Do not miss the next 3-day Annual Conference of the INSME Association, gathering 77 members in 26 Countries.

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

 Draft Agenda [300 Kb]

No participation fee is foreseen for INSME Members and representatives from Chinese Public authorities and International Governmental Organisations.

To participate, please register in time:
 If you are an INSME Association Member (participation for free)
 Registration for Non Members (participation for a fee)

 More about the IV Annual Meeting of the INSME Association

 Find out about former Annual Meetings

For enquiries, please contact the INSME Secretariat:
 insme2008@insme.it
Tel.: +39 06 80972484/466
Fax : +39 06 80972443

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

This international seminar is jointly organised by the International Network for Small and Medium Enterprises (INSME) and the APEC SME Innovation Center (APEC SMEIC, INSME Member). It is 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.

 Download the workshop agenda

Please visit the APEC SMEIC website for registration:
 http://www.apec-smeic.org/news/

 Find out about former INSME Trainings

On April 11th the INSME Secretariat hold a meeting in its premises in Rome with a governmental delegation from Colombia, led by the Colombian Institute for Science and Technology Development (COLCIENCIAS). The meeting was organised in cooperation with ABCNet (INSME Member), very active in the Latin America region. It was an opportunity to exchange knowledge on activities to promote innovation in SMEs.

INSME welcomes the participation of technology institutes and Ministries from Colombia in its Network.

This newly released brochure summarizes the main UNCTAD activities in the field of entrepreneurship and enterprise development, including a feature for the EMPRETEC programme "Women in Business Award", the first Annual Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

Moreover, it provides policy advices to Governments and works with local institutions to implement a series of programmes to spur the creation and healthy growth of SMEs in developing countries.

 Download the brochure

Learn more about the UNCTAD XII Conference in Accra (20-25 April 2008):
 http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=4287&lang=1

The European project Fashion To Future (F2F), coordinated by IPI, has come to an end. The project, supported by the EU under the 6th Framework Programme for R&D, over two years of activity, has helped European SMEs to foster their competitiveness and their skills in pursuing excellence through research, innovation, technology transfer in the enlarged Euro-Mediterranean fashion system.

Read more about the project and the Final F2F Conference in Istanbul:
 http://www.fashiontofuture.eu/f2f/detailed_about.php?id_article=7

The World Intellectual Property Day is an event that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is celebrating annually on April 26. The event was established in 2001 to "raise awareness of the role of intellectual property in daily lives, to encourage respect for the IP rights of others and to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development of societies across the globe". Each year, WIPO and its Member States celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day with a message or theme associated with this event. This year the thematic focus is: Celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property.

Read more about World IP Day 2008:
 http://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/
 
 

The last European Competitiveness Council in mid-March has marked progress in the implementation of the so called Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process, whose main goal is to make the EU "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth".

A new action and development plan has been approved by the 27 Member States and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) was formally launched.

EIT is a new initiative aimed at providing information and advice to the Member States and the European Community on the sustainability of the European economic growth and competitiveness by reinforcing their full potential and innovative capacity. It shall do this by promoting and integrating higher education, research and innovation.

Also read:
 The Practical Guide to EU funding opportunities for research,development and innovation

More about:
 EIT - Mission and main features
 Lisbon Strategy

AREA Science Park is the Italian leading multi-sector science technology park. It is based in Trieste, in the North-Eastearn area, and is supported by the national Ministry of University and Research.

AREA aims at boosting Friuli Venezia Giulia regions competitiveness and business attractiveness by supporting tech-based business development and spreading innovation as well as distinctive knowledge and skills. Its more important activities concern basic and industrial research in four main sectors: life science and biomedical technologies; electronics, informatics and telecommunication; physics and new materials; energy and environment. 

AREA offers a number of value added services for innovation with well proven methodologies: technology transfer, advanced managerial training, networking, clustering and internazionalization.

AREA Science Park is developing its innovation promotion strategy also at national and international level. An international branch office has been open in Beijing (China) in order to foster internationalization of hi-tech Italian SMEs, to attract in Italy investment from China and to establish joint R&D programmes. AREA has joined INSME in March 2008 to reinforce its transnational cooperation capacity.

Find out more:
 Area Science Park Presentation [4.685 Kb]

Etranet is a European network of national funding agencies, supported by the European Commissions ERA-NET Scheme. Etranet has recently launched its 3rd Joint Call for Proposal with a technology focus related to Networked Digital Manufacturing. Its main aim is to improve international competitiveness, sustainability and socio-environmental impact of manufacturing industries in Europe through the strategic application of ICT.

The European countries involved are: Austria; Cyprus; Finland; France; Switzerland; Turkey. The indicative total budget for this call is over 10 million and around 20 projects are expected to be funded.

Deadline for the submission of etranet Project Plan is 30 May 2008.

To find out more about the application process and the funding rules, please visit
 http://www.etranet.net/joint-call.asp

Information is available on the Project website at
 http://www.etranet.net/index.asp

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) has launched its 3rd Innovation Award for Innovative Regions. This award aims to give recognition to the best practices of the European Regional authorities and their institutions which have stimulated, fostered and implemented innovation in their territory.

Participation in the Innovation Award is free of charge.

Deadline for applications is 1 June 2008.

The projects will be evaluated along specific criteria by an international jury and the winning regions will be awarded on 14 November 2008.

 Read more about the 3rd AER Innovation Award

The European Commission is organising a series of one-day events in 2008-2009, the EU Finance Day for SMEs, in the Member States to inform about the EU financial instruments offered to innovative SMEs to get easier access to finance. These events are addressed to financial and business organisations representing SMEs, policy makers in national governments or regional authorities, chambers of commerce, local venture capital and business angels associations, organisations and networks promoting innovation.

For further information about past and future events, please visit:
 http://www.sme-finance-day.eu/index.php?id=10

Launched in November 2007 under the authority of the Ministry of Commerce of P.R. China and the European Commission, the Intellectual Property Rights Protection and Enforcement in China (IPR2) is a EU-China co-operation project whose activities focus on providing expertise to support the effectiveness of enforcement of IPR in China. That confirms commitment on both sides to create a reliable, efficient, transparent, easy accessible and sustainable environment of IP protection in Chine. The project has a 4 years duration (2007-2011) and it is addressed to all Chinese and European right holders, institutions involved in IP, law and policy makers, IPR agencies and institutions.

Read more at:
 http://www.ipr2.org

EURAB is an independent advisory committee of 45 top experts from EU countries created by the European Commission to provide advice and recommendations on the design and implementation of the EU research policy.

EURAB recommendations are published in a report titled: "Energising Europes Knowledge Triangle of Research, Education and Innovation through the Structural Funds".

EURAB focuses its attention on the creation of the European Research Area and the use of policy instruments such as the Community RTD Framework Programmes.

 Download the final report

Published by the European Commission, these guidelines titled "Improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and industry across Europe" provide advise and support to universities and other research institutions to improve knowledge transfer between them, enhancing their links with industry across Europe. It is a starting point for discussions on a common European framework for knowledge transfer and how to turn it in economic outcomes.

Download the publication:
http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/download_en/knowledge_transfe_07.pdf

The European Commission, Directorate General Enterprise and Industry, has published the results of a new analysis called "Benchmarking National and Regional Support Services in field of IPR for SMEs".

The study was commissioned within the framework of the PRO INNO Europe project following the growing attention given to IP (Intellectual Property) rights, for protecting the results of innovation and the involvement of several organisations in this field.

Download the final report in PDF format:
http://www.proinno-europe.eu/admin/uploaded_documents/Benchmarking-Report-SME.pdf

Technology4sme.net is an online mechanism managed by APCTT (Asian and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology) to facilitate technology transfer services with a particular focus on SMEs in the Asia Pacific region. It includes a comprehensive database of sector wise technology offers and requests as well as technology suppliers and seekers. Technology Market represents a web-based market space for technology buyers and sellers to open dialogue with each other and negotiate exchange of technology offers and requests. The overall objective is to help SMEs from the Asia Pacific region to grow by establishing mutually beneficial technology based partnerships.

Visit the website:
 http://www.technology4sme.net/aboutus.aspx

"Passport to Trade" is an EU research initiative with the primary objective to provide on-line business support for SMEs interested in developing business links with companies in other EU countries.

This website acts as a "cultural translator" and provides business people, willing to do international business dealings, with a free on-line guide on the political, economic and business environment on 25 EU countries, as well as practical information on business meetings and practices. The information is available in English, French and German.

Visit the website:
 http://www.businessculture.org/index.aspx?text=1

"WelcomEurope" is a free Newsletter to keep you updated on EU Funding opportunities and is issued twice a month in French and English version. It can be personalised according to your field of activity by choosing among different sectors, including innovation, new technologies, industry, SME policies.

You can subscribe for free at:
 http://www.welcomeurope.com/default.asp?id=41

Learn more about Welcomeurope at:
 http://www.welcomeurope.com/default.asp

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

16-17 May 2008
The EU-LAC Summit Process
Summit of the European Union, Latin America and Caribbean (EU-LAC). 
Lima, Peru

19 May 2008
EASY European Summit: "The Importance of Tax and the Regulatory Environment for Stimulation of Cross-Border Investment in Innovating Early Stage Businesses"
Hosted by the Small Business Support Centre of Ljubljana (CRMG) and supported by the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments.
Ljubljana, Slovenia

22-23 May 2008
IT Rising Stars Meet in China
The largest event in China focused on the most promising IT Start-ups from China and the West.
Beijing, P. R. China

23 May 2008
Applied Policy Seminar: Early-Stage Financing and Investment Readiness of Innovative Enterprises
Organised by UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe), Committee on Economic Cooperation and Integration.
Moscow, Russian Federation

26-28 May 2008 
Innovation Financing Seminar: Toward Regional (transnational - MEDA Scale) Approach of Financing Innovation
Organised by Medibtikar in cooperation with ANIMA Investment Network (INSME Member).
Casablanca, Morocco

27-28 May 2008
VALOR Annual Conference 2008
Organised by PRO-INNO Europe.
Brussels, Belgium

28-29 May 2008
Business in China
European Procurement Summit supported by CBI, Berlin Partner and CCPIT, the Chinese government body responsible for international trade.
Berlin, Germany

4-6 June 2008
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 ISPIM and supported by ESCEM School of Business and Management.
Tours (Loire Valley), France

16-18 June 2008
NanoBio'08
Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation

23-27 June 2008
The UNIDO Pharos Training Workshop: "Management of Change in Industrial Enterprise with UNIDO Pharos Software Suite"
Organised by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and GOLEM IMS GMBH (INSME Member).
Vienna, Austria

1-2 July 2008
Invest in Med Project Kick off Event
Organised by ANIMA Investment Network.
Marseille, France

2-4 July 2008 
IV