Valencia, Spain
6-11 February 2008
CERAMICA INNOVA Technology-Business Brokerage Event

Held in the framework of the CEVISAMA 2008 trade fair (Valencia, 5-9 February).

The event, organised by REDIT, Network of the Technology Institutions of the Region of Valencia (INSME Member), is addressed to all European companies, universities, technology centres, research institutes dealing with innovation in the ceramics field.

This trade fair for technology-business brokerage will be mainly focused on innovations in process technology and machinery as well as in product innovations, in addition to other fields such as environment and energy.

For further information on this event and for details on how to participate, please visit:
 http://www.innovationrelay.net/bemt/home.cfm?eventid=1678&CFID=678603&CFTOKEN=59550809

Geneva, Switzerland
4-5 February 2008

This meeting will be aimed at examining the policy options available to developing countries for improving the competitiveness of their SMEs through improved integration into global value chains.

For further information about the agenda and related documents:
 http://www.unctad.org/Templates/meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=14641&info=not

The EU has launched a financial instrument under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP 2007-2013), the High Growth and Innovative SME Facility (GIF), which aims to facilitate access to finance for SMEs in their early and expansion stage phases.

GIF is operated by the European Investment Fund (EIF) on behalf of the European Commission and  enables EIF to invest in funds supported by business angels.

For intermediaries interested in this opportunity, more information will be available on the EIF website
 www.eif.org

For contacts
 cip.venturecapital@eif.org

The European Union announces its plans to stimulate the science and technology sector in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia [including Kosovo] and Montenegro) according to six strategic objectives for strengthening research cooperation.

In an attempt to bring concrete reality to these objectives, the partners in the Southeast European Era-Net (SEE-ERA.NET) project propose to launch a Regional Cooperation programme with South-East Europe (ReP-SEE). The aim is to  strengthen strategic reform processes for R&D in the Western Balkans region, and to boost integration with EU and other international research activities.

For further information visit the website:
 http://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net/ebulletins/showissue.php3?page=/548/art/9606&ch=1

Formally established in Sweden as an independent non-profit association, think tank and international network in 2001, IKED (Member of INSME since its set up) addresses the issues of the evolving knowledge-based economy.

IKED's objective is to contribute to processes in which analyses and policies lead to real, constructive action supporting better conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship and offering creative responses to the challenges of building a more dynamic and sustainable knowledge-based economy.

Visit IKED website:
 http://www.iked.org

In recent months, IKED has published a number of interesting reports:
"Competence Development for Growth, International Outlook and Analysis"
"Handbook on Women-owned SMEs, Challenges and Opportunities in Policies and Programmes"
"The Role of Venture Capital, Global Trends and Issues from a Nordic Perspective"

 Click here for a review

IKED reports can be ordered at:
 http://www.iked.org/default.asp?id=27&mnu=27

EUROTRANS-BIO Third Transnational Call for Proposals to Fund Industrial R&D Projects in Biotechnology:
 http://www.eurotransbio.net/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=206

National funding is intended to support research-intensive SMEs and their strategic partnerships in all fields of biotechnology.

Consortia consisting of at least two SMEs (see definition) from two different participating EU countries joining the EUROTRANS-BIO Consortium can apply for EUROTRANS-BIO (ETB) funding.

Participating EU countries/regions in ETB: Austria, Basque Country in Spain, Flanders in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands.

Deadline for pre-proposals applications: February 15th 2008.

Stay tuned with the EUROTRANS-BIO website for updates:
 http://eurotransbio.net/

This call is launched in the framework of the CORNET initiative (COllective Research NETworking) to support coordination of national and regional research programmes in Europe. Consortia of associations, federations, trade associations or groupings of industrial enterprises from at least 3 different European CORNET countries or regions are entitled to participate. Any industrial sector or research subject is eligible.

 http://www.cornet-era.net

Closing date: 30 April 2008. A pre-proposal check option is offered until February 29, 2008.

European participating countries/regions: Austria, Walloon Region (Belgium), Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy (to be confirmed), Slovenia, Valencia (Spain), The Netherlands, Turkey.

Call for papers

Issuer: The International Council for Small Business (ICSB).

Theme: "Advancing Small Business and Entrepreneurship: From Research to Results" (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 22-25 June2008). The focus is on the hope to bridge the gap between research and action; engaging in dialogue on the latest research, policy issues, and development trends in small business and entrepreneurship support.

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 18 February 2008.

Details on specific submission requirements and processes are available at:
 http://www.icsb2008.org/documents/2008ICSBSubmissionRequirements_003.PDF

MNT ERA-Net transnational call 2008 will be open until April 28, 2008 with 17 participating funding programmes (list of participating countries).

The call aims at funding trans-national, application oriented, high risk R&D projects related to Micro and Nano Technologies. Expected proposals will be smaller than those submitted to the EU Framework Programme.

For further details it is strongly recommended to contact applicants' regional/national funding agency.

Pre-proposal are mandatory and have to be submitted by February 28th , 2008.

Read more at:
 http://www.mnt-era.net/MNT

MATERA is a European network project for organisations funding the field of material science and technology. The objective of MATERA is to strengthen the bases for durable European partnerships in RTD planning and collaboration, to improve the diffusion and transfer of knowledge and skills in Europe.
 
The third transnational call for proposals is open until 28 April, 2008 for industry, universities and research centres. Consortia must consist of at least three partners from at least two countries/regions (if industry is participating, even only two partners are sufficient). See participating countries and regions.

Pre-proposals are mandatory and have to be submitted by February 28, 2008.

Read more at:
 http://projects.tekes.fi/opencms/opencms/Projects/MATERA/Call_2008.html

For one week, 17-23 November 2008, millions of young people around the world are invited to join a new worldwide initiative aimed to generate new entrepreneurial ideas and to seek better ways of doing things.

Dozens of countries are coming together for the first time to host the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity.

Private and Public Organisations willing to host, plan and implement this initiative in their country can send an application to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation that has launched this initiative. Learn more at:
 http://unleashingideas.org/welcome

To stay updated, subscribe to the newsletter:
 http://unleashingideas.org/newsletter

INSME is considering its involvement as a partner.

In the latest annual Global Innovation 1000 survey of the world's largest corporate R&D spenders, Booz Allen Hamilton experts found no correlation between how much companies spend on R&D and their innovation success. Rather, the most successful companies align their innovation efforts with corporate strategy and listen to their customers every step of the way.

Learn more about the 2007 Booz Allen Hamilton Global Innovation 1000:
 http://www.strategy-business.com/resiliencereport/resilience/rr00053

 Download the full report

Published by FORA, the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority's Division for Research and Analysis on behalf of the Danish Innovation Council, the 4th edition of the InnovationMonitor shows which countries have reached the most important improvements in terms of performance and framework conditions. In particular, the report analyses how Denmark has taken a significant step towards realising the Government's goal, that is to have the world's most competitive economy.

The report is available in English:
 http://www.foranet.dk/upload/im2007_eng.pdf

"Creating a conducive environment for higher competitiveness and effective national innovation systems. Lessons learned from the experiences of UNECE countries"

This publication is the result of the collaborative effort of the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Team of Specialists on Innovation and Competitiveness Policies in 2007 (TOS-ICP). It provides an overview of the experiences in UNECE member countries in creating a conducive environment for the generation and diffusion of innovation and for achieving higher economic growth based on enhanced, innovation-driven competitiveness.

 http://www.unece.org/ceci/publications/icp.pdf

Countries seeking guidance on how to invigorate their economies through the creation of high-growth businesses will soon have a new online resource.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are going to launch a new portal that will serve as an online destination for entrepreneurship research, educational content, policy papers and entrepreneurship events worldwide, creating a one-stop resource for domestic and international interest in the American approach to entrepreneurship.

A preview of the portal is already available at:
 http://www.entrepreneurship.gov

The Newsletter of the Medibtikar programme (MEDiterranean and Ibtikar, Arabic for Innovation) is a regular and useful freely available source of information on the latest updates about the programme implementation, including news on the MEDA Region and Europe to what concerns innovation and technology transfer.

The Medibtikar Programme (2006-2009) is supported by the European Commission and is managed by an international consortium led by Intrasoft International (INSME Member).

Read the latest issue at:
 http://www.medibtikar.eu/spip.php?rubrique175&PHPSESSID=af610e1cab4fc363f2a2e619636aa938

Learn more about the Medibtikar Programme:
 http://www.medibtikar.eu

31 January - 1 February 2008
OECD Workshop on Partnerships for Development & Diffusion of Innovation
Jointly organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD) and the Autonomous Province of Trento. Participation is upon invitation only.
Trento, Italy

30-31 January and 1 February 2008
ASTP Training Courses 2008: "Fundamental of Technology Transfer" and "Building and Financing Spinouts"
Organised by the Association of European Science and Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP) in collaboration with Praxis (UK). Hosted by the Austria Wirtschaft Service.
Vienna, Austria 

31 January - 1 February 2008
ProTon Europe Fifth Annual Conference: "Building Successful Partnerships"
Organised in collaboration with COREP (Consortium for Research and Lifelong Education) and Netval, the Italian Association of Knowledge Transfer Offices.
Turin, Italy

7-10 February 2008
Innovative Technologies for Manufacturing Expo
Organised by the World Trade Centre Mumbai.
Mumbai, India 

12-14 February 2008
2nd International Conference on "Technology and Innovation For Knowledge Management"
Organised by the National Productivity Council and sponsored by APO (Asian Productivity Organisation).
New Delhi, India 

15 February 2008
"European Fashion and Innovation in tandem with EU Values: a Win-Win Formula"
Organised by the European Commission with the support of the Italian Government.
Milan, Italy

3-5 March 2008
INTED 2008 - International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Organised by the International Association of Technology, Education and Development (IATED).
Valencia, Spain

5-7 March 2008
The 6th Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research (IECER) 2008
Organised by the University of Regensburg.
Regensburg, Germany  
 
8-9 March 2008
10th WOIBEX - Global Businesswomen & Leaders Summit
Woibex 2008 will bring global business and government women leaders and professionals face-to-face with new trends and challenges in an environment that fosters knowledge building.
Dubai, UAE 

10-13 March 2008
Nanotech2008 - Nanotechnology for Industry 2015
International conference jointly organised by Airi/Nanotec IT and Veneto Nanotech with the collaboration of Regione Veneto.
Venice, Italy

18-19 March 2008
INNOVACT - The European Forum for Innovative Growth Companies
Reims, France 

24-28 March 2008
MRS Symposium PP: The Business of Nanotechnology
This symposium aims to address the intersections of scientific research and business considerations in the nanotechnology space.
San Francisco, United States 
 
29-31 March 2008
International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks
Co-organised by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Qatar Foundation (Qatar).
Doha, Qatar 
 
31 March - 04 April 2008
The CINet PhD Seminar on Research in Continuous Innovation
Organised by the Continuous Innovation Network (CINet).
Z�rich, Switzerland