Issue N° 111 - June 2013
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In this Issue:

INSMEnews!

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

Dear INSMEnews Readers,

“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success”

(Henry Ford)

2013 INSME Assembly


I would like to open the INSMEnews June edition by thanking you all for attending the 9th Annual Meeting in Turkey last month!

Enjoying the diverse networking opportunities, taking advantage of the expert knowledge of our high-level keynote speakers and panelists, but especially meeting you and learning more about your expectations and activities have been a great privilege and pleasure for me.

Together with the new INSME Board and our recently elected President Mr. Andrea Di Anselmo we are looking forward to continuing our way towards future milestones in the INSME success story!

..and now as usual enjoy your reading!


Ms. Christin Pfeiffer

INSME Secretary general


The INSME Team welcomes your comments and inputs for further improvement of this service.

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Supporting organisations:

Updates on the life of the INSME Network

Feedback from the 9th INSME Annual Meeting 

The 9th INSME Annual Meeting – just taken place from the 21st to the 24th of May in Izmir, Turkey – has received very positive feedback as participants are expressing their appreciation for the high quality of the event. Attendees particularly appreciated the 4 macro – sessions: The Finance of Innovation: Access To Grants, Loans And Incentives; Defining The Role of Innovation in Countries’ Strategy for Sustainable Growth; Managing the Innovation Economy: Challenges And Opportunities For SMEs and Grounding Innovation in Investment Policy, that addressed all the key governance issues for strategic innovation.

The International INSME – IZKA – UNCTAD Training was met with great audience approval as well and can be considered a next step towards the success story of INSME Annual Meetings. INSME will keep on addressing the relevant issues treated during the training session also throughout the INSMEAcademy, touching one hot topic per month. All the information on the upcoming sessions of the INSMEAcademy can be found here.

Enjoy the pictures of the most important moments of the 9th INSME Annual Meeting clicking here!

The INSME Team is looking forward to seeing you again on the occasion of the 10th INSME Annual Meeting in Abu Dhabi in late March/beginning of April 2014.

Welcoming two new INSME members


INSME is delighted to welcome two new Members that joined the Network in June:

INNOVABIA logo INNOVABIA is an international organization headquartered in Dubai (UAE). It aims at spreading the culture of systematic Innovation across regional industries and societies. INNOVABIA commits to make creativity and Innovation practices an essential set of skills in hands of every workforce in every industry in their region. Therefore, INNOVABIA provides regional organizations with the necessary tools and methodologies to manage systematic Innovation in great efficiency.

More information at INNOVABIA’s website.



ALROWAD logo ALROWAD is a national initiative that supports Egyptian business advisors and other business service providers to assist Egyptian companies to improve, grow and create jobs. The program achieves its goals by supporting entrepreneurial Egyptian business consultants (including individuals, firms and associations) to expand their service offerings by leveraging social media, peer-to-peer networks and information technology.

More information at ALROWAD’s website.

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News and contributions from the INSME Members

UNECE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean to increase cooperation to support economic development in the Mediterranean

UNECE logoRising unemployment levels, declining energy consumption and the real estate market are some of the challenges that the Mediterranean countries are facing during the crisis.

This is the reason why parliamentarians from the Mediterranean region gathered in Geneva on the 30th and on the 31st of May 2013  to discuss how UNECE (INSME Member) and the UN Inter-Agency Cluster could work with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and with the PAM Panel on Trade and Investment in the Mediterranean as well as with its Standing Committee on Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation to support regional trade development priorities.

The conclusions of the conference will be submitted to PAM’s Annual Assembly. They will then guide PAM and its Panel on Trade and Investment in the Mediterranean in implementing its activities at the national, regional and sub-regional levels.

Learn more about the UNECE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean here.

EAI presents the Innovation Academy Magazine Innovator

EAI logoThe European Alliance for Innovation – EAI (INSME Member) recently launched the EAI Innovation Academy Magazine Innovator. The magazine, divided in 6 main sections (Opinions, Avenue for Progress, Climate for Innovations, Successful Stories, Position Papers Selections and EAI 4 Innovation), features top achievements in innovation, promotes excellence in research and innovation, discusses a wide range of actual innovation-related topics and much more.

Learn more about the Innovation Academy Magazine Innovator and download its first Issue here.

EIF launches a social impact investing fund of funds

EIF logoThe European Investment Fund - EIF (INSME Member), in collaboration with private sector investors, has launched the Social Impact Accelerator (SIA), the first pan-European public-private partnership for social impact investing. SIA, which is set up as a fund of funds, seeks to mobilize an initial amount of 60.000.000 Euro for investment in social impact funds.

This fund will provide equity financing to funds in the social impact segment which strategically target social enterprises across Europe. Beyond simple financial return targets, these social impact funds seek to trigger positive societal change as a result of their impact conscious investment activity.

Learn more about this initiative here.

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INSME's Picks in the News

Europe and China agree to use the same patent classification system

Eu and China flagsThe European Patent Office - EPO and the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C. - SIPO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the 4th of June to enhance their cooperation in the area of patent classification.

Under the terms of this agreement SIPO will start classifying its newly published invention patent applications according to the classification system in force in Europe and in the United States.

The introduction of these criteria is another significant achievement to promote the bilateral cooperation between the two offices and is very important, as the number of Chinese invention patent applications ranked first in the World consecutively in 2011 and 2012.

To receive additional information check this page

The Programme for Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME) 2014-2020

COSME logoThe European Commission is in the course of launching a new programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME), aiming at encouraging the competitiveness of European enterprises. By considering SMEs as well as current and potential entrepreneurs and business support organisations as its main target group, the programme will provide better access to finance, deliver business support services and promote entrepreneurship.

Subject to the approval by the Council and the European Parliament, the Programme will run from 2014 to 2020 with a foreseen budget of € 2.5 billion. Its main objectives are:

-    facilitating access to finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs);
-    creating an environment favourable to business creation and growth;
-    encouraging an entrepreneurial culture in Europe;
-    increasing the sustainable competitiveness of EU companies;
-    helping small businesses operate outside their home countries and improving their access to markets.

COSME is expected to contribute to an annual increase of €1.1bn in the EU's GDP and the Enterprise Europe Network is expected to assist 40,000 companies with partnership agreements.

For further insights please check this page

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INSME's Picks in the Web

Creative companies: What are the 10 secrets of innovative offices?

Creative CompaniesThis article aims at discovering the secrets of successful creative companies and organisations and tries to summarize them in ten golden rules.  

Read the article here

Innovation is dead

Innovation is deadThe author of this article highlights a paradox: innovation usually happens by accident, so how could a system to stimulate it exist? Could a scientific approach to innovation end up by killing it?

Read the answers here.

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Tenders, Calls & Consultations

The European Inventor Award 2014

EPO logoThe European Inventor Award 2014, organised by the European Patent Office - EPO, is now open for applications.

Whether you work in industry, at a university or research institute or for an association, are an individual inventor or even just someone with an interest in the work inventors do, this is your chance to join in by submitting your favourite inventor or invention for the award.

Inventors participating in the award procedures must have been granted at least one valid European patent for their invention by the European Patent Office. Candidates can be entered for the following five categories: Industry, SMEs, Research, Lifetime Achievement, Non-European Countries.

The deadline is the 30th of September 2013.

More info here

EU: Eco-innovation, when business meets the environment

EU logoHave you got a great business project that could make Europe greener but you don't know how to get it off the ground? The 2013 Eco-innovation call for proposals may be for you!

The European Commission grants up to 50% co-funding to finance green ideas: the total budget available for the 2013 Call is almost 31.6 Million Euro.

This call is open to all legal persons that are based in eligible countries, but the priority will be given to Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Clusters of applicants and projects which demonstrate a European added value and have a high potential for market replication are strongly appreciated.

Although priority will be given to SMEs and private beneficiaries, the calls for proposals are open to all legal entities located in one of the following countries: 27 EU member states, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Albania, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Israel, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey

The deadline is the 5th of September 2013.
 
Further information at this page

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Interesting Initiatives

Google Ventures

Google Ventures logoGoogle Ventures is an independent venture capital fund financed by Google. With 300 million Dollars to invest each year, the team looks to find and invest in the most interesting start-up founders, in a variety of fields ranging from Internet, software and hardware to clean-tech, bio-tech and health care.

Google Ventures also offers a Start-up Lab, a dedicated facility and an educational program where companies can meet, learn, work and share.

To receive further insights please check this page

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Publications

Innobarometer 2013 – Investing in Intangibles: Economic assets and innovation drivers for growth


Eurobarometer 369The Innobarometer is an annual opinion poll of businesses or general public on attitudes and activities related to innovation policy.

The 2013 Innobarometer is focused on how much intangible assets are increasingly recognised as playing an important role in the growth of developed economies, although their impact is not easy to be quantified.

The survey was designed to explore companies' investment in a range of intangible assets such as training, software development, reputation and branding, research and development etc. It covered around 8.500 businesses employing one or more people in the manufacturing, retail, service and industry sectors in the EU and in some countries outside the EU.

Receive further details by checking this page
 

Stimulating economic growth through knowledge-based investment

OECD reportThe protracted recovery from the great recession and financial crisis has led to a renewed emphasis on policies designed to encourage economic growth. The range of possible pro-growth measures has increased in recent years with the emergence of the literature on “knowledge-based capital (KBC),” a metric that expands the concept of innovation beyond R&D to include the full range of activities needed to implement or commercialise new ideas. Recent studies have shown that KBC is an important source of economic growth in many of the world’s advanced economies (so much more than R&D alone) and is positively correlated with real GDP per capita in a cross-section of these economies.

This literature is still in its early stage and there is, as yet, no systematic discussion of KBC policy. This paper – developed by the Directorate For Science, Technology And Industry of the OECD - makes an attempt to fill this gap.

Check it here

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Recommended Website

World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

OKR logo The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository is the World Bank’s official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products.

Through this repository, the World Bank collects, disseminates and permanently preserves its intellectual output in digital form.

By extending and improving access to World Bank’s knowledge, the Bank aims at encouraging innovation and allows anyone in the world to turn Bank knowledge into solutions to development problems that will help improving the lives of poor people around the world.

At present there are more than 10.000 titles in the repository, for the most part released under the Creative Commons license.

To take advantage of it check this page

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Recommended Newsletter

GGKP Knowledge Update

GGKP logo

GGKP Knowledge Update is the newsletter issued by the Green Growth Knowledge Platform – GGKP, founded by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

Subscribe to the newsletter here

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Events

Highlighted events

City of Durban18th - 21st of September 2013

19th International Conference on Small and Medium Enterprises, organized by WASME
Durban, South Africa

The World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises – WASME (INSME Member) Annual International Conference on Small and Medium Enterprise development (ICSME) is a prestigious annual event, bringing together business support organisations, policy makers, banks and financial institutions, international experts, academics, entrepreneurs, UN and other international and multinational aid agencies involved in small business development.

ICSME 2013 – whose theme is “Beyond the downturn - revitalising the global economy through small and medium enterprises” - will examine policies, strategies and programmes to stabilise the fragile world economy and relaunch it onto a new growth trajectory through new and existing actions that place small and medium enterprises at the centre of the quest for future growth.

Register for the event here

Future International meetings, workshops, seminars selected by INSME

1st - 4th of July 2013
19th Annual Conference of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators
Organized by EARMA - European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (INSME Partner)
Vienna, Austria

3rd – 5th of July 2013
European Pavilion at Clean Energy Expo China 2013
Co - organized by the Koelnmesse and the EU SME Centre
Beijing, China

4th – 5th of July 2013
1st International Forum of Women Entrepreneurs in Geneva
Organized by GIWEF-FIFEGe
Geneva, Switzerland

7th – 10th of July 2013
Triple Helix XI International Conference
Organized by a consortium of London partners, including the Big Innovation Centre, Birkbeck-University of London and UCL Advances
London, UK

18th – 19th of July 2013
The 9th International Conference on Intelligent Environments
Organized by Hellenic Open University
Athens, Greece

22nd - 23rd of July 2013
3rd Annual International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IE 2013)
Organized by the Global Science and Technology Forum
Singapore

29th – 31st of July 2013
10th Annual International Conference on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Organized by Athens Institute for Education and Research
Athens, Greece

15th – 17th of August 2013
World Innovation Competition
Organized by the World Standard Organization in cooperation with the Government of Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

3rd – 6th of September 2013
The 16th TCI Annual Global Conference "Designing the Future – Innovation through strategic partnerships"
Organized by TCI Network
Kolding, Denmark

18th – 20th of September 2013
Innovation in Mind
Organized by Lund University and Region Skane
Lund, Sweden

21st – 24th of September 2013
Innovation on the Edge
Organized by the Economic Developers Association of Canada
St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

24th – 27th of September 2013
2013 International Conference
Organized by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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