2-4 July 2008
INSME Annual Meeting 2008
"Encouraging SME Innovation and Growth: Increasing Capital Access"
Guangzhou (Canton), P.R. China

Conference venue: Dong Fang (Oriental) Hotel*****
 http://www.hoteldongfang.com/english/about.asp

To attend, register by April 30, 2008:
 Registration form for INSME Member (participation is for free)
 Registration form for Non Members (participation is for a fee)

The draft agenda will be available in the coming weeks on the INSME portal. More details about this event at:
 http://www.insme.org/

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

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

This seminar will be addressed to business support intermediaries and 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.

The registration form will be available from April 2008.

The Centre for Education and Information on Latin America (CEFIAL, INSME Member) with the sponsorship of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Trade has organised an international seminar focussed on Peru 2008, to take place on March 27th in Milan and on March 28th in Venice (Italy).  The event is being organised in view of the upcoming V Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union (LAC-EU) Summit, to take place next May in Lima (Peru).

Download the programme:
 Spanish version
 Italian version

ANIMA Investment Network (INSME Member) and the French magazine Diplomatie have launched a call for ideas - "25 operational projects for the Mediterranean!" - addressed to all Mediterranean or non-Mediterranean players interested in creating concrete and "transversal" (multi-country) projects that could have a significant economic impact on the sustainable development of the Mediterranean region. In June 2008, the 25 best operational projects will be selected.

Deadline for submitting projects: 30 April, 2008.

 Read more about the call

 

The Spanish Federation of Innovation and Technology Centers (FEDIT, INSME Member) has recently launched a new portal, totally redesigned and conceived as a "live tool" to improve the communication and the services offered to the Federation's members as well as to better integrate them in the field of R&D at national and international levels.

The Federation is composed up of 67 Technology Centers, with a total workforce of more than 5,500 providing services for around 30,000 companies a year. These figures make FEDIT the most active agent in the Spanish Innovation System (SEI).

Learn more about the FEDIT portal:
 www.fedit.com

Read FEDIT Newsletter (in Spanish only):
 INFOFedit

Established in 2002 by eight Finnish organizations supporting technological development and innovation, the Millennium Technology Prize is awarded every second year to inspire and recognise innovations and innovators that can promote both the quality of human life and sustainable development.

The four finalists of the latest edition will be announced on 8 April, 2008. A total of 99 nominations have been made for the 2008 Millennium Technology Prize, with candidates being proposed by 88 organisations in 27 countries.

See the whole schedule:
 http://www.millenniumprize.fi/index.php?page=24

For further information on the Millennium Prize, visit:
 http://www.millenniumprize.fi/en/

Find out about our last INSME Member:

Unioncamere Piemonte (the Union of Chambers of Piedmont) and, in particular, its Innovation and Technology Transfer office supports local companies, especially SMEs, in their R&D activities and in the development of their business in Italy and abroad. Activities carried out are: help desk, web page information, partner search (technology offers and request opportunities), information bulletins, customised assistance on how to submit a successful R&D project and on EU law, company missions, brokerage events, etc.

Find out more:
 Unioncamere Piemonte presentation [115 Kb]

Title: "Promoting ICT-enabled Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries through Business Incubation"


Issuer: iDISC (the infoDev Incubator Support Center)

Aim: fostering the start-up and the strengthening of the business incubators as a tool for the creation of a competitive SME sector and for the development of businesses with shared access to infrastructure such as information and communication technologies, access to business services and finance. The call delivers three categories of grant: Start-up Business Incubators in IDA Countries (International Development Associations); International Working Groups on Business Incubation and Women, Youth and High Growth ICT Enterprise Development; Regional Networks on Business Incubation.

Proposals should be submitted to infoDev no later than April 15, 2008.

For more information about the process or the grant categories, please refer to:
 http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.484.html

The EUROSTARS Programme addresses research and innovation-performing businesses in Europe that fulfil the EU definition of an SME, are based in a EUROSTARS participating country and invest 10% or more of full-time equivalent or annual turnover in research activities.

New application submission deadline: Friday 21 November 2008.


 Guidelines for applicants
 Submit your application (check first if your country is involved!).

Co-funded by the European Commission (as part of the Sixth Framework Programme - Research and Innovation) and eighteen partners from EU member and candidate states, the ip4inno project (Intellectual Property for Innovation) aims to help SMEs to better understand and make use of the intellectual property rights for promoting  their innovation and competitiveness. Activities include: assessing the IP knowledge and training needs of innovative SMEs and research institutes, and providing them with training also on existing initiatives and best practices in Europe.

Launched in January 2007, the initiative, coordinated by the European Patent Office (EPO), will run until the end of 2008.

Learn more about the ip4inno project at:
 http://www.ip4inno.eu/

Released by the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), the 2008 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is a study carried out within 115 countries to evaluate the connection between private property rights and economic well-being. In particular, the Report seeks to assist countries to develop strong economies through an emphasis on sound property law, creating social and economic stability and the freedom to trade in goods and ideas.

 Download the full report

This report, released within the SUPER-SME project (a project financed by the Commission of the European Communities DG Research) summarises the results of a study accomplished on seven European Regions in the field of Science and Technology (S&T). In particular, it describes and analyses a variety of practices and experiences of public Regional Authorities (RA) support actions in Europe that may improve the innovation capacities of the SMEs through S&T intermediaries.

 Download the guide

Since 1999 PAC (Competitiveness Support Program), launched by the CAF (Corporación Andina de Fomento), is a programme providing technical and financial assistance in support of competitiveness.
PAC develops and supports different actions including cluster and science and technology transfer centres' development, promotion of entrepreneurship capabilities and involves governmental bodies, intermediaries and research centres.

Visit the website (in Spanish only):
 http://pac.caf.com/index.asp

For contacts:
 pac@caf.com

The Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal is a European think tank and policy network based in Brussels, supported by EU funds,  committed to defining a mature strategy for managing current and future challenges in several fields including growth policies, innovation, knowledge economy, productivity, entrepreneurship.

Visit the website:
 http://www.lisboncouncil.net/index.php

For contacts:
 http://www.lisboncouncil.net/index.php?option=com_contactform&task=form&Itemid=29&lang=en

Read the sixth-monthly free Newsletter issued by the Lisbon Council:
 http://www.lisboncouncil.net/index.php?option=com_newsletter&task=section&Itemid=87

The "Entrepreneur News" is the information tool of the Entrepreneur Network, a virtual place created by the ACIM Agency (Agence pour la Coopération Internationale et le Développement Local en Méditerranée) aimed at  encouraging the dialogue and the exchange of information among business creation players, entrepreneurs and business associations in Europe and the Mediterranean.
The Entrepreneur News features articles on financing, success stories, news on the Med countries and good practice reports. It is published in French only.

Read the latest issue at:
 http://www.entrepreneur-network.biz/newsletter/news003.htm

To subscribe for free, please refer to:
 http://www.entrepreneur-network.biz/

1-3 April 2008
World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2008 WSIE) 
This summit offers an opportunity to interact with and learn from some of the world's leading innovators, including designers, policymakers, technologists and communicators..
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2-4 April 2008
EBN Workshop: "SMEs Internationalization: Develop Your SMEs Network in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe"
Organised by the European BIC Network (EBN, INSME Member) in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), BIC Friuli Venezia Giulia, CEI Initiative and P&D Consulting.
Sezana, Slovenia 

10-11 April 2008
International Conference on Investing in Innovation: Promoting New Opportunities in the UNECE Region
Organised by UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe).
Geneva, Switzerland

21-23 April 2008
Spring 2008 EASY Investment Forum
Organised by EASY (Early Stage Investors Action for Growth and Innovating Business) in collaboration with CIDEM (Centre for Innovation and Business Development of Catalonia). EASY is a European Commission backed initiative aimed at activating European business angels in trans-national investment activities.
Barcelona, Spain 

23-25 April 2008
TII 2008 Annual Conference - "From Regional Networking to International Partnerships in Technology Transfer and Innovation Support"
Organised by TII (Technology, Innovation, International) in collaboration with the Valencia Institute of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (IMPIVA).
Valencia, Spain 

24-25 April 2008
Euromed Capital Forum - The 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Private Equity Forum
This event will bring together 500 Private Equity firms and partners from all around the Mediterranean region.
Tunis, Tunisia 

15-17 May 2008
The 4th Sheikh Bahai Technopreneurship Festival
Organised by the Isfahan Science & Technology Town (ISTT) in collaboration with IASP, the International Association of Science Parks.
Isfahan, Iran 

27-28 May 2008
VALOR Annual Conference 2008 - "The Role of Valorisation for Europe's Economy"
Hosted by IWT, the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (Belgium). The VALOR project (Development of an Effective Joint Trans-National Knowledge Valorisation Process and Coordinated Innovation Policy) is funded under the INNO Nets programme within the PRO INNO Europe innovation policy initiative (European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry).
Brussels, Belgium 

28-29 May 2008
Business in China - European Procurement Summit
Supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Berlin Partner (the business development agency for the city-state of Berlin) and CCPIT, the Chinese government body responsible for international trade.
Berlin, Germany   

4-6 June2008
6th World Investment Conference. Making Europe more Attractive & Competitive
La Baule, France

15-18 June 2008
The XIX ISPIM Conference - "Open Innovation: Creating Products and Services through Collaboration"
Organised by the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM, INSME Member) and supported by ESCEM School of Business and Management.
Tours (Loire Valley), France 

25-27 June 2008
EBN 2008 Annual Congress
Organised by the European BIC Network (EBN).
Budapest, Hungary

2-4 July 2008
INSME Annual Meeting 2008 - "Encouraging SME Innovation and Growth: Increasing Capital Access"
Guangzhou (Canton), P.R. China

4-6 November 2008
35th International Small Business Congress - "An Entrepreneurial Odyssey - From Local Heroes to Global Champions"
Organised by the International Small Business Congress (ISBC) in collaboration with the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE, INSME Member).
Hawaii, U.S.A.