Issue N° 124 - September 2014
Keep up to date on innovation matters worldwide with the INSME Association!
Dear INSMEnews Readers,
welcome back after a hopefully relaxing break!
The last quarter of the year is going to start and will be intense and challenging for the INSME Secretariat.
Already concentrated on the 11th INSME Annual Meeting in South Africa in June 2015 we keep welcoming new members and enjoy having crossed the 100-members-line again!
And here comes the quote for this first month of a dynamic autumn:
"Every passing minute is another chance
to turn it all around."
(Sofia Serrano)
…and now as usual enjoy your reading!
Ms. Christin Pfeiffer
INSME Secretary General
We welcome contributions, comments and suggestions to furthermore enrich this newsletter and improve our ongoing work, with the aim to support innovation intermediaries, their networking and internationalisation so as to better reach SMEs worldwide and help them to remain competitive on an international scale.
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EBN (INSME Board Member) and INSME have been awarded a contract to deliver 3 master classes for young entrepreneurs in Algeria, Egypt and Palestine. The classes will support young entrepreneurs attending, to create a stronger business environment, expand their connections with relevant stakeholders and thus stimulate the economic development of the region they are located in.
The successful bid was made possible through a partnership with the Dahra Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Algeria), the German-Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Egypt) and the Palestinian Federation of Industries (Palestine). The master classes have been designed to meet young entrepreneurs' needs by addressing key issues that affect the young entrepreneurial generation located in this area such as Diaspora, women entrepreneurship, internationalization and access to finance and shall take place in the last bimester of 2014. Participants will also get the opportunity to follow up the main items discussed, brainstorm on further innovative ideas and reinforce the professional contacts established during the master classes by participating to 5 webinar sessions.
The call for proposals has been launched in the framework of the EUROMED Invest project, an initiative coordinated by ANIMA Investment Network (INSME Member) aiming at renewing the interest of SMEs in the Euro-Mediterranean market, increasing investment and business projects flow and ensuring that EU finds its leading position as a source of foreign direct investment in European Neighbourhood Instrument countries.
Learn more about it here.
The JEUPISTE Consortium is delighted to announce the launch of a series of innovation workshops dedicated to "Smart Communities in a broader term" that will be the occasion to further contribute to the continuously evolving collaboration between the European Union and Japan by seeking potential ways of creating synergies and opportunities of cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
The first innovation workshop focusing on the upstream side of the innovation value chain will take place on the 13th of October in Brussels, Belgium while a second appointment is set for the 13th of November in Turin, Italy organized by INSME (project partner) and the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation (project coordinator). Multipliers and intermediaries, policy makers, representatives from Industry and Academy as well as financial actors are invited to participate to explore synergies and contribute to the discussion on four thematic pillars such as exploitation of research results for industry, Technology Transfer vs SMEs, How to use crowdfunding in SMEs and Global markets and customer driven innovation. On the same day strategic beneficial alliances will also be sought through a matchmaking event to be held in the stimulating and inspiring context of the Smart Mobility World organized by the Enterprise Europe Network with a particular focus on enhancing partnerships for future H2020 projects in the field of Smart, Green and Integrated Transport. The agenda is available here.
The workshop is free of charge with advanced registration. To register for and to learn more about the 13th of November workshop please contact eu-japan@insme.it.
The initiative has been promoted in the framework of the JEUPISTE project, coordinated by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation and including INSME as a partner, which aims at further strengthening EU-Japan cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation through support to policy dialogues, deployment of bilateral information services and organization of networking events.
Further information about the project is available here.
In view of the innovation workshops and to learn more about EU-Japan relations, the publication on "In Search for Growth - Towards a New Role for SMEs in EU-Japan Relations" issued by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is available for downloading at the following link.
The Bahrain SME Society is a private no-profit organization based in the Kingdom of Bahrain that works with a range of emergent entrepreneurs, existing business partners, industry contacts and established authorities with the aim of fostering the entrepreneurial culture and the SMEs sector to support the economic development of the region.
Learn more about it here.
The INSME Association can currently count on the support of 97 Members coming from 44 different countries.
Larta Institute (INSME Member) has been awarded a five-year contract to keep on managing the National Institute for Health's Commercialization Assistance Program to support Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs awardees in accelerating the transition of the NIH-funded technologies into the marketplace.
The NIH - Commercialization Assistance Program will provide companies with tailor-made assistance focused on strategic business planning, identifying and understanding their customers, developing materials appropriate to their commercialization efforts and working towards establishing strategic partners and investors.
The program adopts a cross-sectorial approach by assisting companies from a wide range of areas including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare IT, diagnostics, research tools and others.
Learn more here.
In this rapidly changing world environment innovation is not the only key word for a company to remain competitive; this need to be coupled with another key concept, that is to say cooperation. In this article Mr Vedat Kunt, Partner at VEGO Consultant (INSME Board Member) develops the idea of "innovation with cooperation" that according to the author finds its best application in the concept of "clustering", where enterprises and entrepreneurs in a sector and in a region cooperate with each other to fight against common challenges and seize opportunities.
With hands-on experiences such as the Kahramanmaraş Turkey, Textile and Ready Made Garments Cluster and the Bar and Ulcinj, Montenegro, Olive Oil Cluster, Mr Kunt stresses the importance of an international collaboration across different sectors. To increase the chances of success, producers, municipalities, governments and universities must work in the best possible cooperative way with disruptive ideas.
Read the all article here.
The INSME Secretariat recently met Mr André Letowski, expert, consultant and volunteer to diverse Boards of Directors for organizations involved in the creation of enterprise and micro enterprise. In this interview Mr Letowski defines innovation as the act of observing, thinking and acting in a different way to be perfectly in line with market expectations and to solve daily challenges in a more effective and less "costly" manner. According to Mr Letowski the most effective way to help SMEs and entrepreneurs to be innovative is to identify opportunities and the added value small enterprises can bring, by integrating their own skills (technical know-how, knowledge of different markets, specific culture etc.), making sure they differentiate themselves from what already exists, while attempting to measure the impact of these changes.
Read the whole interview here.
The European Commission recently unveiled two separate initiatives to increase funding for SMEs and a new € 100 million a year scheme to bring new ideas to the market more quickly.
Through an agreement between the European Commission and the European Investment Fund, financial intermediaries such as banks and funds will be given money that will be then made available for SMEs. Intermediaries will be selected by the EIF, through a call for expressions of interest and a due diligence process. The European Commission estimates that total lending will reach € 21 billion with an average guaranteed loan of about € 65,000 per firm.
A second initiative will be carried out as part of Horizon 2020. The € 100 million Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) offers grants to consortiums of three to five organizations to encourage private investments in research and innovation and reduce the time it takes to deliver an idea to the market. Grants are expected to be between 1-2 million €, but in special cases a grant of € 3 million could be considered.
Learn more about these initiatives here.
Accounting for more than 97% of all businesses, 60% of gross domestic product and employing more than half the workforce across the APEC region: small and medium enterprises seem to be vital for the acceleration of economic recovery and strengthening of long-term growth and prosperity in China and the other 20 members of APEC.
Ministers of APEC economies have recently gathered in Nanjing, China to discuss how to create a more fertile environment for SMEs. An important component that emerged from this discussion is the necessity to bolster the ability of SMEs to take advantage of cross border business opportunities. This is why Ministers agreed on taking steps to eliminate barriers to participation in trade between APEC economies. Improving market access and conditions that support the integration of SMEs into global value chains are also among the priorities. Improving access to finance has been recognized as another key element. This includes working together to develop and implement policies that encourage investment in SMEs by venture capitalists and other potential sources of private sector funding.
Read more about the policies to be implemented here.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Equity fundraising is still an illegal activity in China, except for one experiment that allowed users to invest up to RMB 100 on certain cultural projects and to seek an expected annual return of 7% on the original investment. Roche, a computer scientist from the UK who works in Shanghai as Associate Director of BOP Consulting in China and co-leading a CultureCrowd.co.uk research project into the crowdfunding sector, states that despite this apparently hostile environment, local and regional governments in China are desperately hoping to kick off a culture of technology and innovation on par with Silicon Valley. Equity crowdfunding could be the best way to meet these needs, reach out the widest market and give people the chance to be more entrepreneurial.
Learn more about it here.
This article by Danielle Offenbacher and Tara Hadlers from the Network for Business Sustainability (INSME Member) deals with how firms can establish a dialogue with and among citizens, in order to foster community building and create a sense of belonging to the firm that might create what has been defined as a corporate citizen. Building on a study by Dr Glen Whelan, Jeremy Moon and Bettina Grant of Nottingham University Business School, this article shows how social media can create opportunities for dialogue that can help not only firms to understand their buyers, but also the communities they live in.
Read the full article here.
Although some IPR issues are common to all types of European companies, other might be highly specific for the ICT sector. In this first of a two-part article, China IPR SME Helpdesk discusses trade secret strategies and type of patents specific to ICT companies. As demonstrated by the article, once more prevention seems to be the best medicine whether a EU company decides to enter or expanding its business in China.
Read the full article here.
All African brightest innovators are invited to apply for the 2015 Innovation Prize for Africa, an initiative carried out by the African Innovation Foundation to fuel African innovation and encourage entrepreneurs, innovators, funding bodies and business development service providers to exchange ideas and explore innovative business opportunities. IPA will award innovations based on products' uniqueness and their potential contribution to socio-economic development in Africa through increased efficiency and cost savings.
IPA will consist of three prizes:
In addition, the AIF will provide in-kind support to each finalist up to a maximum of USD 5,000 in post-prize technical support to assist in moving the innovation to the next step.
The deadline for applications is the 31st of October 2014.
Read more about the selection process and apply for the Innovation Prize for Africa at the following link.
Given the fact that most enterprises that use web-based services to display their competences, establish contacts and engage them in mutual beneficial collaborations seems unable to maintain the group of contacts or to draw on their skills in the preparation of innovation projects, the call for proposals intends to provide innovation agencies with skills to assist SMEs to establish collaboration on web platforms.
The proposals shall thus develop and test new service designs for ‘assistance to online collaboration for innovation' for SMEs in diverse sectors and make such new services accessible for enterprises in sectors that are typically not yet benefitting from innovation support. Additionally proposals shall also develop a qualification profile, curriculum and training courses for staff currently providing brokerage services in established networks or SME agencies.
The total call budget is € 2,350,000 and the deadline for applications is the 10th of March 2015.
Learn more about the call and download all related documents here.
The FDM everywoman in Technology Awards is calling on all talented women in the IT sector to drive awareness of the IT sector's career opportunities for females and to encourage more women to join the industry.
Women at all stages of their careers are invited to apply for the following categories:
Entrants must be based or have their chief operations in the UK for all categories except the International Leader of the Year category.
Winners will be awarded a trophy during the 2015 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards ceremony taking place in March 2015 in London, UK.
Entries are open until the 3rd of November 2014.
To learn more, please click here.
Leading business and innovation support organizations located in third countries other than those participating in the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), are invited to express their interest in establishing 'Business Cooperation Centres' for the Enterprise Europe Network in international markets in order to form a unique international network of excellence facilitating business cooperation, technology transfer and research collaboration.
The "Business Cooperation Centre" shall engage in two main streams of activities, these are service activities which include:
and enabling activities which include:
The deadline for the submission of applications is the 31st of October 2014.
Further information about the call is available here.
The Bader's program is a Lebanon-based initiative which intends to support young entrepreneurs in the region with all the necessary tools for the launching and developing of innovative projects to promote national economic development, job creation and a reduction of the brain drain. To do so, Bader will focus on three main pillars:
Learn more about this initiative here.
The Inter-American Development Bank has recently released this paper analyzing and comparing the determinants of innovation in the service industry and its impact on labor productivity at the firm level in three countries of Latin America (Chile, Colombia and Uruguay). Two important consistent findings emerge. One is that firm size is less relevant in the decision whether to engage in innovation activities in services than in manufacturing, suggesting an opportunity to increase aggregated service productivity by supporting service SMEs. Second, cooperation for innovation seems more important for services than for manufacturing at the moment of implementing innovation projects. This is related to the intangible nature of services and the importance of fostering user-producer linkages to stimulate innovation in this sector. Besides these differences between the main patterns of innovation in services and manufacturing, it has been proved that framework conditions where a firm operates play an important role affecting innovation decisions of the firm.
Read the full paper here.
Small and Medium Enterprises are among the most important contributors to economic growth all over the world, including the MENA region. However SMEs often face obstacles to their growth such as market conditions and regulatory environments not always supportive and access to formal finance.
IFC (International Finance Corporation) commissioned a study dedicated to "Islamic Banking Opportunities across Small and Medium Enterprises in MENA" to better understand the demand and supply for Islamic banking products in the SME sector, considering the huge demand for Islamic products by SMEs in the MENA region and that approximately 35 percent of such businesses remain excluded from the formal banking sector because of a lack of Shariah-compliant products.
By analyzing eight MENA countries (Iraq, Yemen, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan) and Pakistan, the study reveals that there is a potential gap of $ 8.63 billion to $ 13.20 billion for Islamic SME financing, due to the fact that several SMEs do not borrow from conventional banks because of religious reasons. According to the study, the segment of Sharia-compliant products might potentially become a "new to bank" funding opportunity.
Find out more about the study here.
The OECD (INSME Moral Sponsor) recently released the fourth edition of Entrepreneurship at a Glance, a report collecting 20 indicators (among them new enterprise creations, self-employment, innovation and collaboration in innovation by enterprise size) that measure entrepreneurial performance for 30 countries.
The publication proposes a set of indicators of entrepreneurial performances to understand and compare the amount and type of entrepreneurship that take place in different countries. The idea at the basis of the publication is that analysts should not only focus on enterprise creation or any other single measure to study entrepreneurship: entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial forces can be found in many existing businesses. Understanding the dynamism these actors exert on the economy is as important as understanding the dynamics of startups.
Among the key findings, the report states that:
Read the whole report here.
The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Competitiveness Forum Report 2014/2015 providing an overview of the competitiveness performances of 144 economies and containing a detailed profile of each economy, as well as a section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators.
The report has been launched during the world's recovery after the worst economic crisis within the last 80 years; it highlights a comfortable recovery for the US and Japanese economies, while the European continent is living a mixed situation with countries with a stronger economy (Switzerland, Finland and Germany) and others suffering from a weak growth (Greece, Slovenia and Hungary). Finally emerging economies are growing more modestly than they did in the past.
To read the whole report please click here.
The GreenEconet is a platform funded by the European Commission and coordinated by a consortium of six leading research networks specialized in green economy transition including the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), the Joint Implementation Network (JIN), the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Ecologic Institute and the University of Piraeus Research Centre (UPRC).
GreenEconet connects small and medium enterprises and the research community to accelerate the transition to a green economy. By joining the platform companies will:
Find out more here.
In the framework of the World Investment Forum, taking place from the 13th to the 16th of October 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, UNCTAD decided to release an e-newsletter to receive updated information related to the Forum and all relevant topics to be discussed during the three days event.
It is possible to subscribe to the newsletter at this link.
World Investment Forum 201413th - 16th of October 2014
The World Investment Forum will allow participants to:
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29th of September - 5th of October 2014
The European SME Week
Organized by the European Commission
37 different countries
29th of September - 1st of October 2014
International Good Practice Event 2014
Organized by the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) and Technical University of Madrid (UPM)
Madrid, Spain
29th of September - 1st of October 2014
LET'S: Leading And Enabling Technologies for Societal Challenges
Organized by the European Commission, the National Research Council of Italy, APRE and ASTER
Bologna, Italy
30th of September 2014
Euromed@Change Conference & Business Forum
Organized by ANIMA Investment Network (INSME Member) and EBN Innovation Network (INSME Member)
Brussels, Belgium
1st - 3rd of October 2014
2014 SME Assembly - Growth Through Enterprise: The Opportunities Ahead
Organized by European Commission
Naples, Italy
2nd - 3rd of October 2014
Global Forum on the Knowledge Economy
Organized by the OECD (INSME Moral Sponsor)
Tokyo, Japan
5th - 8th of October 2014
ISPIM Americas Innovation Forum
Organized by ISPIM (INSME Member)
Motreal, Canada
10th - 11th of October 2014
Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2014
Organized by the International Institute of Innovation
Bangalore, India
10th - 11th of October 2014
TO Design 2014
Organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Torino
Torino, Italy
16th - 17th of October 2014
Enterprise Europe Network Annual Conference 2014
Organized by Torino Chamber of Commerce, Unioncamere Piemonte (INSME Member) and EEN
Torino, Italy
19th - 22nd of October 2014
31st IASP World Conference
Organized by the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation - IASP
Doha, Qatar
20th - 22nd of October 2014
International Training Workshop cum Conference on Desalination Technology - IORA Members Perspectives for Cooperation
Organized by IORA RCSTT (INSME Member)
Teheran, Iran
21st - 23rd of October 2014
EU-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair IX
Organized by EUPIC (INSME Partner) in conjunction with the fair, the Mission for Growth to China will take place, organized by the European Commission
Chengdu, China
22nd - 23rd of October 2014
Middle Black Sea Cross-Border Cooperation Bussiness Forum 2014
Organized by t he Middle Black Sea Development Agency
Samsun, Turkey
28th - 30th of October 2014
10th World Islamic Economic Forum
Organized by the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
28th of October 2014
Supporting Entrepreneurship in Europe: Creating Sustainable Employment and Growth
Organized by Public Policy Exchange
Brussels, Belgium
28th of October 2014
Nigerian Raw Materials Expo 2014
Organized by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council - RMRDC (INSME Member)
Lagos, Nigeria
30th of October - 2nd of November 2014
iENA - International Trade Fair Ideas Inventions New Products
Organized by AFAG Messen und Ausstellungen GmbH
Nuremberg, Germany
30th - 31st of October 2014
Days of Cluster 2014
Organized by Cluster House and Trakya Development Agency
Tekirdağ, Turkey
1st - 3rd of November 2014
African Economic Conference:"Knowledge and Innovation for Africa's Transformation"
Organized by the African Development Bank Group(INSME Member)
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
3rd - 6th of November 2014
EPO Patent Information Conference
Organized by the European Patent Office
Warsaw, Poland
7th - 10th December 2014
ISPIM Asia Pacific Innovation Forum
Organized by ISPIM (INSME Member)
Singapore
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