Aiming to increase the R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship and digitalization capacities of the organized industrial zones and the companies within, the Manisa OIZ Innovation Center was established as a pilot project in the Manisa Industrial Park (IP). Accelerating within the scope of the Innovation Support Program, the center continues its activities with company-specific innovation projects.

The center, which started its activities in January 2021 with an analysis of the current situation and needs analysis in the region, presented a guideline study on strategy, roadmap and performance targets to the companies with the field study document called "Manisa OIZ Innovation Center Design and Establishment" that was created in the light of these studies. Following the planning of activities to be carried out by the MOSB Innovation Center with the business plan prepared on the basis of the said study, the center was structured according to these goals and a roadmap, thus the Innovation Support Program started as one of the most important programs of the center. In this context, the program aims to support the companies by creating project management, skill development, innovation, cooperation and coordination, dissemination and sustainability work packages in order to increase their innovation capacities.

After measuring and analysing the innovation management capacities of enterprises within the Innovation Program, innovation projects to be developed specifically for companies will be carried out under the coordination of MOSB Innovation Center. In this process, special mentors, consultants, and trainers will be allocated to each company for their projects. The iMAGE Innovation Management Capacity Evaluation Tool, designed specifically for this program, was prepared in line with ISO 5602 Innovation Management System standards. The answers to the “iMAGE Innovation Management Capacity Evaluation Questionnaire” filled out by the companies were calibrated due to the scores obtained after the interviews.

In the second phase of the project, which is the development phase, one-to-one meetings will be held in June and July 2021 to design projects jointly in accordance with the areas open to improvement revealed in company reports. After the projects are determined, contracts including the scope of the project, the activity plan, the mentor, consultant, trainer and working time, the project budget, the amount of co-financing and other issues will be signed, and the implementation phase of the projects will begin in September.

Manisa IP Innovation Center, which started its activities in January 2021, was established within the scope of the "Technology Development Project in OIZs" supported by the Presidency Strategy and Budget Directorate and carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).