30 November-1 December 2006 IPI headquarters, Rome, Italy

All presentations are available at:
 http://www.insme.org/

Would you like to partner with the INSME Association in organising a training programme in 2007? Check out the benefits at: 
 http://www.insme.org/

Contact the INSME Secretariat for further information and to present your candidature: 
 secretariat@insme.it

D'Appolonia, an Italian engineering consulting company specialising in innovation management, is the project coordinator of INNO-vention, an initiative co-funded by the European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry to set-up a collaborative transnational technology transfer (TTT) service with the ultimate goal to trigger cross-sectorial networking of stakeholders in Europe and the world.

Three different sectors have been selected to test the INNO-vention methodology: aerospace, automotive, textile. SMEs will be systematically involved. Sectoral clusters and regional specifications will be integrated in the approach.
 
For details on expected results and planned activities, please refer to: 
 http://www.inno-vention.com/index.php?special=changearea&newArea=2

For further information, please contact D'Appolonia:
Mr. Guido Chiappa (D'Appolonia Area Manager)
 guido.chiappa@dappolonia.it

Meta Group (Italy, INSME Full Member) is involved in the newly launched EASY Programme (Early Stage Investors Action for Growth and Innovating Business), a European Commission backed initiative aimed at activating European business angels in trans-national investment activities.


The programme  aims at increasing awareness of the importance of European early stage financing for developing, globally born, knowledge intensive companies. EASY is targeted at Business Angels Network and Seed funds and is very practically oriented. Activities include transnational investment events, improving companies' investment readiness, developing quality standards for the profession and promoting a white paper on European tax environment.

The EASY programme involves 17 partner organisations in 10 EU Member States and has a budget of 5.2 M�.

For further information, please contact Meta Group:
Ms. Alessia Melasecche
 a.melasecche@meta-group.com

 http://www.eureka.be/venturecapital/

This new service of the EUREKA Network (Europe-wide Network for Market-Oriented R&D and Innovation) is dedicated to research-performing SMEs seeking advice and assistance on private funding, as well as to potential investors wanting to find out more about the appeal of the EUREKA Initiative and its SMEs, with examples of successful projects which have received venture capital funding.

For further information, contact pierre.collowald@es.eureka.be.

Italy currently holds the chairmanship of EUREKA. A dedicated website of the Italian chairmanship is available at www.eureka-chair.it

The objective of the MOVARE project is to improve the conditions for the valorisation of research results within the four partner regions of Karlsruhe (Germany), Milan (Italy), Franche-Comté (France) and south Great Plains (Hungary) in order to foster investment in research.

The project activities will mainly focus on the exchange of experiences and recommendations for policies (technology transfer, patents and licenses, entrepreneurship, public private partnership, international cooperation, links with other policies).

For details on planned activities, please refer to:
 http://www.inno-group.com/index.php/kb_1/io_548/io.html

For further information also visit the "Innovating Regions in Europe" (IRE Network) website. 

MOVARE is funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), "Regions of Knowledge II" project.

Less barriers, an improved support system and closer links among the innovation stakeholders resulting in more and better innovation.

This is the ambitious value statement of the European Innovation Dialogue, a neutral and independent initiative whose aim is to collect the interests and concerns of the innovation community at large (including large as well as small and medium sized companies, research organisations, technology associations, intermediaries) and channelling them in the EU policy debate.

EID has been operating as a consensus-based open structure for a few years and is preparing to become a permanent platform in the second half of 2007.

To learn more about this initiative, please visit:
 http://www.innovationdialogue.eu

This is the 20-point 'action plan' adopted at the Europe INNOVA conference in Valencia (Spain) on November 26-28, 2006, highlighting innovation stakeholders' policy priorities for Europe, especially for young innovative businesses.

More specifically, the declaration calls on the European Commission to establish a pan-European innovation platform for start-ups in knowledge-intensive services, to better link universities, incubators and the financing community in order to effectively support young innovative SMEs in the service sector. Other points include the call for the establishment of a European Institute of Technology (EIT), greater protection of intellectual property and removing obstacles to researchers' and engineers' mobility, both between sectors and countries.

Read the full text of the Valencia Declaration:
 http://www.europe-innova.org/servlet/Doc?cid=6499&lg=EN

Issuer: European Commission, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General

Object: create a single network providing SMEs with integrated services in support of business, innovation and technology transfer, building on the strengths and achievements of the current Euro Info Centres (EIC) and Innovation Relay Centres (IRC) Networks.

Estimated budget: 320 million euro for the period 2008-2013. The European Commission will provide a co-financing of up to 60% of eligible costs.

Final date for proposals' submission: 2 April 2007, 14H00 (Brussels time). Information day: January 12, Brussels.

For details on contractual requirements, content of proposals, eligibility and proposals' submission, please refer to:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/funding/grants/themes_2006/calls_prop_2006.htm

On November 30th, the European Parliament gave the go-ahead for the 7th Framework Research Programme (FP7), the EU's main instrument for funding scientific research and hence boosting competition, innovation and growth. The European Commission expects to launch its first FP7 calls for proposals on 22 December.

Stay tuned with the FP7 website. The first calls will be published at:
 http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/calls_en.html

FP7 will have a budget of more than �54 billions for the period 2007-2013.

A comprehensive review of key trends in science, technology and innovation policy, and of recent policy developments in OECD countries.

The report delves into specific topics that are high on the agenda of innovation policy makers, including the role of intellectual property rights and technology licensing markets in innovation performance, policies to enhance benefits of the globalisation of business R&D, human resources for science and technology, and the evaluation of innovation policy. Key developments in a number of important non-OECD economies, including China, Russia and South Africa, are also included.

A brochure presenting the highlights and main findings is available for free download at: 
 http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/19/37685541.pdf

The full version is accessible at the OECD online library:
 http://www.sourceoecd.org/

EVCA, the European Venture Capital Association, has recently released the third "Benchmarking European Tax and Legal Environments" enabling comparisons to be drawn between tax and legal environments across 25 European countries, to the extent that they affect the development of private equity and venture capital and encourage entrepreneurial activity.


Among key findings: Ireland, France and the United Kingdom rank as the countries with the most favourable environment for the development of the private equity and venture capital industry; Norway, Sweden and Germany rank below average since the first survey in 2003; new EU countries and accession countries tend to be below the European average, but are making good progress.

Download the report at:
 http://www.evca.com/images/attachments/tmpl_8_art_215_att_1051.pdf

This guide is particularly useful for researchers and research managers interested in obtaining funding from the Seventh Framework Programme.

It will help them in preparing and submitting a proposal that can maximise their chances of success and in carrying out - once a contract has been established with the EU Commission - complex matters such as project management, administrative, legal and regulatory aspects.

For further information on this guide, read the following reviews:
 EARMA Newsletter (European Association of Research Mangers and Administrators)
 http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/353/62/

or contact its author:
Mr. Henk van Ekelenburg 
 info@eurebooks.eu
tel. +31 74 2551161

9-12 January 2007
ISPIM-Asia 2007 Conference - "Innovation and Knowledge Management of Social and Economic Issues: International Perspective"
Organised by ISPIM (International Society for Professional Innovation Management, INSME Member) in collaboration with Singapore Management University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India.
New Delhi, India

10-11 January 2007
FUTEX - European Innovative Textiles Convention
Organised by Clubtex (Association for the promotion of techno-textile enterprises) in partnership with the city of Marcq-en-Baroeul.
Lille, France

18-19 January 2007
International Cluster Conference - "Patterns of Clusters Evolution"
Organised by Veneto Innovazione (Regional Innovation Agency) in the framework of Veneto Net Goal 2006 (co-financed by the European Commission through the ERDF Innovative Actions Programme).
Venice, Italy

22 January 2007
"Possible Scenarios and Investmnet Opportunities in Latin America"
Organised by the Economic and Legal Observatory on Latin America, an initiative of the European Mexican Investment (Italy).
Milan, Italy

23-27 January 2007
International Dialogue on Science and Practice in Sustainable Development: "Linking Knowledge with Action"
Organised under the auspices of the Initiative of Science and Technology for Sustainability (ISTS) and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).
Chiang Mai, Thailand
 
23-24 January 2007
Training Programme on "Knowing and Managing Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Tunisia and the European Union" - Third Module
Organised in the framework of the STREN Project (Scientific and Technological Results Exchange) funded under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme.
Tunis, Tunisia

28-30 January 2007
"Trading Ideas - The Future of IP in Asia Pacific"
This symposium will be hosted by the Australian Government in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum. It will explore the themes of IP challenges and the emerging global IP environment.
Sydney, Australia 
 
30-31 January 2007
20th Annual European Finance Convention - "South Eastern Europe and Western Balkan's Financial Services & Banking on Road to Integration"
Organised by the European Finance Convention (INSME Member).
Athens, Greece

30-31 January 2007
3rd Global Congress - "Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy"
Organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Interpol and the World Customs Organization (WCO), in cooperation with several other organisations.
Geneva, Switzerland

01-02 February 2007
UKSPA Conference 2007 - "Maximising the Value of the Global Knowledge-Base, Are We Doing Enough?"
The Annual Conference of the United Kingdom Science Park Association (UKSPA). This conference will focus on technology-transfer, SME internationalisation, science parks' development.
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

11-14 February 2007
8th International Research Conference on Quality, Innovation and Knowledge Management
Organised by the Monash University in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology and Institute of Management Technology.
New Delhi, India

15-18 February 2007
InnovAction Fair 2007 - "Knowledge, Ideas and Innovation"
The second international fair on innovation for global competitiveness, jointly organized by Udine Fiere and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.
Udine, Italy

21-24 February 2007
Global SMEs Expo & Summit 2007
Organised by the India International Trade Centre and the Small & Medium Business Development Centre of India.
Mumbai, India

28 February - 02 March 2007
IPTEC 2007 - "Business Development Through Technology Transfer"
International conference and marketplace focused on business creation and technology transfer.
Cannes, France