Find out about the next INSME Annual Meeting to be held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) on April 20-23, 2009.

Learn about the main co-hosts: Dubai Institute of Technology (DIT) and the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF).

 Download the provisional flyer on the INSME Annual Meeting 2009.

To stay updated on the 2009 Annual Meeting:
 http://www.insme.org/

For more details, please contact the INSME Secretariat at:
 insme2009dubai@insme.it

Help the INSME Secretariat to better meet your business needs. Please fill in the online questionnaire about the INSME services and give us your feedback.
It will take you only a few minutes. Thanks for your collaboration. We value your opinion.

 Fill in the questionnaire

The Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF), in cooperation with Intel Corporation, organized the Arab Technology Business Plan Competition. This regional technology investment competition aims to help Arabian entrepreneurs to turn their technological innovation into business opportunities.

The final winners of the University category were announced during the ASTF Scientific Research Outlook Congress on 26-30 October 2008 in Fez, Morocco. The top two winners will represent the Arab World in the worldwide finals of the Intel + UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge to take place in the United States of America.

The winners, both University and Seed Stage category, have the opportunity to show their business plans in front of venture capitals, angel funds and investors during the ASTF Investment Technology Forum in mid 2009.

 For further information on the Competition phases, please click here.

The European Business Angel Network (EBAN), announces its participation in the Microsoft BizSpark program as a Network Partner.
BizSpark is the innovative program, designed by Microsoft to accelerate start-ups process and to facilitate access to Microsoft's current full-featured development tools, platform technologies and production licenses, providing start-ups with software, support and visibility during their first three years, with no upfront costs and minimal requirements.

 To learn more, please read the press release.

Intrasoft International Luxembourg is the coordinator of the action line "technology transfer of the Euromed Innovation and Technology Programme Medibtikar, aimed at building technology and industrial partnerships between the MEDA Countries and the EU. In particular, within this measure, some MEDA organisations, assisted by Medibitkar, have submitted proposals to join to the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).
Find out more about the first MEDA EEN in Egypt.

 For further information on MEDA EEN, please contact Dr. Gudrun Rumpf, the task co-ordinator of "technology transfer", Medibtikar.

Furthermore, on 9th October 2008, the Medibtikar Programme launched, in the premises of the General Confederation of Moroccan Businesses (CGEM) in Casablanca, the first Moroccan network of Business Angels: The Atlas Angels.
This network, inspired on the French Business Angels, aims at providing in Morocco an added financial tool, other than the traditional bank financing, facilitating access to private financing for Moroccan entrepreneurs.

 Download the press release of the launch of the Atlas Angels available in French.

The European Commission adopted on 17 October 2008 a Communication on Towards world-class clusters in the European Union: Implementing the broad-based innovation strategy to outline a policy framework to better support the development of more world-class clusters in the EU, given their economic impact on competitiveness and innovation.

 Download the Communication available in English, French and German version.

For further information, please visit the website:
 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/innovation/index_en.htm

The 7th Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers for Industry was held on 5-6 November 2008 in Nice (France), in the framework of the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. The meeting focused on three main issue: how to foster competitiveness in the Union for the Mediterranean; how to optimise innovation through industrial cooperation in order to promote the knowledge-based economy; the need to place sustainable industrial development at the heart of the industrial cooperation programme.

 Download the Conclusions of the 7th Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers for Industry: competitiveness, innovation and sustainable development.

 Read the press release on the Ministerial Conference.

Ruwad Establishment became an INSME Member in July 2008. It is a governmental body that provides assistance and direct financial support to SMEs in the Emirate of Sharjah (UAE), thus creating the proper environment to the establishment and development of SMEs.

Its main activities are to provide financial and technical support and funding services on competitive grounds according to Islamic finance regulations; to encourage research and development by setting funds; to enhance scientific research and technical development in the field of developing and upgrading small and medium enterprises.

Book your agenda to attend the upcoming First International Sharjah Conference for SMEs organised by Ruwad Establishment, to be held in Sharjah, UAE, in 2009.

For further information on Ruwad Establishment visit the website (in the Arabic language only):
 http://www.ruwad.ae/home.php

The opening of the 4th ETB Transnational Call for Proposals: Funding of Industrial R&D Projects in Biotechnology is expected on January 7th 2009. The strategic objective of this call, within the EUROTRANS-BIO initiative (ETB), is to foster the competitiveness of the biotechnology industry in Europe by supporting research-intensive SMEs and their strategic partnerships in all fields of biotechnology.

Consortia consisting of at least two SMEs (see definition) from two different participating EU countries joining the EUROTRANS-BIO Consortium can apply for EUROTRANS-BIO (ETB) funding.
Participating EU countries/regions in ETB: Austria, Basque Country, Catalonia, Flanders in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Madrid, The Netherlands, Wallonia.

 Download the pre-announcement of the 4th ETB Transnational Call 2009.

Deadline for proposals applications: April 27th 2009.

The ETB Consortium commits to a minimum of 30 million � of national/regional funding.

Stay tuned with the EUROTRANS-BIO website for updates:
 http://eurotransbio.net/

The European Commission has recently launched two new calls for proposals (PRO INNO Europe and Europe INNOVA) for the setting up of INNO-Nets and INNO-Actions with a view to fostering transnational cooperation to support innovation.

The PRO INNO Europe Call for proposals Fostering trans-national cooperation on support for innovation contributes to closer cooperation between innovation policy makers and public support organisations at different levels with a view to contributing to the development of new and better innovation policies in Europe.

The maximum budget allocated for this call is: �15,500,000
Deadline for submission of proposals: 12 February 2009.

The call for proposals European Innovation Platforms for trans-national cluster cooperation, knowledge-intensive services, eco-innovation and the promotion of novel tools and service concepts for innovation support is launched under the Europe INNOVA Initiative.

The maximum budget allocated for this call is: �26,500,000
Deadline for submission of proposals: 12 February 2009.

 To see the calls documents, please click here
 A partner search tool is available here.

The Central Europe Programme, managed by the European Union and financed by the European Regional Development Fund (2007-2013), encourages cooperation in Central Europe to promote competitiveness, innovation and environment sustainability and accessibility. It provides funding for an amount of �231 mln to support transnational cooperation projects involving public and private organisations from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

Read more at:
 http://www.central2013.eu/

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published the biannual report on OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook. The report illustrates key trends in national science, technology and innovation policies in the OECD countries and in six emerging economies: Brazil, Chile, China, Israel, Russian Federation and South Africa. It analyses the socio-economic impacts of public research and urges European governments to promote science, innovation and technologies as a driver of future growth.

 Download the highlights brochure for further information on OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2008.

 Non-subscribers can browse free online and purchase the pdf e-book and/or print edition on the OECD Online Bookshop.

Released by the World Economic Forum, this Report analyses the most important assessments of Countries' competitiveness. In particular, it assesses 134 national economic environments and their ability to achieve sustained growth, gathering valuable information on a broad range of variables for which hard data sources are scarce or, frequently, non-existent.
The report contains a detailed profile for each of the economies featured in the study as well as an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators.

 Download for free the Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009.

Further information available on the following URL:
 http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global Competitiveness Report/index.htm

Set up in 2006, the Southeast European Network of Business Start-up Centers and Incubators (SENSI) is a regional network of business start-ups and incubators including more than 30 European members.
Its website provides effective business support to young entrepreneurs, start-ups as well as a variety of business services with the aim to enhance the capacity of entrepreneurs in South East Europe.

For more details concerning the SENSI network please visit the following site:
 www.sensi.biz

IPR-Helpdesk, a project funded by the European Commission, has recently renewed its website in order to further meet the users' needs.
This web site provides free of charge information and resources to help with the management of Intellectual Property (IP).

 Subscribe for free to IPR Helpdesk news.

More information in several languages at:
 http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/

IPR2 Brief is a free quarterly newsletter published by the EU-China Project on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR2). It  aims to keep stakeholders well informed on the Project's progress, up-and-coming activities on key IP issues, events, publications and other news and developments.

It is supplemented by a monthly IPR2 eNews providing more frequent updates for stakeholders.

 Download the IPR2 Brief - Issue n.1.

To subscribe for IPR2 Brief or IPR2 eNews please visit the site:
 http://www.ipr2.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=380&Itemid=240

2-3 December 2008
EU-Japan Regional Cluster Forum
Organised by the European Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and in cooperation with the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).
Yokohama, Japan

3 December 2008
TAFTIE 2008 Annual Conference and Network event
"The European perspectives on global challenges".
Dublin, Ireland

3-5 December 2008
Nanotechnology International Forum RusNanoTech'2008
Organised by the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies.
Moscow, Russia

4-5 December 2008
3rd Pan-European Intellectual Property Summit "Fueling the European IP Economy"
Researched by Premier Cercle, in association with The Wall Street Journal Europe and supported by European Commission and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Brussels, Belgium

8-9 December 2008
MANUFUTURE 2008 Conference "European Regions and SMEs for Implementing Manufacturing Strategic Priorities"
Organised, under the French European Union Presidency, by the GFI - Grouping of French Industrial Federations, the French Manufuture platform - MECAFUTURE and the FIM - French Federation of Mechanical Industries.
Saint-Etienne, France

8-9 December 2008
International Discussion Forum "Resolving the Financial Markets Crisis - the Need for a Global Response"
Organised by the European Finance Convention.
Brussels, Belgium

8-11 December 2008
Industrial Properties
Organised by IBC Conferences and Event Management Services Co Ltd.
Shanghai, China

8 December 2008
Global Business Incubation Day
The first global celebration of Business Incubation.
Venues: Around the globe

9 December 2008
European Sessions on Innovation
Organised by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Paris, France

10-12 December 2008
21st Century University Research Parks "University-Industry Networks. Global, Sustainable, and Connected"
Organised by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP).
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States

11-12 December 2008
7th Annual Conference and Award Best Practices in Science Based Incubators
Organised by the Technopolicy Network in cooperation with Genopole, CESS - Centre for Strategyand Evaluation Services LLP and Spice Group.
Paris, France

11 December 2008
ERRIN Annual General Event: European Cluster Policy - What's in it for the Regions?
Organised by the European Regions Research and Innovation Netwrok (ERRIN).
Brussels, Belgium 

11 December 2008
IP Management and Enforcement "Good practices for SMEs"
Organised by the "IP Awareness and Enforcement: Modular Based Actions for SMEs" project.
Brussels, Belgium

16-17 December 2008
Partner Search Forum - PSF
Organised by the CENTRAL EUROPE Managing Authority - Department for EU Strategy and Economic Development and the Joint Technical Secretariat.
Pozdan, Poland

16 December 2008
Clusters & Innovation in the Euro-Mediterranean Union
Organised by the Fondation Sophia Antipolis, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the General Directorate of Enterprises.
Sophia Antipolis (France)

17-18 December 2008
8th International Entrepreneurship Forum "Creativity and Entrepreneurship: Imperatives for Sustainable Global and Knowledge Based Economy"
Organised by the Mudra Institute of Communications and Essex Business School - University of Essex in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD.
Ahmedabad, India

20-22 January 2009
Multi-year expert meeting on enterprise development policies and capacity-building in science, technology and innovation (STI)
Organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
(By accreditation only)
Geneva, Switzerland

22 January 2009
The Role of Business Incubation in the Wider Community Workshop
Organised by the UK Business Incubation.
Birmingham, United Kingdom

22-24 January 2009
International Conference " Harnessing Entrepreneurial Potential of Women for Economic Growth"
Organized by Manipal Institute of Management jointly with Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial Initiatives (ASCENT).
Manipal, India

26-28 January 2009
2009 Front End of Innovation Europe Conference
Organised by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA).
Montecarlo, Monaco

27 January 2009
7th Annual European Financial Services Conference "Financial Markets and Economic Recovery
Organised by Forum Europe.
Brussels, Belgium

30 January - 1 February 2009
The International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society, TECHNOLOGY IX
Huntsville, Alabama, USA

9-13 February 2009
First SMEs Business Forum
Opportunities for technological integration in Latin America and the Caribbean
Havana, Cuba

6-14 May 2009
First European SME Week - Launch event
Organised by the European Commission.
Brussels, Belgium

1-4 June 2009
XXVI IASP World Conference on Science and Technology Parks "Future Knowledge Ecosystems"
Organised by IASP - International Association of Science Parks.
Raleigh, N C, United States

21-24 June 2009
XX ISPIM Conference - The Future of Innovation
Organised by the International Society for Professional Innovation Managememnt (ISPIM) and supported by DANUBE - European Programmes for Training, Research and Technology and Ratio Strategy & Innovation Consulting.
Vienna, Austria