GAINS was an EU-project collaboration between Anwendungszentrum Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), Center for Innovation and Technology Management (CeTIM Munich), DKE Aerospace Swiss GmbH (DKE), and Associazione ESOCE Net (ESoCE-Net). The objective of the GAINS project was the implementation of an “innovation highway” as a seamless process of coordinated Galileo downstream application innovation services, in the three main phases: idea recognition, product and services development, and new ventures creation. The heart of the project was a special Living Lab prize within the European Satellite Navigation Competition, looking for user driven suggestions for new businesses, responding to actual market needs. The thematic focus for this prize was on health, energy and media.

The main objective of the Galileo-EGNOS Prize Award Scheme “GEPAS” was to support more regions and businesses in the development of GNSS applications. This includes extending the overall prize pool that is offered to individual winners by participating regions and sponsors of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC). Through GEPAS, the European Commission supported European partner regions and sponsors of the ESNC in awarding prizes to their winners. GEPAS thus fosters the extension of the overall prize pool aiming to increase in the number and quality of ideas submitted as well as boosting the rate of successfully realised business ideas in terms of new products, services, or ventures pushing the commercialisation of GNSS applications in Europe.