14^th INSME Annual Meeting
Industry 4.0 for SMEs’ Business Growth

BRUSSELS, 17-18 MAY 2018, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

 

CONFERENCE THEME

The fourth industrial revolution – characterized by smart and connected machines and systems, ubiquitous and mobile internet, big data, internet of things, artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, new materials, etc. – will have a monumental impact on the global economy, affecting GDP, investment, consumption, employment, trade, inflation, etc. (Schwab, 2016). Europe is slowly recovering, but the way-out from the crisis is not completely clear, to ensure that the recovery takes hold and to maintain the EU’s growth potential in the long-run a new stream of innovations is required. Here, SMEs are key players, new and small firms are the driving force behind the sort of radical innovations that are important for economic growth, since they can work outside of dominant paradigms, exploit commercial opportunities and accelerate technological change (COM, 2008; OECD, 2010). SMEs also contribute to value creation by adopting innovation generated elsewhere and by supplying new or niche products which respond to diverse customer needs.
ICT and digitalization will be the back-bone of economic growth. Digitalisation facilitates the emergence of “born global” companies (Eurofound, 2012) and provides new opportunities for SMEs to enhance their competitiveness in local and global markets, through product or service innovation and improved production processes (OECD, 2017).

SCOPE

The INSME Annual Conference aims:

• To understand SMEs’ key challenges in taking the most from Industry 4.0
• To characterize the business ecosystem needed to support the technological change
• To identify opportunities coming from emerging technologies and markets

CONFERENCE OUTLINE

Session I – Boosting the Innovation Ecosystem for Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is radically changing our economies, jobs and the societies we live in. It is going to be disruptive and will bring challenges as well as opportunities that have to find a fertile ground for incubation and further development.
The engagement and contribution of all the stakeholders is the key to adopt measures and promote solutions for the creation of an innovation ecosystem where Industry 4.0 could inject new nourishment to competitiveness and stimulate growth on a global scale.
This session will analyse the elements that could contribute to the creation of a renewed Innovation Ecosystem enabling the full exploitation of the opportunities brought by Industry 4.0.

Panelists will discuss the following issues:

• Which policies could be proposed by policy makers to face the challenges posed by Industry 4.0?
• How to encourage collaboration mechanisms and synergies among multiple actors in the era of Industry 4.0?
• How can a successful university-industry-government collaboration maximize the impact of Industry 4.0?

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Session II – The international outlook of Industry 4.0: born global companies, reshoring, sustainable manufacturing, etc.

Technological breakthroughs are changing the characteristics of globalization. Industry 4.0 is making the connections among people, machines, components and logistic systems as easy as never before. On the one hand, these networked production processes are contributing to a more efficient and flexible manufacturing system, on the other they are influencing the way in which companies compete.
While a significant physical presence around the globe is not necessary anymore, the possibility to leverage resources easily worldwide is leading the born global phenomenon beyond technology companies, normally more prone to this effect.
Businesses acting in diverse fields are now equally exposed to international competition as soon as they enter the market. Furthermore, the adoption of new technologies into the manufacturing and production processes remains fundamental to stay one step ahead of the competition, enhance performance and achieve sustainability.

Panelists will discuss the following issues:

• How is Industry 4.0 influencing companies’ behavior worldwide?
• What are the best practices to be highlighted with regard to the introduction of new technologies into the production processes of companies?
• Which policies and/or supporting measures could be adopted to address sustainability?

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Session III – How emerging technologies and new business models are reshaping organizations, industries and markets

The digital wave is transforming the competitive scene and to keep competitors at bay, companies will have to be increasingly concentrated on the evolving market’s needs and oriented towards value creation for end-users. As a consequence, disruptive business models are emerging and are devoted to generate value by increasing customers’ involvement, interaction and access to data.
Digital platform solutions or data-driven services are enabling companies to refine products and adapt them to consumers’ specifications. In this environment, the implications in terms of digital transformation, its management and design of strategic alliances for SMEs are important.

Panelists will discuss the following issues:

• What are the key aspects of the emerging business models and the essential elements for their success?
• Which are the talents needed inside a company to start the digital re-structuring of the organization?
• How to handle the establishment of strategic alliances for the creation of effective business models?

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Session IV – The role of open innovation as a driver for Industry 4.0

According to the most recognized definition Open Innovation is the “use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively.” (Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation: Researching a New Paradigm, 2006). Innovation is implemented through a new idea of connectivity among providers and customers produced by Industry 4.0 as well as productive processes reshaped by the adoption of new digital solutions.
While Open Innovation has a positive impact on business performances, it also entails a series of challenges, mostly related to intellectual property. It is indeed crucial to deal with the protection of data and intellectual property that are threatened by this flow of information by taking into account the need to draw regulations that could bring benefits to all parties involved.
The session will analyse challenges and opportunities of the Open Innovation approach.

Panelists will discuss the following issues:

• Dos and don’ts in the adoption of the Open Innovation approach from SMEs perspective
• How could the threatens to IP protection be successfully overcome without impeding to fully access open innovation?
• In which fields are companies called to intervene to embrace Industry 4.0 transformation and remain competitive on a global scale?

CONFERENCE AGENDA, 17 MAY 2018

MORNING
10:00 – 10:30	Opening Remarks Elisabetta Gardini Member, European Parliament, Italy Sergio Arzeni President, International Network for SMEs – INSME, Italy
10:30 – 11:00	Empowering the digital economy Gregory Bird Deputy Secretary General, Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics – GCEL, Switzerland
11:00 – 12:00	Session I – Boosting the Innovation Ecosystem for Industry 4.0 Chairman: Giles Merritt Founder and Chairman, Friends of Europe, Belgium Panelists: Alejandro González Hernández Chair, OECD WPSMEE and Director, The Institute of the Entrepreneur – INADEM, Mexico Captain Samuel Salloum Co-Chairman, Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics – GCEL, Switzerland Datuk Hafsah Hashim CEO, SME Corporation, Malaysia Discussion with the floor
12:00 – 14:00	Lunch Break Guest speaker  Matteo Maggiore Director of communication, European Investment Bank, Luxembourg
AFTERNOON
14:00 – 15:15	Session II – The international outlook of Industry 4.0: born global companies, reshoring, sustainable manufacturing, etc. Chairman: Jaime del Castillo President, Información y Desarrollo – INFYDE, Spain Panelists: Patrick Meinhardt Head of Politics, Der Mittelstand – BVMW, Germany Executive Board Member, European Entrepreneurs Christian Dubarry Head of European Affairs, BPI France, France Giacomo Mattinò  Head of Unit, Enterprise Europe Network and SMEs internationalization, ‎European Commission, Belgium Nosipho Khonkwane Executive Manager, Small Enterprise Development Agency – SEDA, South Africa Discussion with the floor
15:15 – 16:30	Session III – How emerging technologies and new business models are reshaping organizations, industries and markets Chairman: Raimund Bröchler Senior Research & Innovation Manager, INTRASOFT International, Luxembourg Panelists: Nadine Levratto CNRS Research Professor, Université Paris Nanterre, EconomiX, France Philippe Vanrie Head of Secretariat, EUREKA Network, Belgium Giuseppe Perrone Senior Manager, EY, Italy Aleardo Furlani Expert S3 Smart Specialization Strategy, Valle D’Aosta Region, Italy Discussion with the floor
16:30 – 17:45	Session IV – The role of open innovation as a driver for Industry 4.0 Chairman: Andrea Di Anselmo Vice-President and Founding Member, META Group Srl, Italy Panelists: Jay Mitra Director, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Essex University Business School, United Kingdom Cristina Vit R&D and Operations Manager, Eidon Lab, Italy Su-Hyun Berg Senior Advisor, Korean SMEs Renewable Energy, South Korea Carlo Nicolais Director, Institutional Relations & Communication, Maire Tecnimont, Italy Chris Decubber Technical Director, European Factories of the Future Research Association -EFFRA, Belgium Discussion with the floor
17:45 – 18:00	Conclusions
19:00 – 22:00	Gala Dinner Brasserie Leopold, Rue du Luxembourg, 35

INSME GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 18 MAY 2018

MORNING
9:00 – 9:15	Welcome Coffee
9:15 – 10:15	General Assembly Chairman: Giovanni Zazzerini Secretary General, International Network for SMEs – INSME, Italy – Updates from members of the INSME Association – Approval of the INSME budget and financial reports
10:15 – 10:45	Exchange of best practices Abdullah Al Jufaili General Manager, SHARAKAH – Fund for Development of Youth Projects, Sultanate of Oman Martin Ruppert Managing Director, IMP3rove – European Innovation Management Academy, Germany Roberto Santolamazza General Director, T2i technology transfer and innovation, Italy
10:45 – 13:00	Partnership building Chairman: Massimo Deandreis General Manager, S.R.M. Economic Research Center related to Intesa Sanpaolo Group, Italy European organisations pitch collaboration opportunities: Despina Anastasopoulos Research & Innovation Manager, INTRASOFT International, Greece Roland Benedikter Co-Head, Eurac Research Center for Advanced Studies, Italy Javier Echarri CEO, European Business & Innovation Centres Network – EBN, Belgium Candace Johnson President, European Business Angels Network – EBAN, Belgium Maryse Louis General Manager, Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Institutes of Economic Sciences – FEMISE, France Zoé Luçon Director Key Partnerships, ANIMA Investment Network, France Esteban Pelayo Director, European Association of Development Agencies – EURADA, Belgium Marie-Elisabeth Rusling CEO & Board Member, Business Angels Europe – The European Confederation for Angel Investing – BAE, Belgium Henryk Stasinski President, Association Free Entrepreneurship, Poland Simone Zeh Atanasovski Principal, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – EBRD, United Kingdom

EUREKA INFORMATIVE SESSION, 18 MAY 2018

AFTERNOON
14:00 – 14:15	Welcome and introduction Philippe Vanrie Head of Secretariat, EUREKA Network, Belgium
14:15 – 14:30	Globalstars – EUREKA International Cooperation Niki Naska Head of Public Affairs, EUREKA Network, Belgium
14:30 – 14:45	EUREKA Cluster Jorge Liz EUREKA Cluster representative, Belgium
14:45 – 15:30	SMART Manufacturing Cluster Joseba Bilbatua Director, SMART AM, Spain
15:30 – 16:00	EUROSTAR 2 – EUREKA / European Commission Joint Programme: International Innovative Projects led by R&D-performing SMEs Peter Chisnall EUROSTARS Programme Manager
16:00 – 16:30	Closing Remarks

Speakers

The 14^th INSME Annual Meeting will be held on the 17^th and 18^th of May in the Room JAN 6Q1 of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium located in Place du Luxembourg.

In order to meet the European Parliament security requirements, we kindly ask you:

• to send your ID or passport scan to secretariat@insme.it;
• to gather at the ex Info Point by 9.00 a.m. on the 17^th of May and by 8.30 a.m. on the 18^th of May in order to facilitate the documents check that will allow you to access the building.

Please make sure to reach the location within the indicated timeframe and to have your ID or passport with you.  After that time access to the European Parliament will not be allowed.

Special rates for your stay in Brussels have been negotiated in the following hotels from the 15^th of May (check-in on the 15^th) to the 18^th of May (check-out on the 19^th).

Thon Hotel EU (4 stars)

Rue de la Loi, 75 (700 meters from the European Parliament)
Website: https://www.thonhotels.com/our-hotels/belgium/brussels/thon-hotel-eu/

In case of any question related to your reservation please contact beeur-hotelplanner@thonhotels.be or telephone + 32 204 3931.

In order to take advantage of the discounted rates please make sure to reserve your room by the 6^th of May.

Please note that each delegate will be responsible for his/her own reservation.

 

*All rates include breakfast

Hotel Royal Centre Best Western (3 stars)

Rue Royale, 160 (2 km from the European Parliament close to the city centre)
Website: http://www.royalcentre.be/en/#.Wqu1cR3OUdU

Please contact reservation@royalcentre.be to book your stay at the Hotel Royal Centre Best Western.

In order to take advantage of the discounted rate please make sure to reserve your room by the 1^st of May.

Please note that each delegate will be responsible for his/her own reservation.

 

 

 

From Zaventem Airport

By bus
From Monday to Friday until 8 p.m. – Line 12 Brussels Airport – Brussels City.
After 8 p.m., weekend and holidays – Line 21 Brussels Airport – Luxembourg.

The bus station is located on level 0, one floor down from the arrivals hall at the airport. Before boarding the bus you can purchase a ticket at one of the GO ticket machines located on platform C of the bus station or inside the airport.

By taxi
Taxis with a taximeter are available in front of the arrivals hall. The fare from the airport to the city centre of Brussels is normally around € 45. Licensed taxis can be recognized by the blue and yellow emblem.

From Charleroi Airport

By bus
A shuttle bus from the airport to Brussels Midi is scheduled each 30 minutes. You can check the timetable and book your ticket at this page.

By train
Train journeys are 60 minutes from Charleroi South Airport to Brussels Schuman. You can check the timetable and book your ticket at this page.

By taxi
The fare from Charleroi airport to Brussels city is normally around €90.

VISA

Nationals of most third countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) are under an obligation to hold a visa for a proposed stay of a maximum duration of 3 months on the territory of the SCHENGEN States.

For more information and to check if you need a VISA to enter Belgium please visit this page.

The INSME Secretariat is at your disposal for any information or assistance you may need. Please do not hesitate to contact us via mail at secretariat@insme.it or by phone at +39 06 68806803.