View the full list of the INSME Members
 See the eligibility criteria to join INSME
 Apply for membership in the INSME Network

On November 11th Ms. Silvia Grandi (Head of the INSME Pilot Projects), and Ms. Valentina Milazzo (Member of the INSME Secretariat) met, in London, with a representative of the UK Science Park Association, Mrs. Roz Bird, and a representative of the UK Government's SBS (Small Business Service), Mrs. Karen Wilshaw, INSME Observer.

These meetings provided an opportunity to share INSME's prospects and to discuss possible synergies with these British bodies.

Further meetings in early 2004 have been planned with SBS and Ms. Philippa Ryan from the Midland Development Agency has also been appointed as a contact point for the UK within the INSME Steering Group.

Proceeding can be found at:
 http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/events/

Mr. Mariano G. Cordone, Deputy Head of the INSME Secretariat, made a presentation of INSME at the First Preparatory Seminar: "Supporting the Development of SMEs" for the Twelfth OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), Economic Forum on New Challenges for Building up Institutional and Human Capacity for Economic Development and Co-operation, held in Yerevan, Armenia on the 17th and 18th of November, 2003.

Mr. Cordone gave his speech in the Working Group on Existing International Guidelines and Practises, where discussion and conclusions were made regarding:

• the role of SMEs in the social stability of nations;
• the assistance that INSME can provide to ease the pressures of internationalisation and the integration of market economies (EU and NAFTA);
• the importance of assistance programmes;
• the policy approaches to SMEs;
• the challenge in responding to the needs of SMEs.

On this occasion, OSCE officials voiced their intention to disseminate information on resources and assistance available through the EU, OECD and particularly INSME.

Further contacts in this regard took place in Vienna at the OECD headquarters on November 24th when Ms. Marzetti, Head of the INSME Secretariat, met with OSCE officials from the Office Economic and Environmental Activities.

View the agenda of the meeting:
 ../file-e-allegati/newsletter_documents/OSCE_agenda.pdf

A contribution from a Member of the INSME Steering Group: Dr. Ray Smilor, President of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED) and Member of the Thematic Working Group on Financing, on FED's collaborative role with INSME.

Our relationship with INSME is very timely and strategic, especially given our work with high-potential entrepreneurs around the world, many of whom are from technology and innovation sectors.  I feel that our most valuable contributions in partnering with INSME in its efforts to build a global SME network are in the following two categories:

1. Experience
   FED maintains high-quality staff and consultants that bring significant expertise related to the areas of technology transfer and innovation.  Numerous books and publications have been generated by the staff in areas such as business incubation, university technology transfer and commercialization, privatization, association development as well as leadership for entrepreneurs of growth companies.
   
   We have been active in over twenty countries, working on a broad range of development issues.
   Most recently, we established the US Russia Center for Entrepreneurship in Moscow, dedicated to serving growth and high-potential entrepreneurs.
   FED helps these entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level by offering:


• Advanced, custom training modules
• International entrepreneur matching programs
• High-level policy advocacy
• Research, publications and local partnerships


2. International Networking and Exchanges
   FED specializes in assisting growth entrepreneurs in a number of areas.  Of particular interest to INSME membership and observers is our international networking and exchange activities. We have conducted over 25 of these exchanges in the past decade.
   
   FED maintains a very close relationship with leading business incubators, technology centers, venture capitalists and high-technology companies in the United States.
   We leverage this network to offer international clients the opportunity to participate in structured exchange programs, typically one to two weeks in length, which offer the following benefits and opportunities:


• Knowledge sharing and transfer between hosts and participants
• Business development/export growth
• Partnerships and joint ventures
• Links to targeted funding sources
• Advanced training modules on custom topics

Further, FED was established in 1986 by the founder of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a US$6B, 40,000 employee high-technology company.  Through this relationship, we have close contacts with technology and innovation developments and opportunities covering such industries as aerospace, health, IT, defense, energy and the environment.

We are honored to be involved with INSME from its inception.  We look forward to serving the organization and assisting in its growth and development in every way possible. 

Dr. Raymond Smilor
President of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED)

The conference provided an opportunity for a meeting between Mr. Sisti and Mr. Ernst Max Nielsen, of Proton Europe's Secretariat. They discussed potential partnerships between INSME and ProTon Europe.

As a result of this meeting the INSME Secretariat is considering the possibility of becoming a Member of ProTon Europe, so as to facilitate the creation of synergies between the two initiatives, focused on innovation and technology transfer.

The complementary objectives of INSME and ProTon include Proton Europe's objective to help its Members raise their performance through the exchange of knowledge and good practices, the dissemination of material, the organisation of training and other useful programmes.
 
This first meeting represents the first step to further contacts that will be scheduled for next year, in order to better define potential areas of partnership.

A member of Proton had also attended the last INSME meeting in Milan in July 2003 and had made a presentation of the initiative.

The Pilot Session and first meeting of the INSME Think Tank of experts will take place in Rome, at IPI's Headquarters between the 10th and 12th of December, 2003.

Following a call for application, seven international experts from around the world, selected from the INSME Think Tank database, have been invited to participate in this first meeting. Two representatives of SIT-Systematic Inventive Thinking (an Israeli company which has developed a method for enhancing innovation and creativity across organisations) will act as the moderators of this pilot session. The aim of this meeting is to brainstorm about INSME and its potential portfolio of services and clients.

The results achieved during the session will be made available to the INSME Members through the INSME portal Members Area.

The first INSME Thematic Working Group, chaired by IKED (International Organisation for Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development) and launched last October, has succeeded in gathering 10 INSME Members among International Organisations, government bodies and intermediaries.

Besides IKED, based in Sweden, the group consists of the Association of Regional Development Agencies in Europe (EURADA), the Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO, India), the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME, India), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, the Federation for Enterprise Development (FED, US), Centro Sviluppo Spa (Italy), the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development and the INSME Secretariat.

The group is dedicated to innovation finance and venture capital. Issues covered by the group will include: financial shortages for SMEs, venture capital and innovation, public-private partnerships and how to strengthen venture industries. This e-discussion will take place once the dedicated "room" is ready on the INSME portal in early December.

On November 20th the Testing Phase of the Ask INSME Pilot Project, launched on the 20th of October, was closed.

Thanks to the brainstorming process activated within the Testing team, composed of 25 Members, it has been possible to identify the following set of subjects on which to launch the pilot implementation of Ask INSME service:

• Innovation Angels: transforming the technology transfer process from "on-demand" to "on-offer", enhancing the matchmaking between the demand for and supply of technology;
• Development of Industrial Cluster dynamics: ways and means to foster interoperability between SMEs in particular through the adoption of ICT;
• Innovative Methods for Innovation: analysing creativity techniques to breakthrough problems and approach radical innovation.

The INSME Secretariat is now pleased to launch a poll among the INSME Community in order to collect INSME Members' opinions about the above mentioned subjects. Opinions and suggestions are most welcome from interested actors and can be submitted to askinsme@ipi.it until January 30th 2004.

According to the Ask INSME Testing team proposal, the management of the service during the pilot implementation phase will be based on an informal network composed by organisations and experts partner of the project, each providing their own specific expertise, moderated by the Ask INSME Project Leader, Dr. Pier Francesco Cerritelli.

To be included in the network of project partners please submit a detailed CV to the INSME Secretariat, at cerritelli@ipi.it.

The pilot implementation phase of the service will start in February 2004, free of charge for INSME Members.

 For more info, please visit http://www.insme.org

The research study demonstrates that Science Parks give a significant contribution to the UK's economic infrastructure.
The physical accommodation they provide is valued by tenants and the commercial performance of the companies based on Science Parks is better than similar firms located elsewhere.
 
For further information on this report and on how to order it, please visit the UKSPA website:
 http://www.ukspa.org.uk/

• The singularity of entrepreneurship as a research domain
  
• Incubators: a review of the literature


• Financing innovation in SMEs: evaluation of the UK Smart Scheme

For futher information:
 http://www.efmd.be/freeresources/Arpent/arpent.htm

1. to become internationally competitive academic multidisciplinary Centres of Excellence by actively involving a number of companies in joint research;
2. to promote the implementation of new technology and to strengthen the technical competence in Swedish industry.

In this study, these goals are compared to those of some competence centres located abroad.

Other topics are: "Competence centres in theory and policy", "Approaches to evaluation", "Two competence centres in practice", "Effects of the Competence Centres", "Implications for evaluation and impact assessment".

For further information visit:
 http://www.rqsi.ulaval.ca/ang/list.php?idr=108170

This event, which is included in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Industrial Cooperation process, will focus on a fundamental issue for enterprises' competitiveness: the protection of industrial property as a tool to guarantee the quality of productions and the attraction of foreign investments. These issues are now very important to give new impetus to counterfeiting, in order to face unfair competition of some countries.
Senior government officials of the ministries involved and representatives of enterprises of Algeria, Palestinian National Authority, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey will take part in the workshop.
The main experts on IP, at national and international level, will also attend and the main success stories of the Italian enterprises will be presented.
The workshop will open with the welcome speech of the local authorities and of the business associations and will end with the intervention of Hon. Mario Valducci, Italian Undersecretary of Productive Activities.
The Forum is an occasion to outline the current scenario and the most recent trends on IP and counterfeiting, as well as to meet the needs of the enterprises in this field.
For further information please contact forumprato@ipi.it

Italian-Egyptian Investment Forum
Under the auspicies of Dr. Alef Ebeid, Prime Minister.
Jointly organised by GAFI (General Authority for Investment and Free Zones) and UNIDO IIPU (UNIDO Italian Investment Promotion Unit). The Forum will take place within the celebration of the "Italy-Egypt Year".
To be attended by Mr. E. Alfano, Member of the INSME Secretariat
Cairo, Egypt
15-16 December 2003

Virtual Opportunity Congress III
"Virtual Global Society - Integration Versus Disintegration. Social and Commercial Risks and Opportunities"
Sydney, Australia
16-17 December 2003