The INSME Association is pleased to announce the next  Italian-Chinese Meeting on Innovative Technologies for SMEs which will take place in Hefei (China, Anhui Province) on 11-20 May, 2007.

Organised by AISCRIS (Italian Association of the Consultancy Firms specialising in Research, Innovation and Development), the aim of this bilateral initiative is to facilitate the transfer of Italian knowledge and of innovative technologies to Chinese SMEs and viceversa. Participation is welcome from Italian entrepreneurs and representatives of institutional and business support intermediaries interested in developing business, scientific and technological cooperation agreements in such fields as: low energy consumption and low environmental impact systems and components for residential building; renewable energy; systems and components for the automobile industry.

 Learn more about the Hefei mission (programme and registration form included)
[in Italian only]

Read about former missions to China organised by AISCRIS and INSME:
 Mission to Qingdao (3-11 November 2006)
 Mission to Tianjin (19-27 January 2007)

For further information, please contact AISCRIS:
 progetto.hefei@hotmail.it

INSME Full Member ASTER, the Agency for Science and Technology of the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy), will take part in the following meetings aimed at presenting Italian industrial and scientific regional excellence in research, innovation and technology transfer in Japan:

• "The Challenge of Biotechnologies", Osaka, 15-16 May
• "From Micro to Nanotechnologies", Tokyo, 17-18 May
• "Technology Districts", Tokyo, 5 June

These business meetings will take place in the framework of the "Italian Spring 2007: the Art of Living and Creating" (March-June 2007), a large-scale business and cultural promotion event organised by the Italian Government to foster relations between Italy and Japan also in the field of investments, science and technology.

Click here for a special focus on technology and investments initiatives [in Italian].

For further information, visit the news section of the INSME portal.

4 April 2007
EASY Project
Early Stage Investors Action for Growth and Innovating Business
Kick-off International Meeting
Paris, France

The EASY Project is a European Commission backed initiative aimed at activating European business angels in trans-national investment activities. Meta Group (Italy, INSME Full Member) is one of the 17 partner organisations involved in it, including EBAN (the European Business Angels Network).

For further information, contact Meta Group:
Dr. Luigi Amati (Meta Group CEO)
 luigi.amati@meta-group.com
 http://www.earlystageinvestors.org

The 2007 Conference of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE, INSME Member) will take place in Glasgow (Scotland, UK) on November 7-9, 2007.

Conference theme: "INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Stimulating Smarter Successful Small Business World-Wide".


For further details on ISBE call, please refer to:
 http://www.isbe2007.org/call4papers.htm

Deadlines for submitting abstract:
- for Refereed Papers: 31 May 2007
- for Discussion Papers and Practical Papers: 30 June 2007

Set up in February 2007, the mission of the Italian-Argentinean Chamber of Commerce (CaCIA), based in Rome and Buenos Aires, is to further develop and promote economic relations between the 2 countries, stimulating business agreements and exchanges involving both institutional and economic players.

CaCIA provides the following services:

• Information services (economic, trade, financial and tax information; announcements of business opportunities; shows and fairs; government incentives for trade; on-line data banks; job announcements);
• Consulting services (setting up new businesses; trade, tax, financial and environmental consulting; intellectual property related support);
• Assistance (partner search in both countries; company set up; certification, etc.).

For further information: 
 http://www.acia.it
 info@acia.it

Under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the EU-Egypt Action Plan was adopted in early March to set the agenda for the EU-Egypt cooperation in the next 4 years. Planned activities in the research and innovation area include:

• the set up of a network of national contact points for the EU Seventh Framework Programme for R&D;
• the development of a patent culture and the establishment of intellectual property offices in technology parks and universities;
• the implementation of interaction mechanisms between research and industry;
• increased participation in international exchange and mobility programmes, in particular the Marie Curie scholarship, promoted by DG Research.

For further details on planned activities, read the EU-Egypt Joint Action Plan.

For additional news regarding innovation and technology transfer related topics, visit the INSME portal: 
 http://www.insme.org/

Keep up to date with the economic development of the Black Sea Region and stay informed on the political and economic issues at stake in this area:
 Read "Black Sea News", edited by BSEC (Black Sea Economic Cooperation), an intergovernmental organisation based in Istanbul.

In the latest issue, a focus on business innovation (see page 4).


"Black Sea News" is published for free on a quarterly basis. To receive it regularly, please send an e-mail with name, function and contact details to:
 info@blacksea-caspian.com 
 c.unal@blacksea-caspian.com

Here is a list of the main European transnational calls currently open and targeting SMEs or SME Associations. These calls fall under the European ERA-NET Scheme, which supports the cooperation and coordination of research activities in Europe, including participation of Third Countries.

EUROTRANS-BIO 2nd Transnational Call for Proposals to Fund Industrial R&D Projects in Biotechnology
Funding is intended to support research intensive SMEs and their strategic partnerships in all fields of biotechnology. At least 2 ETB countries/regions are to be involved.

Participating countries/regions: Austria, Flanders (Belgium), Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the Basque Country (Spain).

Closing date for submitting pre-proposals: 7 May 2007.

 http://www.eurotransbio.net/

3rd Joint CORNET Call for Transnational Collective Research Project proposals
Consortia of associations, federations, trade associations from at least 3 different European CORNET countries or regions are entitled to participate. Any industrial sector or research subject is eligible.

Participating countries/regions: Austria, Walloon Region (Belgium), Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Valencia (Spain), Turkey.

Closing date: 31 May 2007.

 http://www.cornet-era.net/

2nd eTRANET Joint Call for International R&D Projects on ICT for Traditional Manufacturing Industries
All manufacturing sectors are considered for support. Projects with a significant impact on SMEs are encouraged. Preference will be given to applied research or knowledge transfer projects.

Participating countries/regions: Austria, Flanders (Belgium), Cyprus, Finland, France, Spain, Basque Country (Spain), Switzerland and Turkey.

Deadline for submitting projects: 28 May 2007.

 http://www.etranet.net

1st MANUNET transnational call for proposals to fund industrial research projects of Manufacturing SMEs
Funding is intended for challenging and innovative industrial research and development and applied research projects with strong market focus.

Participating countries/regions: Lower Austria, Walloon Region (Belgium), NorthRhein-Westfalia (Germany), Piedmont (Italy), Tuscany (Italy), Gelderland-East Netherlands, Lower Silesia (Poland), Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Basque Country (Spain), Catalonia (Spain), Navarra (Spain), Northern Ireland (UK). 

Opening date: 23 April 2007
Deadline for pre-proposal submission: 18th June 2007.

 http://www.manunet.net/ 

Click here for a summary scheme of participating Countries in currently open ERANET transnational calls.

The European Research Council (ERC) provides Starting Independent Research Grants aiming to support young, up-and-coming researchers who are about to establish or consolidate an independent research team or to start conducting independent research in Europe.

Closing date: 25 April 2007.

 http://erc.europa.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&topicID=96

Within the Israel-Italy Programme for Industrial, Scientific and Technological Research and Development Cooperation, in 2007 joint Italian-Israeli R&D projects can be presented for financial support in the following areas:
medicine, public health and hospital organization; biotechnology; agriculture and food science; new energy sources and natural resource use; applications of informatics to education and scientific research; environment; communication; innovation production processes; space; information technologies, data communication, software; any other areas of mutual interest.

Closing date: 19 April 2007.

For details on how to apply, please refer to:
http://www2.matimop.org.il/1/general/eventitalycall6.asp

The Programme is supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) and the Israeli Industry Center for R&D (MATIMOP).

Launched in late 2006 under the EU Leonardo da Vinci programme, "Ready for Equity" addresses the key issues impeding business angel activity across the European business community. Training curricula for informal investors to improve their investment capacity and for entrepreneurs to prepare them to present their business idea and turn it into a project will be developed.

As a preliminary activity, a mapping exercise regarding training programmes currently offered to investors and entrepreneurs was carried out. Click here for the main findings.

"Ready for Equity" brings together partners involved in business angel activity from UK, Belgium, Malta, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Among them, also EBAN - the European Business Angels Network.

A new network is born!

RIBN's mission is to facilitate Members integration into the European Research Area and the Single Market, enhancing their innovation and business potential.

Membership is open to business support organisations as well as clusters, financial institutions, knowledge centres, regional authorities, individuals and enterprises.

The Network, based in Brussels, currently has 62 Member Organisations in 11 countries: Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom.

RIBN edits a quarterly newsletter, "RIBN Bulletin". Past issues are available at: 
 http://www.ribn.eu/public/bulletin.wlgt

http://www.stren.ind.tn/ 

Launched in March, this website is dedicated to the Scientific and Technological Results Exchange Network (STREN) between Tunisia and the EU.

It highlights specific tools to improve the visibility of Tunisian and EU instruments for the support to science and technology development: funding sources; a collection of useful links to EU R&D information services and relevant news and events.

A partner search facility will soon be available.

STREN is an international project for fostering integration between Tunisian and European Scientific, Technological and Innovation (STI) systems. For updates on the project, subscribe to STREN quarterly newsletter:
 http://www.stren.ind.tn/index.php?id=12,77,0,0,1,0

For further information, please contact: 
� Mrs. Neila Nouira Gongi
General Director of the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy and SME (Project Leader)
 neila.gongi@industrie.gov.tn
Phone: +216 71893321 (Tunis)

Discover the new gateway to biotechnology players in Italy (over 250 in the biodirectory 2007 launched this March):
http://www.biodirectory.it/

Find out about Companies, Academic organisations, Foundation/Associations, Institutions, Investors, Consultancy firms on patents issues, Science and Technology Parks.
Sections of news, facts and trends analysis are also available.

"A Quantitative Evaluation of 26 Nations in Four Global Innovation Competencies"

Governments put innovation high on their national agendas, but much of the money they invest goes to waste because they confuse innovation with invention.

To overcome this, nations should select their role in the global Innovation Network either as Inventor, or Transformer, or Financier, or Broker nations. Forrester Research evaluation shows for 26 different nations which roles they should focus on and with which other nations they should partner to make their policies a success.

The 26 countries evaluated include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.

More on the INSME portal: 
 http://www.insme.org/

Visit the Forrester Research website: 
 http://www.forrester.com/

11-13 April 2007
Western Africa Workshop - "Knowledge Management Capacity for African Research Institutes and Networks"
Organised by Global Development Network (GDN). The agenda will include: leveraging staff knowledge and networks; sharing tacit and explicit knowledge and implementing KM in your organisations.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

16-17 April 2007
Life Science Partnering China & Europe Programme - "The Chinese Partnering Event II"
An initiative of the European Commission's Life Sciences Programme.
Shangai, China

17-18 April 2007
Hannover Technology Cooperation Event 2007
Organised by the Lower Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt Innovation Relay Centre.
Hannover, Germany

19-20 April 2007
Workshop "From Innovation Policy Research To Local Policy Implementation: Strategic Policy Intelligence Guiding Concrete Innovation Support Measure"
Jointly organised by the Six Countries Programme and Forfas. The workshop will focus on how strategic policy intelligence might guide concrete innovation support measures.
Dublin, Ireland

25-26 April 2007
CITEXT 2007 - 11th International Business Meeting on Technical Textiles
Troyes, France

27 April, 2007
"Community Trademark and Design: Protection Strategies and Safeguard"
Itinerant Seminar on Industrial Property co-organised by UIBM (Italian Patent & Trademark Office) and the European Office for Harmonisation of Internal Market (OHIM).
Venice, Italy

� MAY 2007

3-4 May 2007

Organised by the European Association for the Transfer of Technologies, Innovation and Industrial Information (TII) in collaboration with UNESCO.
Paris, France

3-4 May 2007
"Research and Technology Organizations in the European Research Area: Innovation and Competitiveness in an Enlarged Europe"
Organised by the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO) and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
M�nich, Germany

4 May 2007
International SMEs Conference
Organised by BSEC (Black Sea Economic Cooperation).
Chisinau, Rep of Moldova

4-5 May 2007
BioParks 2007
Co-sponsored by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) and the Council for Biotechnology Centres (CBC).
Boston, MA  USA

6-9 May 2007
BIO International Convention - The Global Event for Biotechnology
Boston, MA  USA

10-11 May 2007
ERIK Network Conference - "Knowledge for Regional Innovation: Towards Regions for Economic Change"
The ERIK conference represents a space to debate the role of regions in promoting economic growth through innovation, entrepreneurship and the growth of the knowledge economy.
Brussels, Belgium

13-15 May 2007
European Researchers of Tomorrow - "Crossing The Borders of Academia and Industry"
The conference continues work initiated by conferences organised in the Netherlands (2004), the United Kingdom (2005) and Austria (2006). It complements initiatives led by EUA and EIRMA which focus on fostering cooperation between academia & industry.
Stuttgart, Germany

13-17 May 2007
IAMOT 2007 - 16th International Conference on Management of Technology
Organised by IAMOT (International Association for Management of Technology).
Florida, USA

16-17 May 2007
World Marketing and Innovation Forum 2007 - "New Trends. Latest Theories. Cutting Edge Ideas." 
Among core themes: sales & innovation, creativity and talent management, innovation and design.
Milan, Italy

17-19 May 2007
5th International EMAEE Conference on Innovation - "Globalisation, Services and Innovation: The Changing Dynamics of the Knowledge Economy"
Hosted by CIBI, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Manchester, UK

18-23 May 2007
1st SME Expo Pakistan
Budapest, Hungary

20-23 May 2007
CIP Forum 2007
Organised by the Centre for Intellectual Property Studies.
Göteborg, Sweden

21-23 May 2007
InnoTown 2007
Innovation Norway's annual innovation conference.
�lesund, Norway

22-24 May 2007
2nd Small and Medium Enterprises Forum - "Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Arab Region: Opportunities and Challenges"
Organised by the SMEs Centre at the Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Science in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Professional Integration of Youth.
Tunis, Tunisia

24-25 May 2007
5th IRE Plenary Conference
Organised by IRE (the network of Innovating Regions in Europe),created by the European Commission. During the conference, the IRE Award for Best European Innovation Scheme will be handed out.
Shannon, Ireland

30 May - 01 June 2007
European BioPerspectives - "En Route to The Knowledge-Based Bioeconomy"
Hosted by German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and supported by the European Commission.
Cologne, Germany

30 May 2007
The Third RIBN Business Forum 
Organised by The Slovenian Business and Research Association - SBRA as secretariat of the Research, Innovation and Business Network for Central and South-Eastern Europe - RIBN.
Nova Gorica, Slovenia

31 May 2007
Innovation in Textiles and Apparel
Organised by EURATEX (the European Apparel and Textile Organization) in collaboration with the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing.
Brussels, Belgium

31 May - 1 June 2007
OECD Global Conference on "Enhancing the Role of Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Global Value Chains"
Tokyo, Japan

� JUNE 2007

3-5 June 2007
Global Investment Promotion Summit 2007
Sponsored by UNIDO and the Chinese Industrial Parks Association, supported by the National Development and Reform Commission of China, the Ministry of Commerce of China and organized by Guangxi Provincial Government.
Liuzhou City, China

6-8 June 2007
"Culture as Innovation - The Search for Creative Power in Economies and Societies
This conference will bring together people from universities, research institutes, companies, regional authorities, public sector, governmental and non-governmental organisations. The aim is to promote networking between people from different backgrounds.
Turku, Finland

7-9 June 2007
3rd European Research and Innovation Exhibition
Paris, France

12-13 June 2007
BioDevice Partnering 2007 - "Building Convergent Medical Technologies"
Organised by EBD Group (Conferences & Consulting for the Life Sciences) in partnership with Eucomed (the European Medical Technology Industry Association).
Zurich, Switzerland

13-15 June 2007
ICSB (International Council for Small Business) 2007 World Conference - "At the Crossroads of East and West: New Opportunities for Entrepreneurship and Small Business"
Organised by the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB) in co-operation with the Small Business Institute at the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration (TSEBA).
Turku, Finland

14-16 June 2007
10th Uddevalla Symposium on "Institutions for Knowledge Generation and Knowledge Flows - Building Innovative Capabilities for Regions"
Organised by University West.
Uddevalla, Sweden

17-20 June 2007
ISPIM 2007 Conference: "Innovation for Growth: The Challenges for East & West"
Organised by the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).
Warsaw, Poland

18-19 June 2007
International Conference on: "Reducing Barriers to Entrepreneurship and Encouraging Enterprise Development: Policy Options"
Organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - UNECE.
Geneva, Switzerland

20-22 June 2007
EBN 2007 Annual Congress 
The conference of the European BIC Network (Business and Innovation Centres). Organised in cooperation with The Kent Innovation Partnership (Kent Business and Innovation Centre and Kent County Council).
Canterbury, United Kingdom

25 June 2007 
IBAN Annual Meeting 2007
Organised by the Italian Business Angel Network.
Milan, Italy

29 June-1 July 2007
EARMA Annual Conference 
Organised by the European Association of Research Managers & Administrators.
Warsaw, Poland