10-13 May, 2010
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Venue: Hotel Sofitel, Copacabana

The next INSME Annual Meeting will be held in May 2010 from 10 to 13 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event will be co-organised by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service - SEBRAE, INSME Member.

View the video on the location of the 2010 INSME Annual Meeting.

 Download the information flyer on the INSME 2010 Annual Meeting.

 Read also the presentation made by Mr. Barboza, Director of SEBRAE, during the V INSME General Assembly, held in Dubai.

For expressions of interest and details, please contact the INSME Secretariat at:
 insmerio2010@insme.it

More detailed information will be available in the next months. Participation for INSME Members is for free.

 Learn more about former INSME Annual Meetings.

The INSME Secretariat welcomes 2 new Members that take the total number to 79 INSME Members based in 31 countries in 5 continents:


1. EACI - Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation,
with the status of Observer Member (http://ec.europa.eu/eaci);



2. WBAA -World Business Angel Association,
with the status of Associate Member (http://www.wbaa.biz).


The updated mailing list of the INSME Association Members is available on the INSME portal within the Members Area:
http://www.insme.org/

If you have forgotten your username and password to access the Members Area, please contact us at:
secretariat@insme.it

 View the full list of the INSME Members.

 See the eligibility criteria to join INSME and the new 2009 INSME fees.

 Apply for membership in the INSME Association.

On 30th June 2009, the INSME Secretary General made a presentation on INSME's activities to a Korean delegation at INSME premises, Rome.

This visit of the delegation, composed of 17 trainees from public and private Korean organizations, was part of a training programme on Technology commercialization organised by the INSME Members: INNOVA S.p.A and Intrasoft International Luxembourg.

 View the INSME presentation.

The Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF - INSME Member), in cooperation with Intel Corporation, has launched the 5th Arab Technology Business Plan Competition, a regional technology investment competition which aims to provide Arabian entrepreneurs with tools to turn their technological innovation into business opportunities.

The top 2 winners will travel to the USA to represent the Arab World in the world wide finals of the Intel + UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge on November 2009.

Total Cash Awards 42,000 $ USD.

The 18th EBN Congress: Creative Ideas, Smart Solutions, Pragmatic Tools! What Else? co-organised by EBN, in Fez, Morocco, on last 24, 25 and 26 June, included a competition to award the best BICs (Business Innovation Centres) in 6 pre-selected categories. BIC Barcelona Activa has resulted to be the big winner of the event, winning in two different categories: Creativity tools and Innovation Management tools.

To read more about the Awards of the Fez Congress, click here.

Within the framework of a cooperation agreement with EUPIC (EU Project Incubation Centre in China), EBN (European Business and Innovation Centre Network), in association with INSME and UKBI (UK Business Incubation), decided to organise a Study Tour to Chengdu for members and partner networks in order to foster relationships between European and Chinese incubators as well as their client SMEs.

This tour comprises visits to Chinese centres including EUPIC, and the participation to the 4th EU-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair including an EU China Green Tech Forum and Matchmaking Session (October 15th - 19th, 2009).

 Download the Chengdu Study Tour Draft Program.

The launching meeting of the IV edition of the European Commission's co-operation programme, AL INVEST IV, took place on last 19th June. It ended up with the presentation of the main conclusions elaborated by the working groups on the methods and the main action areas to achieve the goals discussed during the event. This phase of the programme, which will run from 2009 to 2012 with a total budget of  50 mln �, aims to support the internationalization of SMEs in Latin America.

Read more at:
 http://www.al-invest4.eu/

The European Centre for Space Applications (ECSA) is a private non profit foundation composed by private members as well as Research Centres and Universities. Funded in 2005 with the aim to monitor and evaluate the environmental data, including the satellite data, spatial applications, robotics, transportation and logistics, ECSA aims to create and to consolidate a network of small companies, also located outside the EU, through the projects financed by the EU.

It became an INSME Member in April 2009.

Read more about ECSA at:
 http://www.ecsacentre.com

The 6th call for trans-national projects of the ERA-NET EraSME initiative will be open until October 30, 2009 with 14 participating funding programs. The call aims to strengthen the competitive capacity of SMEs by enhancing cooperation proposals in all fields of technology.
Moreover, the section "Project Building" provides tools in order to facilitate the finding for potential cooperation partners for participation in this call. 

 For detailed information and relevant documents see section "Help Desk".

Call for papers

The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) invites academics, consultants, managers and other professionals involved in innovation management to submit papers for its 2nd ISPIM Innovation Symposium, to be held in New York City, USA on 6-9 December 2009.

Papers are welcome on the following key themes:

 - Commercialising and financing innovation
 - Entrepreneurship & innovating business models
 - Innovation and innovation policy for economic recovery
 - Lean innovation
 - Measuring and managing innovation to stimulate recovery
 - Methods and tools for innovation
 - Networks and regions of innovation
 - Organisational creativity & idea generation
 - Training and leadership for innovation

Description of the themes to be developed and details on how to apply can be found on the ISPIM Conference website at:
 http://www.symposium.ispim.org or download the brochure.

Deadline to present paper abstracts: 8 November 2009.

Issuer: ENPI CBC-MED (European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument Cross Border Cooperation in the Mediterranean Sea Basin)

Aim and eligibility criteria: The first call for proposals for standard projects aims at promoting cross-border projects between local actors from the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the fields of socio-economic development, environmental sustainability, mobility of persons, goods and capitals, cultural dialogue and local governance. The partnership should involve at least three partners coming from three different countries of which at least one coming from EU Mediterranean Countries (EUMC) and at least one from Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC).

Participating Countries in the Programme include seven EU member states (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain) and eight Mediterranean partner countries (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia).

Budget: �173 million for the period 2007-2013.

Deadline: September 16th, 2009.

Read more at:
 http://www.enpicbcmed.eu/en/index.php?xsl=866&s=29&v=9&c=5902&na=1&n=10

With more than 298 million 'netizens', China connects more people to the internet than any other country. The number of registered '.cn' domain names has increased to 14 million, making '.cn' the largest and fastest growing country suffix in the world. Although the internet acts as a gateway for European SMEs, it also acts as an ideal platform for infringers to sell counterfeit products and to commit fraud. Companies operating in China are facing an increasing number of online threats, such as fraud, counterfeit sales, false affiliation, phishing, slamming, and traffic diversion. This article provides more information about the dangers of online infringement in China and how you can best protect your company and products from infringement.

 Read the article.

On 22 May 2009, the ECAS - European Citizen Action Service - an international non-profit organization acting to create balance between public interest and corporate lobbying - launched the 2009 Guide to European Union Funding - Accessing Europe's largest Donor. This publication provides practical information to NGOs and individuals in the form of funding tips which will guide through all the stages of a fundraising operation and offer hands-on advice on how to secure funds for several projects.

 For more information on ECAS Funding Guide, please, click here.

 To order a copy of the 2009 Guide to European Union Funding, please, fill in the form available here.

IPR Helpdesk, a project financed by the European Union under the CIP Programme, has set up a dedicated section on its portal with free online courses on management of Intellectual Property in EU projects. Each module is patterned in two steps: the lesson itself and the final self-evaluation quiz to test the knowledge of the issues deal with during the lesson.

 To learn more, please, view the online modules activated on IP in FP7 and on IP management in SME actions.

Entrepreneurial exit and entrepreneurial engagement, issued by the EIM Business & Policy Research, gathers data from 24 countries that participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor from 2004 to 2006. The report analyzes the entrepreneurial exit as an indicator of accumulated entrepreneurial human capital and shows how it is positively related to post engagement in various stages of the entrepreneurial process (i.e. potential, intentional, nascent, young, and established entrepreneurship).

 To read more, please, download for free Entrepreneurial exit and entrepreneurial engagement.

The Erasmus Research Institute of Management - ERIM published this study on the relationship between knowledge management, in terms of external acquisition and internal sharing, and innovation behaviour. The results indicate that external acquisition practices play a key role in fostering SMEs' innovativeness while internal sharing practices seem not to have a significant influence.

 To learn more, please, download for free Knowledge management as a strategic tool to foster innovativeness of SMEs.

InfoDev edited a study on the funding challenges and opportunities facing small businesses, in general, and SMEs active in the ICT/ICTE industry in developing countries.
It includes an assessment of financing conditions in ten selected countries (Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine, Morocco, Senegal, Kenya, India, Vietnam and the Philippines) and provides suggestions regarding possible measures to alleviate the financing gap.

 Further information on this study is available at the following site: http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.542.html

 Download Financing Technology Entrepreneurs & SMEs in Developing Countries. 

2nd Chance Entrepreneurs in Action is a site developed and managed by the European Commission's Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry with the aim to disseminate information on all EU policies, actions and initiatives promoting economic growth and development in order to strengthening the competitiveness of EU enterprises.

 For further information, please, visit the 2nd Chance Entrepreneurs in Action website.

The BiD Network is an online marketplace which gathers entrepreneurs, experts and investors from all over the world. It aims to stimulate business opportunities in developing countries by making SME business plans visible and by paving the way for entrepreneurs to access finance and expertise.

 For more information about the BiD Network, please, click here.

The Zone is the bi-monthly newsletter of the Economic Zone World - EZW, a far-reaching enterprise initiative based in the United Arab Emirates and aimed at consolidating the development and management of economic zones and business hubs across the world. This newsletter provides news from the UAE Region, Africa and Europe and other information on EZW portfolio of initiatives with the main aim to strengthen international linkages in order to support the dynamic expansion of its growing customer base.

 To download the current and former issues of The Zone newsletter, please, visit the archive by clicking here.

20-21 July 2009
Milano Med Forum 2009
Organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Milan, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regione Lombardia
Milan, Italy

6-7 August 2009
4th Asia Pacific Conference on Business Incubation and 14th Asian Association of Business Incubation (AABI) General Assembly
Organised by the Asia Pacific Incubation Network (APIN) and supported by infoDev, the Indian Department of Science and Technology
Coimbatore, India

13-14 August 2009
International Forum CLUSTERS 2009
Organised by the Mexican Under Secretary of Economic Development and Employment
Tamaulipas, Mexico

1-2 September 2009
3rd TCI Rural Cluster Conference - Cluster-based economic development in remote areas
Organised by the TCI Network
Bornholm, Denmark  

2 September 2009
SEAANZ conference "Start small - Think big"
Hosted by Massey University in collaboration with the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand - the Australasian affiliate of the International Council for Small Business
Wellington, New Zealand

4-8 September 2009
10th International CINet Conference on Enhancing the Innovation Environment
Organised by the Continuous Innovation Network (CINet)
Brisbane, Australia

7-8 September 2009
Research and entrepreneurship in the knowledge-based economy
Organised by Cespri - Centre for Research on Innovation and Internationalization, Bocconi University
Milan, Italy

7-11 September 2009
2009 TII Summer School
Organised by the Technology Innovation International association (TII)
Ljubljana, Slovenia
  
10-11 September 2009
4th European Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Organized by Academic Conferences International (ACI)
Antwerp, Belgium

15-17 September 2009
European Innovation Conference - Innovation in Mind
Organised by the Lund University in cooperation with Region Sk�ne
Lund, Sweden

16-18 September 2009
25th Anniversary Conference "Science Park's contribution to innovation systems: people, places, partnerships"
Organized by the United Kingdom Science Park Association (UKSPA) in partnership with International Association of Science Park (IASP)
Manchester, United Kingdom

22-25 September 2009
ABIC 2009 "Agricultural biotechnology for better living and a clean environment"
Co-organized by the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and the ABIC Foundation
Bangkok, Thailand

23-25 September 2009
EuroBiO 2009 "The partnering and Tech Transfer event for the Bioindustry"
Co-organised by Package Organisation and Eurasanté - Entreprendre et Réussir
Lille, France 
 
23-25 September 2009
IASP Latin American Division Conference 2009
Organised by IASP - International Association of Science Parks
Monterrey, Mexico 

24-25 September 2009
6th Annual Conference of the Technopolicy Network "Shaping Science Based Clusters"
Organised by the Technopolicy Network
Wageningen, The Netherlands
 
24-26 September 2009
XIX International RESER Conference "Public and Private Services in the New Global Economy"
Organised by the Kopint-T�rki Institute of Economic Research Ltd.
Budapest, Hungary  
 
28-30 September 2009
Promoting Innovation-based Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the UNECE Region
Organised by the United Nation Economic Commission for Europe - UNECE
Geneve, Switzerland 

28-30 September 2009
Arab Women in Science and Technology: Empowerment for the Development of the Arab World
Organised by ASTF - the Arab Science & Technology Foundation
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 
29-30 September 2009
4th European Security Research Conference
Organised by the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) in cooperation with the European Commission.
Stockholm, Sweden

30 September - 3 October 2009
XIV Baltic Dynamics Conference "The Dynamics of Innovation Spaces: Bringing Innovation to Society"
Co-organised by Baltic Association of Science/Technology Parks and Innovation Centres - BASTIC, KTU Regional Science Park, Kaunas Regional Innovation Centre and Kaunas University of Technology
Vilnius, Lithuania