the cities to which they belong as &ldquoanchor&rdquo Institutions together with the socio-economic stakeholders and the citizens. Two cross-border Living Labs will be established in the cities, where several pilot activities for technological transfer and commercialisation of research results will be implemented. They will exploit ICT technologies and Key Enabling Technologies for water use optimization, consumption and reduction (Smart Water Use Applications - SWUAP), as well as cultural heritage promotion and preservation (Applied Research for Cultural Heritage Exploitation - ARCHEO). The project will set up a toolkit for enhancing the institutional capacities of businesses, cities and universities of both shores of the Mediterranean to work together and reinforce their role as &ldquocatalysts&rdquo for fair and inclusive development. 
 To create the conditions - through the establishment of Mediterranean Cross-border Living Labs - for an effective interaction between the main innovation players of the Quadruple Helix: Academia, Industry, Civil Society and Governments in the digital economy
The involved countries share common specific needs and constraints, such as the high youth unemployment rate, the low participation of women in the workforce or low public investment in R&D. MED-QUAD will address these challenges by creating the right environment where universities, SMEs, and governments cooperate and promote together innovation of processes and products. The Quadruple Helix approach will be applied to the planned cross-border Living Labs focused on 2 crucial issues: Tourism and Water. Universities will establish Innovation Transfer Offices, and policy-makers will acquire competences for creating entrepreneurship ecosystems where new firms find the right support. In the short term, at least 5 cross border spin-offs and at least 5 existing SMEs will create new jobs for qualified young people.
Measuring innovation is a major step towards evidence-based policy-making. It needs metrics that shows how innovation is, or could be, linked to policy and the country innovation ecosystem. MED-QUAD, by developing the Quadruple Helix approach, will provide policy-makers and public authorities with guidelines containing a roadmap for innovation listing the fundamental principles and indicators on which funds should be allocated. This is particularly important since some partner countries, despite having set up several policy initiatives in recent years targeted toward the entrepreneurship ecosystem, have obtained low scores in the pillar 12 of the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI).