Issue N 52 - February 2008
In this Issue:
News from the INSME Members
APEC SMEIC and INSME: 1st International Training Programme
INSME's Picks in the News
EU Cluster Conference in Stockholm
Small Business Act for Europe
Enterprise Europe Network kick off
Focus on...INSME Members
EBAN, European Business Angel Network
Tenders & Calls
1st ISPIM Symposium Call for Papers
EraSME 4th Transnational Call
FP7 Capacities Call for Proposals
Interesting Initiatives
BIAC-OECD portal to help remove barriers to SME internationalisation
The Central Europe Programme
INNOSME Project
Publications
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007
Compendium EBAN Statistics 2007
European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2007
Recommended Websites
lac-access.net
Recommended Newsletter
SME TechWeb Newsletter
Events
Highlighted Events
Future meetings, workshops, seminars selected by INSME
 
INSMEnews!
Contact the editorial staff
 
 

Keep up to date on innovation matters with the INSME Association!

INSMEnews is the free monthly newsletter edited by the INSME Secretariat to stay updated about the activities of the International Network for SMEs, its Members and Partners worldwide. Main issues related to SME innovation at international level are tackled as well.

Sponsors and Promoters to translate this newsletter into other languages are welcome among INSME Members and Third Parties.

Enjoy this latest edition and as always, send us comments and suggestions that can enrich and improve our ongoing work to support innovation intermediaries to the final benefit of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) and their competitiveness.


The INSME Secretariat


-------------------------------------------------------

Updates on the life of the INSME Network

INSME Annual Meeting 2008
"Encouraging SME Innovation and Growth: Increasing Capital Access through Public-Private Partnership"


The next INSME 2008 Annual Meeting will take place in Guangzhou (Canton), P.R. China, on July 2-4, 2008 and will be co-hosted by Administration Center of Innovation Fund for Technology-based SMEs (Torch High Technology Industry Development Center), Ministry of Science & Technology, the Chinese INSME Member, holding the INSME Vice-presidency since July 2007 and by the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province.

The INSME General Assembly will take place on July 2 and will be dedicated to INSME Members only. An international Conference open to INSME non Members will be organised on July 3. Site visits will take place on July 4.

Venue: China Marriott Hotel Guangzhou:
 http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/canmc-china-hotel-a-marriott-hotel-guangzhou/

For more information about the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport:
 http://www.baiyunairport.com/english/index.jsp

More details about this event will be available on the INSME website in the next weeks.

Participation in the Annual Meeting is free of charge for INSME Members only.

For further information, please contact:
 insme2008@insme.it

 

 

top of the page   

News from the INSME Members
   APEC SMEIC and INSME: 1st International Training Programme


26-27 June 2008
Innovation and Technology Transfer Services for SMEs: the Role of Intermediary Organisations"
Seoul, Korea

 
Organised by the SME Innovation Center (SMEIC) of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in collaboration with the INSME Association.

Venue: 203B ASEM Hall Meeting Room, COEX World Trade Center Samseong-dong, Seoul.

The training is addressed to intermediaries and their innovative SMEs. It is open to participants from the APEC economies and INSME Members. Participation is for free. The working language will be English with interpretation into Korean.

Details about registration will be soon available on the INSME portal.

 

top of the page
INSME's Picks in the News
   EU Cluster Conference in Stockholm

A European Presidency Conference on Innovation and Clusters was organised by the Swedish and the Slovenian government on 22-23 January 2008 in Stockholm under the Slovenian Presidency.


The conference emphasized the importance of concerted changes in policies, initiatives, and thinking at many different levels across Europe in order for cluster policy to be a real driver of European prosperity.

The Stockholm Conference also launched a European Cluster Memorandum supported by national and regional agencies for innovation and economic development. The Memorandum is addressed to policy makers at national and European levels to pave the way towards the establishment of a European Cluster Agenda in 2008. It is open for signature until July 2008.
 Download the European Cluster Memorandum

The European Presidency Conference on Innovation and Clusters was part of the activities undertaken under the European Cluster Alliance established in the framework of the PRO INNO Europe initiative.

Learn more about the conference at:
 http://www.proinno-europe.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=nwev.NewsReader&news=2040&lang=EN&topicID=90&parentID=0

Video files and ppt presentations are available at:
 http://www.vinnova.se/In-English/misc/Speciella_sidor/Innovation-and-Clusters/

 

   Small Business Act for Europe

The European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry has announced a proposal for a Small Business Act (SBA) for Europe, including new initiatives to reduce problems for SMEs, to help providing necessary financial/human resources for SME development and to facilitate small companies in facing the challenge of globalization and climate change.

The SBA, that is due for adoption in June 2008, should create the best conditions for micro- and small enterprises, and give a concrete answer to the different challenges that SMEs are facing along their life-cycle.

Download the Press Release:
 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/sba_en.htm

An online consultation has been launched for SMEs and SMEs' stakeholders. It targets their concerns and aims to collect contributions that will help to design the Small Business Act for Europe.

 UEAPME (European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) on the SBA proposal

 

   Enterprise Europe Network kick off

A new European business support network is born under the slogan "business support at your doorstep!".

Launched by the EC on February 7, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is dedicated to provide information and advice to EU companies on EU matters, in particular to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) develop their full potential and innovative capacity. EEN will combine the services provided so far by the Euro Info Centres (EIC) and the Innovation Relay Centres (IRC Network), according to the principle of the no wrong door.

The Secretariat of the EEN will be provided by the newly created European Executive Agency for competitiveness and innovation (EACI) to be operational in April.

Visit the EEN website:
 http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

Download the press release:
 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/192&type=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

 

top of the page
Focus on...INSME Members
   EBAN, European Business Angel Network

Established in Brussels since 1999, the European Business Angel Network (EBAN, INSME Member) aims at encouraging the exchange of experience and best practices among business angels networks, promoting recognition of business angels networks, contributing to working out and carrying out local, regional and national programs of support for the creation and development of a positive environment for business angels activities.

Visit the EBAN website:
 http://www.eban.org

Learn more about EBAN:
 EBAN Presentation [91 Kb]
 "Business Angels and Business Angels Networks in Europe" [635 Kb]

 

top of the page
Tenders & Calls
   1st ISPIM Symposium Call for Papers

Issuer: The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM, INSME Member).

Theme: "Managing Innovation in a Connected World" (Singapore, 15-17 December 2008).

This symposium, connecting players from different backgrounds and cultures, will provide excellent networking opportunities together with a taste of local culture and solutions for academics, businesses and consulting firms to understand the challenges faced in managing innovations in such a connected world.

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 30 June 2008.

Details on specific submission requirements and processes are available at:
 http://www.ispim.org/symposium/

 

   EraSME 4th Transnational Call

Under FP6 ERA-NET programme named EraSME, a 4th call for European trans-national projects has been open since January 11, 2008 with 10 participating EU Contries/Regions: Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The call is intended to increase cross border collaboration between SMEs and RTOs (Research and Technology Organisations) in all technological areas, enhancing the competitive capacity of SMEs.

Closing date of the call is March 31, 2008.

Read more at:
 http://www.era-sme.net/public/4th-call-for-proposals

 

   FP7 Capacities Call for Proposals


Research for SMEs Call 2 (FP7-SME-2008-1)
Programme: Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for Research and Technological Development - Specific Programme: Capacities - Theme: Research for the benefit of SMEs.

Aim: Strengthening the innovation capacity of European SMEs and their contribution to the development of new technology based products and markets by helping them outsource research, increase their research efforts, extend their networks, better exploit research results and acquire technological know how, bridging the gap between research and innovation.

Deadline for submitting proposals: 11 April, 2008.

Budget available: € 92.720.000,00.

Participants: at least 3 SMEs (from 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries) and 2 RTD performers (independent from any other participants).

Read more at:
 http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.CapacitiesDetailsCallPage&call_id=105

 

top of the page
Interesting Initiatives
   BIAC-OECD portal to help remove barriers to SME internationalisation

The Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently launched a private sector initiative named "BIAC-OECD Initiative to Facilitate SME Access to International Markets".

Supported within the OECD framework by the Greek Ministry of Development, this initiative is aimed at improving Small and Medium sized Enterprises' access to relevant country specific information on commercial contacts, business environments/opportunities, regulations, access to finance, intellectual property, etc.

A dedicated SME Web Portal will be available in 2008 to improve information flows to SMEs, providing a platform for possible cooperation between Multinational and Small/Medium sized Enterprises.

For further information, please contact the OECD Secretariat at:
 sme.division@oecd.org

 

   The Central Europe Programme

The European Union has launched a new programme that promotes economic, environmental and social development across the countries and regions of Central Europe (see regions) with the aim to enabling them to make better use of their innovation potential.

The CENTRAL EUROPE Programme is part of European Territorial Cooperation ("INTERREG IVB"), a policy framework that supports cooperation between regions in the European Union. The programme, financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), runs from 2007 to 2013 with the purpose of reducing economic and social disparities, improving competitiveness and mobilising the growth potential of cities and regions. The programme makes € 246 million in ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funds available for eligible expenditures incurred by lead partners and project partners.

For further details visit the website:
 http://www.central2013.eu/working-with-central/about-central.html

 

   INNOSME Project

One of the priorities of the European Union has long been the increased participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in its Framework Programme for R&D (FP7). For this reason, the EU has launched an innovative programme, the INNOSME Project, aimed at increasing SMEs' chances of being awarded funding contracts, particularly in the area of information and communication technologies (ICT).

From its set up, InnoSME intends to identify innovative SMEs from the different ICT areas located in the 12 Member States that have joined the EU since 2004 (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), assess their capabilities, and improve their conditions in order for them to increase their participation in research and technological development and innovation projects under the FP7.

For further information, please visit:
 http://www.innosme.eu

  

top of the page
Publications
   Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2007

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report provides an annual assessment of the national level of entrepreneurial activity of several selected developed and less developed countries. In 2007, 42 countries were analysed among high-income, middle and low-income countries.

 Download the GEM Report 2007 [2.028 Kb]

 

   Compendium EBAN Statistics 2007

Find out more about the role of business angels and their networks across Europe: EBAN Statistics Compendium 2007 is the result of a survey conducted in 2007 among federations of networks or regional business angel networks.

Download the Statistics Compendium 2007:
 http://www.eban.org/download/Statistics Compendium 2007_EBAN.pdf [186]

 

   European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2007

This report includes innovation indicators and trend analyses for the 27 Member States of the European Union, as well as for Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, the US, Australia, Canada and Israel. EIS is a valid instrument to provide, with continuity, a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of the EU Member States over time.

Download the full report:
 European Innovation Scoreboard 2007 [186 Kb]

For a summary of the situation in the 27 Member States, please refer to:
 http://europa.eu/rapid/

Commissioned by the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission, the European Innovation Scoreboard is prepared by the Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) assisted by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

 

top of the page
Recommended Websites
   lac-access.net

LAC-ACCESS is a new network mainly conceived for supporting Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) research institutions in participating in calls for proposals launched under the EU Framework Programme for R&D (FP7). The network also aims at multiplying scientific and technological exchanges in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Visit the website:
 http://www.lac-access.net/

 

top of the page
Recommended Newsletter
   SME TechWeb Newsletter

"SME Update", the free online newsletter of the SME TechWeb edited by the European Commission, includes news, results, policy and points of view covering all areas of European research for SMEs. Regarding research for SMEs in general, a web forum is available to register comments and ideas for future topics to be covered. Using a clear, simple language, offering numerous concrete examples of projects and calls for proposals, this newsletter will be of particular value to those applying for EU research funding.

It is designed for technology oriented companies wishing to innovate and internationalise.

Read the latest issue at:
 http://ec.europa.eu/research/sme-techweb/newsletter/issue1/index_en.html

Learn more about SME TechWeb:
 http://ec.europa.eu/research/sme-techweb/index_en.cfm

 

top of the page
Events
   Highlighted Events


6-7 March 2008
EURADA Annual Conference
Agorada 2008. Towards Better RDA-University Partnerships for Regional Economic Development
Brussels, Belgium

This conference, organised by EURADA (Association of Regional Development Agencies - INSME Member), aims to allow exchange of experience on possible synergies between universities and regional development agencies (RDAs) and their role in the enterprise value chain. The conference will also include the General Assembly of EURADA members.

 Programme [55 Kb]


14-15 April 2008
EBAN Congress 2008 - Business Angel Investing: Entrepreneurial Capital for the 21st Century
Arnhem, Netherlands  

This Congress is aimed at presenting the expected evolutions of the early stage investment market in and beyond European borders.
The Congress is organised by EBAN, the European Association of Business Angel Networks, Member of the INSME Association.

 EBAN Congress programme
 EBAN Congress Flyer [1.650 Kb]
 


4-6 June 2008
EBN 2008 Annual Congress
Budapest, Hungary

Organised by the European BIC Network (EBN - INSME Member) in partnership with Innostart BIC and with the National Office for Research & Technology (NKTH), this congress will be focused on the areas in which business and innovation support operators should build stronger links to enhance their cooperation and improve their performance.

   Future meetings, workshops, seminars selected by INSME

3-5 March 2008
INTED 2008 - International Technology, Education and Development Conference
This conference aims at promoting international collaboration in the field of technology, engineering and science education.
Valencia, Spain 

5-7 March 2008
IECER 2008 - Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research
Hosted by the University of Regensburg. Conference theme: Entrepreneurial Contexts, Decisions, and Strategies.
Regensburg, Germany 

8-9 March 2008 
10th WOIBEX - Global Businesswomen & Leaders Summit
Woibex 2008 will bring global business and government women leaders and professionals face-to-face with new trends and challenges in an environment that fosters knowledge building.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

10-13 March 2008
Nanotech2008 - Nanotechnology for Industry 2015
International conference jointly organised by Airi/Nanotec IT and Veneto Nanotech with the collaboration of Regione Veneto.
Venice, Italy

13-14 March 2008
Conference of the Latin America and the Caribbean-European Union Government Responsibles for SME
Organised by the  Peruvian Ministry of Labor and Employment and SELA-IBERPYME Programme.
Lima, Peru

18-19 March 2008
INNOVACT - The European Forum for Innovative Growth Companies
Reims, France 

24-28 March 2008
MRS Symposium PP: The Business of Nanotechnology
This symposium aims to address the intersections of scientific research and business considerations in the nanotechnology space.
San Francisco, United States

27-28 March 2008
PODIM - 28th Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation: "The Power of Networking"
Organised by the Institute for Entrepreneurship Research (IRP), the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments (JAPTI) and the University of Maribor.
Maribor, Slovenia

29-31 March 2008
International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks
Co-organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Qatar Foundation (Qatar).
Doha, Qatar 
 
31 March - 4 April 2008
The CINet PhD Seminar on Research in Continuous Innovation
Organised by the Continuous Innovation Network (CINet).
Z�rich, Switzerland 

2-4 April 2008
Technopolis Open Training
Practical training targeted to all stakeholders responsible for innovations support and interested to benefit from high-tech development. Organised by Technopolis, the largest technology center operator in Europe.
Helsinki, Finland

17-18 April 2008
The 5th ASAP Europe Alliance Summit - "Alliances for Innovation. Techniques and Tools for Collaborative Growth"
Organised by the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP).
London, United Kingdom

24-25 April 2008
2nd Euro-Mediterranean Private Equity Forum
Organised by the Euromed Capital Forum Association.
Tunis, Tunisia

29-30 April 2008
GCC Small and Medium Business Conference - "Small and Medium Businesses as the Engine of Growth for the Future Global Economy"
Leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council region (GCC), as well as from Europe, North Africa and Asia, will explore innovative developments for SMEs and will discuss ideas on how SMEs can best be positioned for local and global success.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

6-7 May 2008
InvestorNet ICT RoundTable
Organised by Gate2Growth in collaboration the Fraunhofer Institute.
Stuttgart, Germany

15-16 May 2008
Franchising: Growth and Replication of Success - Innovative Practices in the Central and SE Europe
Organised by the ICPE, the International Center for Promotion of Enterprises in collaboration with the Chamber of Trade of Slovenia & Slovenian Franchise Association.
Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

top of the page
You are receiving this Newsletter because you are included in our mailing list of recipients who are involved or interested in INSME.
Please feel free to forward this Newsletter to others you think might find it interesting and useful.
You are also welcome to partly or fully reproduce and disseminate the contents of this publication
provided that you acknowledge the source.
To subscribe/unsubscribe to the INSME Newsletter, please send an e-mail message to secretariat@insme.it

INSMEnews is edited by the INSME Secretariat. We welcome contributions as well as comments and suggestions.
For enquiries please contact the INSME Secretariat at secretariat@insme.it
Previous editions of INSMEnews are available at
www.insme.org/insme-newsletter


INSME Secretariat
c/o IPI – Institute for Industrial Promotion
Viale M. Pilsudski, 124
00197 Rome
Italy
Tel. +39-06-80972466
      +39-06-80972484
Fax +39-06-80972443
E-mail: secretariat@insme.it

Web sites: www.insme.org | www.ipi.it | www.riditt.it
top of the page
Copyright © 2011 INSME Association