In February of 2016, Cork Chamber was approved as a partner on the Interreg RATIO project, which sees 9 partner organisations from 8 countries coming together as project partners to address the Europe 2020 objectives, specifically focusing on the enabling and promotion of research development and innovation in rural areas. The RATIO acronym which stands for Regional Actions To Innovate Operational Programmes will aim to strengthen innovation systems, reinforce networks and increase SME participation in RDI. The kick off meeting which involved all project partners took place on May 31^st in Zaragoza, Spain, where two representatives from Cork Chamber, a representative from Cork Innovates and a representative from South Cork Local Enterprise Office attended presenting on the Cork region. This is a four year project and there will be updates on the project status and outputs throughout.