Issue N° 105 - December 2012

In this Issue:

INSMEnews!

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Keep up to date on innovation matters worldwide with the INSME Association!

Dear INSMEnews Readers,

2012 is coming to an end - a year full of challenges, a good year, a year marked by many positive moments and developments.

We started a journey together, we managed to grow and cross the "magic 100" line and implement our services to reach a broad Community also thanks to the new INSMEblog – achievements that helped INSME reach new targets, bring together new stakeholders from diverse geographic areas and make further inspiration and constructive collaboration possible.

I would like to express my gratitude to all of you, especially to the INSME Board, thank you for your inputs, support and involvement in our activities in 2012.

It is my privilege to serve as Secretary General!

 

 

Stay tuned and follow us on our way towards the 9th INSME Annual Meeting at Izmir/Turkey from the 21st to the 24th of May 2013 with the title "The Governance of Innovation: building an innovative Eco-System for SMEs".

All information is available at www.2013.insme.org; more to follow!

...and now as usual enjoy your reading!

Ms. Christin Pfeiffer

INSME Secretary general

 

The INSME Team welcomes your comments and inputs for further improvement of this service.

Subscribe to INSMEnews and you will receive it via e-mail as soon as it is available for non-Members (one month after its official launch).

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Supporting organisations:

Updates on the life of the INSME Network

9th INSME Annual Meeting Website

Book your calendar for the 9th INSME Annual Meeting, takingplace from the 21st to the 24th of May 2013 in Izmir, Turkey. The event is co-organized by IZKA - IZMIR Development Agency (INSME Member) under the theme: "The Governance of Innovation: building an innovative Eco-System for SMEs".

The dedicated website is now available and soon you might be able to find all the information about the agenda, the venue and the registration procedures.

For further details the INSME Secretariat is on your disposal at insme2013@insme.it

Please refer to this email address just for issues related to the Annual Meeting.

New: INSMEblog

INSME is proud to present the new INSMEblog - Your fast track for innovation!

The blog intends to be a new space where ideas, projects, hints and visions on innovation for the benefit of Small and Medium Enterprises can be shared, developed and discussed.

The blog is public and everyone can read and comment on the articles.

The articles will be selected and posted by the INSME Secretariat, giving priority to the contributions of the Members of the network.

In the first article, Innovation Ecosystem for SMEs, Dr. Hamsa Thota, the President of Innovation Business Development, Inc. (INSME Member), defines innovation and introduces its basics to actors involved in the product innovation ecosystem. He also highlights relevant SME success factors and risks in the Ecosystem.

Follow INSMEblog and help us to make grow it!

Welcoming new INSME members

INSME is delighted to welcome three new Members, who joined our Network in November:

Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences - KFAS is a private non-for-profit organization. It aims at supporting the sustainable development of the State of Kuwait, building a strong Science, Technology and Innovation system and culture. The KFAS initiatives include improving public understanding of science; strengthening innovation and research capacity and enhancing the enabling cultural environment; supporting the gifted and talented; translating knowledge into innovation; and encouraging more private technological capability

To read more, visit the official KFAS website.


ICE - the Italian Trade Promotion Agency is a public body financed by the Ministry of Economic Development and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It promotes the internationalisation of the Italian companies, in line with the strategies of the Ministry for Economic Development. ICE provides information, support and advice to Italian and foreign companies.

In addition to the Rome headquarters, ICE operates worldwide from a large network of Trade Promotion Offices linked to Italian embassies and consulates and working closely with local authorities and businesses.

ICE provides a wide range of services overseas helping Italian and foreign businesses to connect with each other: identification of possible business partners, bilateral trade meetings with Italian companies, trade delegation visits to Italy, official participation in local fairs and exhibitions, forums and seminars with Italian experts.

To read more, visit the official ICE websites: italian - english


FIN MANAGEMENT CONSULTING srl is an Italian company that aims to provide advice and assistance for the market analysis; identification of the driver of the sector development; analysis of industrial strategies and possible investment opportunities;implementation of check-ups for the evaluation of financial performance; identification of operations and / or financial support granted that best meet the strategic objectives.

To read more, visit the official website.


At present INSME includes 101 Members in 40 countries.

To see the INSME Members' profiles please visit http://insme.org/insme-members

If you're an INSME Member, you can find more information about other Members in the "Members area" of the INSME Portal by logging in.

If you are interested in joining INSME, please contact us.

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News and contributions from the INSME Members

Izmir Regional Innovation Strategy studies (IZKA)

Izmir Development Agency - IZKA (INSME Member) started "Formation of Izmir Regional Innovation Strategy" project with Ege University Research and Application Center of Science and Technology (EBILTEM) in May 2011.

After a year, the Project Team drew up a very detailed report about the innovation potential of Izmir aiming at preparing an action plan to improve this potential.

In a globalized market, this is a good search example for an innovation strategy at regional level.

You can read the full report here (light version - 2.5Mb)
or here (high resolution version with images - 31Mb).

Final conference on the project "Development of Enterprise Europe Network in Russia"

The final conference on the closure of the project "Development of Enterprise Network in Russia" was held in EU Delegation in the Russian Federation on the 2nd of November.

Russian Agency for Small and Medium Business Support (INSME Member) acted as a moderator. The project was initiated by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation and aimed at the employee training and education of Enterprise Europe Network Russia regional centers within its development in Russia.

The project was carried out during the year 2012 under the program "Partnership for Modernization" between Russia and EU.

At the end of the conference European and Russian moderators marked the need to keep cooperating in the field of employee training and education in regional centers of the network, with the purpose of increasing the services quality and work efficiency.

Read more about the conference at this page.

How the BRICS are achieving competitiveness, innovation and job creation

UNIDO (INSME Member) organized a roundtable meeting in Vienna on the 20th of November 2012 on the occasion of the 40th session of the UNIDO Industrial Development Board, to discuss the challenges that the BRICS countries are currently facing in achieving higher levels of competitiveness, innovation and employment.

Senior Government representatives from the BRICS agreed on the importance of the manufacturing sector as a key element to drive economic development, technological progress, job creation and poverty alleviation and emphasized the important role played by the BRICS countries as inspirational models for the developing ones.

A new UNIDO publication Structural change, poverty, reduction and industrial policy in the BRICS - was launched at the event.

UNIDO representatives voiced their interest in contributing to the March 2013 BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa

Find out more at this page.

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INSME's Picks in the News

Resolution of the European Economic and Social Committee on "MORE EUROPE"

The Resolution adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in November 2012, highlighted the need for a dynamic growth model to build a strong, sustainable, social and competitive Europe.

The EESC calls for "More Europe" and for "Civil society involvement in the process of framing EU policies and decisions". EU institutions can solve their crisis, opening the doors to civil society, citizens and citizen organizations, establishing ongoing dialogue that can bridge the existing gap.

To find out more, please click here.

EU/US transatlantic cooperation: Help SMEs go international

Supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU and US to access markets on the other side of the Atlantic has been the central topic of the 4th EU-US SME Workshop, in Washington DC, on the 3rd and 4th of December 2012.

Other topics discussed at the meeting were the development of crowd funding, the improvement of information on standards for products, the promotion of entrepreneurship to encourage more Europeans and Americans to become their own boss, with special reference to youth and women SMEs.

Read more at this page.

Promoting Cooperatives Beyond 2012

The Year of Cooperatives (IYC) 2012 under the theme "Promoting Cooperatives Beyond 2012" was celebrated, from the 19th to the 20th of November 2012 in New York

The event was organized by DESA's Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) and focused on the role that cooperative enterprises can play to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. These themes were arranged to highlight the important role of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development.

To learn more, please click here.

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INSME's Picks in the Web

Innovation Spaces: A New Frontier in Collaboration

Elisa O'Donnell shows the importance of considering the three dimensions of innovation space: the mind space, the physical space inside and outside the organization, and the virtual space.

Read the full article.

Don't Innovate. Create a Culture of Innovation

According to Scott Edinger, innovation has more to do with creating a stimulating environment than having single brilliant ideas.

Read here his point of view.

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About IPR...in China

IPR CHINA SME Help Desk: Registering new Top Level Domain names in China

Nowadays, being present on the Internet is a key factor for success. This is very true also for the Chinese market, since every fourth person on the Web is from China. This article will help you to know the new rules about registering new Top Level Domain names in China.

Read the article

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Tenders, Calls & Consultations

EU: Information and Communication Technologies call 11

Objective of this call is to improve the competitiveness of European industry and enable Europe to master and shape future developments in ICT so that the demands of its society and economy meet.

Publication Date: 18th of September 2012

Budget: € 236.500.000

Deadline: 16th of April 2013 at 17:00 (Brussels local time)

More information at this page.

EU: Prizes for Innovation in Public Administration

The European Commission plans to award up to nine Prizes for Innovation in Public Administration following a contest. The prizes will reward excellence and innovation in successful, already running, and innovative public initiatives managed by any national, regional or local public administrations from EU Member States or Associated Countries of the Research Framework Programme. The awarded money of €.100,000 per prize winner will be used by the winning public administration to scale up and expand their initiative thereby leveraging and inducing further excellence and innovation in public administration.

Publication Date: 10th of July 2012

Budget: € 900.000

Deadline: 15th of February 2013 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)

More information at this page.

5th Call for Proposal for the SWITCH-Asia Programme

The European Commission launched the 5th Call for Proposal for the SWITCH-Asia Programme. The 5th Call for Proposals will offer grants for the total amount of € 19.600.000, with Individual grants ranging from € 500.000 to € 2.000. Project proposals where business intermediaries (such as business associatons, Industry associatons, Service providers) as well as SMEs' business partners (such as retailers or financial institution) and policy‐makers will play a role in the proposed activities are especially welcome.

Deadline for submission of concept notes is 2nd of January 2013.

More information at this page.

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Interesting Initiatives

EU-MED-Gateway

The EU-MED Gateway is a cooperation platform that aims at fostering strategic partnerships in the Textile and Clothing sector in the Mediterranean basin.

EUMED-GATEWAY.EU was the main sponsor of the event "Milano Med Forum" which took place in Milan, from the 12th to 13th of November 2012.

Treviso Tecnologia (INSME Member) attended the "Economic and Financial Forum of the Euro-Mediterranean area" sponsoring the event and promoting the TEMP initiative developed for the cooperation in the textile & clothing industry.

To learn more, please click here.

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Publications

Latin American Economic Outlook 2013 SME Policies for Structural Change

The present Report is the result of the joint efforts of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

SME's have a key role in enhancing Latin America's potential growth. A more integrated approach to public policy may empower SMEs as agent of structural changes and productivity growth.

The Report explores key policy areas that address some of the main challenges to SMEs in the region including access to finance, skill development, innovation, and productive development.

Many of these tasks require institutions that are able to lead complex processes while being flexible to adapt to the changing requirements of the productive sector.

Great challenges need to be faced by SMEs, but public policies will help overcome these barriers.

Please note that the Publication is also available in French, Spanish and Portuguese.

For further details, please click here.

The Smart Guide to Service Innovation

This Guidebook has been produced by the European Commission with the aim to provide information on the use of EU Structural Funds. It has been presented during the 10th edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities - Open Days - in Brussels in October 2012.

This Smart Guide is addressed to all national, regional and local stakeholders interested in promoting regional structural change and industrial modernization.

The guide aims at illustrating how strategic regional public support can offer small and

medium-sized enterprises a favorable environment and support them to better capitalize on service innovation, in order to stay competitive in the global market.

To download the Guide, please click here.

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Recommended Website

Minka-dev

Minka-Dev is a platform that connects the needs and aspirations of society's most disadvantaged groups with innovative, inclusive and sustainable business solutions.

The Minka-Dev platform promotes equal access to opportunities, favoring the creation of economic development ecosystems that are comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable.

Minka-dev has various forms of collaboration with companies and entrepreneurs interested in building business with social / environmental impact.

To read more, visit Minka-dev website.

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Recommended Newsletter

World Technopolis Association(WTA) Newsletter

The WTA Newsletter reviews the major policies and business activities of WTA (INSME Member).

It provides opportunities for exchanging advanced experiences in terms of regional development policies, facilitates the collaborative partnership among core universities located in technopolices. It also promotes cutting-edge technology transfer and exchange of information on technopolis development.

To read the November issue, please click here.

For further information, please visit the WTA's official website.

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Events

Highlighted events

17th - 18th January 2013
EBAN's 11th Winter University "Improving Exits for successful Investments"
Istanbul, Turkey

The 11th EBAN Winter University will take place in Istanbul on the 17th and 18th of January 2013 and will be focused on Exits.

The Winter University, organized by EBAN - The European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds, and other Early Stage Market Players (INSME Member), will host an interesting debate around investors with strong experience in going through exit processes so that people can learn and share their own experiences.

Other relevant topics will be treated such as the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the relation between angel investing and public support and the corporate investors.

Turkey has transformed itself into an entrepreneurial, innovative economy. The Winter University will represent a good chance to find new business opportunities in that region.

To learn more, please click here.

Future International meetings, workshops, seminars selected by INSME

22nd - 23rd of December 2012
2012 3rd International Conference on Economics, Business and Management - ICEBM 2012
Organized by International Economics Development and Research Center (IEDRC)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

23rd - 30th of January 2013
Fifth International IPR Conference "GIPC 2013"
Organized by ITAG Business Solutions Ltd.
Bangalore, India

24th of January 2013
2nd Danube Financing Dialogue
Hosted by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) and organized in the framework of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
Belgrade, Serbia

28th of January 2013
Workshop on the Role of IP in Enhancing the Competitiveness of SMEs
Organized by WIPO
Beirut, Lebanon

28th - 30th of January 2013
Green Ventures 2013
Organized by Potsdam Chamber of Industry and Commerce
Leipzig, Germany

29th of January 2013
Energy Innovation 2013: Clean Energy, Ready for Primetime?
Co-organized by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Washington, D.C., United States

31st of January 2013
Where the margin is 2013
Organized by IKAR
Moscow, Russia

13th - 14th of February 2013
Transfiere "2nd European Meeting on Science, Technology and Innovation"
Organized by Trade Fairs and Congress Centre of Malaga, Department of Economy, Tax and Personnel of Malaga City Hall
Malaga, Spain

14th of February 2013
Techinnov 2013
Co-organized by CCI Essonne and the Chamber of Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris
Paris, France

19th - 20th of February 2013
Business Innovation Summit 2013: Innovation for the Corporation
Organized by the Conference Board of Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

4th - 6th of March 2013
7th Annual Front End of Innovation EMEA (FEI 2013)
Co-organized by the Institute for International Research and ISPIM
Copenhagen, Denmark


20th - 22nd of March 2013
7th Annual University Startups Conference 2013
Organized by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2)
Washington, D.C., United States

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