The next INSME Annual Meeting, to be held in Rome on July 13, will see the participation of about 50 INSME Members delegates from several geographic regions. The agenda will focus on the following main themes:

• Proposal for the set up of an INSME Project Development Unit to carry out activities and projects;
• Election of the new INSME Board for the mandate mid-2007-2009.

Documentation about the meeting is available for INSME Members only on the INSME intranet:
 http://www.insme.org/

For information and registration, INSME Members please contact:
 secretariat@insme.it

The AL-INVEST III programme, one of the most successful initiatives of the European Union launched in 2003 to support SMEs and entrepreneurship in Latin America, will be prolonged until June 2008. During this period the analysis of all the projects presented to the European Commission will be carried out. The last AL-INVEST Consortium meeting has taken place in Lubjana (Slovenia) on June 27-28.

For further information, please visit:
 http://www.al-invest3.org

You can also contact ABCnet (INSME Member), that is part of the AL-INVEST network of European organisations supporting industrial co-operation and investment promotion in Latin America (COOPECO).

Read the last issue of the AL-INVEST Newsletter:
 English version                                    Spanish version

 

The Agreement on a Development Agenda for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on June 15, 2007, was the culmination of three years of negotiation during which Member States considered how to further mainstream the development dimension into all areas of WIPO activity. A set of 45 proposals was agreed upon on what was referred to as a major breakthrough and a milestone in the history of the Organization. Agreed proposals related to international norm-setting activities of the Organization, technical assistance, technology transfer and access to knowledge, assessments and evaluation of impact of the intellectual property system and institutional matters.

According to Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO, "This process and the spirit of compromise and mutual understanding in which it took place, is an important contribution to international efforts to promote the development of a balanced intellectual property system that is responsive to the needs and interests of all countries - developed and developing alike."

Read more at:
 http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2007/article_0037.html
 http://www.wipo.int/ip-development/en/agenda.html

The Walloon Region launches a new initiative to promote entrepreneurship culture among students. Find out how the Agency for Economic Stimulation (ASE) and the Foundation for Research and Education in Entrepreneurship (FREE) intend to promote entrepreneurship in education:
 "Entrepreneurship has its ambassadors in Wallonia"

Source: Walloon Business House for Europe, INSME Member

 

The Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), established in 2003, represents a real novelty in the Italian Innovation System. For the first time in its scientific tradition, with IIT Italy aims at carrying out technology-driven research, with a view to leading to something futuristic of great prospects and able to create knowledge in the long run, but the same time, bringing results and provide solutions to problems in industriatl and social fields in the short term.

In this interview, Mr. Roberto Cingolani, who coordinates the implementation of scientific programmes at IIT with enthousiasm, energy and passion, explains what is needed to make this vision a reality.

Read INSME interview with Mr. Cingolani at:
http://www.insme.org/

The last OECD Global Conference on Enhancing the Role of SMEs in Global Value Chains held from 31st of May to 1st of June in Tokyo had as a main outcome the adoption of an Action Statement which analyses how globalisation of value chains affects the role of SMEs as traditional partners, suppliers or distributors for large and multinational firms and recommends policy actions to support SMEs in becoming successful partners in global value chains.
 
 Download the Tokyo Action Statement
 
Visit the OECD Tokyo Conference website:
 http://www.the-convention.co.jp/tokyo-conference/

Additional insights on the theme of value chains to be found this report, that brings together OECD data on the globalisation of value chains, including the rise of outsourcing/offshoring:
 "Staying Competitive in the Global Economy. Moving Up the Value Chain"

On June 5, 2007, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement aimed at creating an instrument for facilitating access to finance for research and innovation. This new instrument, Risk-Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), will target mostly medium and large innovative companies and large scale research undertakings such as European or national Research Infrastructures. However, RSFF will also be open to private and public entities of any size and ownership promoting eligible RDI activities (Research, Technological Development & Demonstration and Innovation activities), including SMEs, research organisations & Public-Private Partnerships.

For more information on RSFF see also:
 http://www.eib.org/publications/risk-sharing-finance-facility-rsff.htm

In a recent report entitled Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage, the Canadian Government sets out a comprehensive, multi-year science and technology agenda and a wide range of specific policy commitments aimed at improving Canada's competitiveness and productivity through innovation.

In another report entitled Manufacturing: Moving Forward - Rising to the Challenge attention is focussed on themes like Intellectual Property Rights protection, research, development and commercialization policies, analyzing the impact that they are having on the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

During the 16th EU-Japan Summit, which took place in Berlin in early June, the agenda included themes like political and economic aspects of the EU and Japan relationships, the WTO, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), research and innovation. On this occasion, it was decided to continue to reinforce the protection of IPRs in Asia for the benefit of SMEs and to develop a network to exchange information on geographical indications.

For further information:
 http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/
 Newsletter of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, June 2007

Consortia of associations, federations, trade associations from at least 3 different European CORNET countries or regions are entitled to participate. Any industrial sector or research subject is eligible.

Participating countries/regions: Austria, Flanders (Belgium), Walloon Region (Belgium), Cyprus, Greece, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Valencia (Spain), Turkey.

Closing date: November 30, 2007
Projects should have a maximum duration of 2 years.

Download the CORNET guidelines of the 4th call.

Within the new European  Programme named EUROSTARS a fist call is likely to be launched in early Autumn 2007 with a first application cut-off date on December 2007. The Programme, to be managed by the EUREKA Secretariat and co-financed by 26 European countries,  is dedicated to support research and development performing SMEs, by easing funding for their researches and activities.


For further information, please visit the website:
http://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/tiles/main.html

Made In the Arab world" (MIA) is a local competition led in several Arab countries launched by the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) in collaboration with the University of Florida. It aims to bridge the gap between university researchers, professionals and business community towards a better impact on the social and economic development of the Arab countries.

Finals to be held in Egypt, November 3rd - 4th, 2007.

For further information, please visit the ASTF website:
http://www.astf.net/site/zone/zone.asp?ogzid=10224

Under the Global Information and Communication Technologies Department of the The World Bank Group, the infoDev initiative, launched some years ago, is currently running a global network of incubators focused on promotion of innovation, entrepreneurship and ICT. It will be working primarily with the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, but also on the global level.

For further information, read the following publications:
 Business Incubator Initiative Presentation
 Business Incubator Initiative - April 2007
 "Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Growth. Scaling Up ICT-Enabled Private Sector Development"

Since its establishment in 1992, the BSEC Business Council aims at fostering greater integration into the global economy of the business communities in the 12 Black Sea region Member States. The portal is the gateway into the Black Sea Region business and investment opportunities. It is available in 12 languages at:
 http://www.bsec-business.org/default.asp

For more info:
 info@bsec-business.org

Turkey has undertaken the Chairmanship of BSEC for 6 months between May-October 2007. In order to keep up to date with the economic development of the Black Sea Region, read the latest issue of BSEC newsletter:
 http://www.bsec-organization.org/admin/BSNewsJune2007No15.pdf

Visit also the Black Sea Business Information Network website:
 http://www.bsbin.com/

It is the Business Information Exchange System of the 12 BSEC member countries developed in order to gather and disseminate business information world-wide and to promote the interests of the businesspeople from the BSEC countries, mainly of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

Find out  in which way private enterprise development can help economic growth and poverty reduction in poor countries. Recently presented at the last OECD Conference in Tokyo in June, this book includes  several case studies to provide concrete examples from Africa, Asia and elsewhere that show how Private Sector Development (PSD) has emerged as an increasingly important element in the economic growth of developing and emerging economies.

Read more and how to obtain this publication from the OECD Online Bookshop:
 http://www.oecd.org/document/32/0,2340,en_2649_33949_38639328_1_1_1_1,00.html

On May 30, 2007, the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) issued its the Six-Year Report to celebrate its seventh anniversary since its establishment in April 2000. The Report, available in Arabic and English, describes the main accomplishments of the ASTF and the activities undertaken according to its mission. 

Download the Report:
 First part               Second part

� JULY 2007

2-4 July 2007
IASP World Conference on Science & Technology Parks - "Creative Jobs & Creative Companies: Key Factors for Growth and Competitiveness"
Organized by IASP (International Association of Science Parks).
Barcelona, Spain

4-6 July 2007
The R&D Management Conference 2007
Organised by Universit�t Bremen. The conference will aim to comprehensively explore and address R&D Management and it welcomes papers from across the spectrum in order to achieve this objective.
Bremen, Germany

09-10 July 2007
"Growing Business with IP"
Organised by the European Patent Academy and SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Milan, Italy

9-10 July 2007
The 4th SMEs in a Global Economy Conference 2007
Shah Alam, Malaysia

11-14 July 2007
International Conference on Perspectives on Technological Entrepreneurship
Organised by the E-Business Management Section of the Institution of Higher Education ISUFI - University of Lecce.
Ostuni, Italy

22-24 July 2007
The 4th ASIALICS International Conference on "Making Innovation Work for Society: Experiences from Asia"
Jointly organised by the University of Malaya and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

� SEPTEMBER 2007

3-6 September 2007
5th MENAinc Workshop on Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Middle East and Northern Africa
Organized by infoDev Incubator Initiative in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Hosted by the Bahrain Business Incubation Center (BBIC).
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

7-11 September 2007
The 8th Annual CINet Conference on "Continuous Innovation - Opportunities and Challenges" 
Organised by the Continuous Innovation Network (CINet), a global network set up to bring together researchers and industrialists working in the field of Continuous Innovation.
Gothenburg, Sweden

13-15 September 2007
BALTIC DINAMICS 2007 - The 12th Annual Conference of the Business Incubation Associations of the Baltic States: "International Partnership for Innovation: Opportunities and Challenges" 
Organised by the Latvia Technological Center.
Riga, Latvia

16-19 September 2007
The 13th European Congress on Biotechnology: "Symbiosis: Science, Industry and Society"
Organised by the European Federation of Biotechnology.
Barcelona, Spain

17-21 September 2007
17th National Seminar on Science Parks and Company Incubators & 15th Anprotec Workshop
Organised by ANPROTEC (Brazilian Association of Technology Parks and Incubators) in partnership with SEBRAE (Brazilian Support Service for Small and Medium-Sized Companies).
Belo Horizonte, Brazil

20-21 September 2007
13th Annual Cambridge Technology Management Symposium - "Successful Innovation In An Uncertain World: Recognizing And Exploring Opportunities"
Organised by the University of Cambridge Centre for Technology Management, this annual two day Symposium is a firm fixture for those at the forefront of new ideas and practical application in the field.
Cambridge, United Kingdom

20-21 September 2007
2nd Annual Conference of the EPIP Association on Intellectual Property Rights
Organised by the European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) Consortium and hosted by the Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE) at Lund University.
Lund, Sweden

26-28 September 2007
EuroBio 2007
The main aspects of this event - conferences, a trade exhibition, a business convention and a recruitment drive- bring together partners from the worlds of Research, Industry and Finance.
Lille, France