Welcome to issue No. 2 of INSMEnews, the monthly Newsletter edited by the INSME Secretariat.

The INSME web portal was restyled in the end of May 2003 and is continously updated to provide you with free news, databases and information related to Policy Makers, Intermediaries, their Networks and SMEs.

More than 200 pages are already online and are dedicated to innovation and technology transfer related issues, including a guide on the main international events, conferences and seminars and an observatory and e-library focused on financing sources, good practices and policies at international, regional and national level for innovation and technology transfer. We invite you to visit our database section including over 300 innovation Networks and intermediaries grouped according to their typology and their geographical coverage.

The INSME portal is still under construction and a more powerful search engine will be implemented by late July 2003 in order to facilitate the navigation of the portal directories and sections.
By the end of the year on-line partner search facilities and other added value services will also be available.

Over 40 participants including representatives from 11 Countries (Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and Turkey), 4 Organisations (IKED, OECD, UNIDO and WASME) and 2 Networks of intermediaries (R2ITH and SARETEK) will attend the first meeting of the INSME Promoting Committee.

The issues to be discussed at the meeting include:

We are pleased to inform you that since early 2003 the INSME Secretariat has been promoting and supporting the launch, at bilateral and multilateral level, of operational initiatives to encourage and develop networking and partnership activities among INSME Members in order to support transregional and transnational technology transfer.

If you are interested in proposing a project as an "INSME Pilot Project please feel free to contact us.

Ongoing activities are described below.

Thanks to the cooperation of some Countries connected to the INSME Process, a new project proposal, stimulated by the INSME Secretariat, has recently been presented within the Sixth EU Research and Technological Development Framework Programme (FP6), 2002-2006.

The project proposal presented, called FASHION NET, refers to networking activities aiming to foster innovation and technology transfer in the fashion system, meaning: the sector which includes textiles, apparel, shoes, leather and connected horizontal activities (design, supply chain, environment, etc.).

In particular, the project objectives include:

A contribution from Dr. Arun Agrawal, Secretary General of WASME-World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises and member of the INSME Steering Group, on cooperation between WASME and INSME.

WASME sees possible cooperation with INSME in two phases.

Initially in the role of identifying lead intermediaries in developing countries and linking them with INSME's network, disseminating INSMEs' planned programmes for SMEs through its widely circulated Newsmagazine, its Website and via its partnering agencies.
These will involve only small in-house manpower costs and marginal operating costs.

In the later stages, WASME could undertake major tasks and provide value added inputs to INSME on receiving suitable project based support.
These could include undertaking specific assignments involving studies, survey and analysis; conducting joint projects with INSME and intermediaries; organising training programmes and workshops; and acting as a hub in channelising information flow between INSME and its affiliated member agencies as well as cooperating institutions in developing countries.

(b) WASME's presence in 112 countries can be used in empowering the intermediaries, in the area of networking, acting as an information hub and even as a content provider.

(c) WASME can cooperate with INSME in all three phases of its evolution.

WASME is looking forward to play its role in enhancing the efficacy of the services which INSME in its new role as a legal entity is expected to provide in the years ahead to SMEs all over the world in the sphere of technology transfer and innovation.

Dr. Arun Agrawal
Secretary General of WASME

The results of the first WIPO Survey of Intellectual Property Services of European Technology Incubators has been made available on WIPO's SME website.

The survey reveals that the majority of surveyed incubators (60%) have staff responsible for Intellectual Property assistance and consider Intellectual Property ownership either very important or quite important at the time of selecting tenants for the incubator (57%).

While few incubators provide financial support for the application for Intellectual Property rights, 40% provide assistance in-kind.

OECD has planned a calendar of events in order to foster discussion between OECD and non-OECD economies on SMEs, entrepreneurship and related issues in order to prepare the second Ministerial Conference on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (Turkey, 3-5 June 2004).

The first preparatory workshop is to take place in Budapest, Hungary on September 8-10 2003 on Entrepreneurship in a Global Economy: Strategic Issues and Policies. It will be jointly organised by the OECD and the Ministry of Economy and Transport of Hungary.

The second prepatory workshop will take place in Paris at the OECD on September 17-19 and will be focused on "Improving Statistics on SMEs and Entrepreneurship". It is an event jointly organised by the OECD Statistics Directorate and the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI).

The INSME Secretariat has also taken part in and made a presentation of the INSME at the following events: