Maltese company Icon is part of a consortium developing an EU-funded tool that will help SMEs improve the efficiency of their social media actions.

The project began last September and will last for 24 months. The €1.1 million Optimizr project will combine information technology, social media data and modelling capabilities to predict outcomes for particular social media marketing initiatives.

This will lead to a better understanding of social networks and their impact on information diffusion.

Icon was selected for its expertise within this niche area of technology, and will be involved with the user interface development, user experience and functional specifications. As the tool nears completion, Icon will also be responsible for quality assurance and testing while assisting with market strategies to bring the tool to the end user.

“We are proud to be part of this project which allows us to strengthen Icon’s own innovation capacity. It has allowed us to amplify our research initiatives thus bringing the gap between research and innovation,” Ian Castillo, director of Icon and project-coordinator, said.

Optimizr received €1.1 million from the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme.

The other partners within the Optimizr consortium are from Hungary, Italy and Spain.