Keep up to date on innovation matters worldwide with the INSME Association!
Dear INSMEnews Readers,
the first month of promising 2016 is already over and INSME is looking forward to its 12th INSME Annual Meeting at Doha/Qatar.
"Enabling Smart SMEs as Key to Success" is our goal; together with our Members, partners and followers we are preparing panel discussions, designing training workshops and arranging innovative partnering occasions for our participants.
Be surprised! :)
In the meantime let me suggest to give the following a thought:
"We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."
(Thomas S. Monson)
...and now as usual enjoy your reading!
Ms. Christin Pfeiffer
INSME Secretary General
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The 12th INSME Annual Meeting on "Enabling Smart SMEs as Key to Success" is the event that brings support to innovative entrepreneurship to the next level. During the three-day initiative participants will acquire tools and know-how to turn ideas into action and network with business thought-leaders who will cover priority topics on the global agenda over three panel sessions dedicated to Smart Innovation Ecosystems, Innovative Financing Solutions and Human Capital & Talent.
Through the INSME - Qatar Development Bank International Training on "Design Thinking for Innovation in Practice", a by invitation only expert workshop on "Co-developing an Innovative Training on Entrepreneurship" and an innovation tour to leading institutions at Doha, participants will also benefit from the exclusive possibility to share views with peers and master proper skills to drive innovation and seize growth opportunities in their organizations.
One of the world's fastest growing cities is hosting this year's initiatives: Doha (Qatar), a city that is more and more becoming a well-favored location for foreign investors given the fair balance between state-of-the-art innovation and tradition.
Discover all the initiatives of this year's event at www.2016.insme.org and join the INSME Community from the 12th to the 14th of April at Doha!
For any further information, please contact 2016@insme.it.
In 2015 INSME kicked off a new service enabling INSME Members to develop key skills that shape the organization's competitiveness and lead to a lasting success: tailor-made capacity building initiatives.
The personalized trainings are based on a close cooperation with the beneficiaries of the training programme, which express the desired content of the programme depending on their priorities and interests. Therefore trainings vary concerning their structure and duration and can consist of a combination of round tables, face-to-face training sessions, distance learning (e-learning) elements, expert workshops etc. By drawing on the extremely diversified INSME expert portfolio, INSME is in the perfect position to select most appropriate experts who best embody the expertise required.
The training programme on "The Italian Entrepreneurial Model" organized for the National Entrepreneurial Institute of Saudi Arabia (INSME Member) has pioneered the capacity building initiatives of the network marking a success and showed a broad consensus from the 32 Branch Leaders, who highly appreciated the selection of experts and defined the knowledge shared as s valuable input to their daily work.
Participants were offered the opportunity to follow-up with international experts for future cooperation projects.
Please contact secretariat@insme.it to learn more about the capacity building initiatives.
The NBS' Sustainability Centres Community highlights the possibility for directors, faculty members and deans globally to join an international consortium that meets annually to advance business sustainability teaching. The Sustainability Curriculum Consortium is built upon the idea of the Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR) to combine two separate but complementary initiatives it was engaged in: the Partners in Business Ethics (PBE) and the Curriculum Think Tank (CTT).
The former is an annual conference that gathers academics and managers to discuss ethics teaching. The latter aims at sharing best practices in the field of teaching of business ethics and corporate social responsibility.
By joining the Sustainability Curriculum Consortium participants will be part of a unique group of influencers who deliver curricula and whose input can improve curriculum relevance. The Sustainability Curriculum Consortium brings together academics and managers of business schools to present case studies based on their own experience and steer the debate on business ethics by combining top-down and bottom-up approaches. Stakeholders involved will also take advantage of the opportunity to jointly develop plans to assess the impact of their own programs and courses by involving students of the academic institutions they represent.
To join the Sustainability Curriculum Consortium, stakeholders are invited to register for the consortium's two annual events and join the PBE Executive Committee, by contacting Mr. Mark Meany, Executive Director at the CESR, at this email.
For any further information about this initiative, please click here.
Building on the success of the inaugural course delivered in 2015, UNCTAD's (INSME Member) Virtual Institute launched the second online course on "Trade and Gender: Unfolding the Links" providing participants with relevant tools to mainstream trade and gender considerations into research, project/programme development and policy-making.
172 were the applications received and 100 students have been selected and granted with a scholarship funded by the Government of Finland. The selection process also took participants' geographical origin into account: students represent 56 different countries, including developing regions as well as several economies in transition. Besides the geographical composition, the diversity of stakeholders and the related fields of competence constitute a fair balance among academic institutions, government agencies, international organizations and civil society.
UNCTAD's Virtual Institute additionally offers courses on trade and poverty, non-tariff measures classification and data collection, consisting of multimedia lectures featuring international experts and supporting materials as well as tutoring by UNCTAD experts.
For any further information about the course on Trade and Gender, please click here.
To get more information about the services offered by UNCTAD's Virtual Institute, please click here.
"Opportunities for SMEs in the Tourism Sector" was the topic of the latest Zubair SEC's (INSME Member) monthly session "Tajribati", an initiative supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses by providing them with a platform to discuss topics and trends with experts in their fields of interest.
The discussion with specialists from the tourism industry unveiled three main insights:
A case study has been presented, highlighting the inspiring experience of Mr. Amer Al Rawahi, owner of Arabs Adventurers Company, who started his activity in the tourism sector as a driver for big tourism companies and ended up with establishing his own company in 2011. With the support of ZUBAIR SEC, Mr. Amer Al Rawahi also had the opportunity to start internationalizing his experience by developing strategic partnerships with Spanish tourism companies.
Learn more here.
This article by Angels Maso from the World Bank shows that in 2016 Latin America will have to adapt to a new reality of low growth, mainly due to the slowdown in China, among other reasons. Mr. Augusto de la Torre, Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean for the World Bank, stated that this new situation will probably generate social problems and increase income inequality even though this does not have to de-incentivize the desire to work and create jobs. Regarding self-employment, the region is renowned for the notable entrepreneurial spirit: today, 60% of Latin Americans of working age own their own business or work for a small company, and these initiatives are expected to maintain their relevance in the Latin American labour market in 2016.
A special focus has to be put on human capital and a well-qualified workforce. The low quality of education remains a major concern in the region, as improvements in the education system are fundamental to compete against big players in the international market. Actions to preserve the environment will also be vital for Latin America, that would be one of the world's most affected regions by climate change if temperatures were to rise more than 2C by 2100.
Learn more here.
The Asian Development Bank's operations (including approvals of loans and grants, technical assistance and co-financing) reached a record of $27.15 billion in 2015 - an increase of about 19% over the $22.89 billion in 2014.
These figures reflect the record performance achieved by ADB in various sectors during the last year, due to the increasing demand for its operations in the Asian and Pacific Region. In the field of PPP projects, ADB established an Office of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to effectively mobilize financial resources and management skills from the private sector for infrastructure development.
ADB also implemented seven sector groups as for example energy and transport and eight thematic groups as governance and gender, which work across operations departments to strengthen its knowledge services and provide innovative solutions to client countries.
ADB also increased its efforts in terms of climate finance through three main operations: over 2015, ADB announced it would double its annual climate financing to $6 billion by 2020, issued its first green bond and approved its first policy-based loan in the People's Republic of China to improve air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.
Learn more here.
The term intrapreneur identifies an employee which uses entrepreneurial skills to develop a special idea and project within a company.
Nowadays identifying intrapreneurship in a company is becoming fundamental to retain talent and save the company's future.
In this article, Yannick Khayati presents the six skills an intrapreneur should foster to become successful in a company:
Read the article here.
Successful innovation involves a level of prediction, this is what is stated by Daniel Nolan, who highlights six categories that might provide great opportunities for small and medium companies willing to innovate:
To read the article, please click here.
Urban Innovative Actions is an initiative of the European Commission aiming at providing European urban areas with resources to test innovative solutions to main urban challenges.
In this frame a call for proposals has been launched to select projects testing new and innovative ideas on the following topics:
The call is open to urban authorities - or groups of urban authorities - of local administrative units comprising at least 50.000 inhabitants including cross-border associations or groupings, associations or groupings in different regions and/or Member States. Considering the development of strong partnerships between public bodies, the private sector and civil society as a cornerstone of efficient urban development policies, the Urban Innovative Actions Initiatives- UIA invites to adopt a participative approach.
Selected projects will be co-financed up to the 80% of the total eligible costs by the European Regional Development Fund.
The deadline for submission is the 31st of March 2016.
To know more about the Urban Innovative Actions Initiatives and to submit your proposal please visit this page.
The Committee of the Regions based in Brussels promotes the European Entrepreneurial Region Award 2017, an initiative aiming at:
The award is open to those European regions demonstrating a forward-looking and credible entrepreneurial strategy able to contribute to the implementation of the SBA, with a particular attention to the following principles: "Think Small First", "Make public administrations responsive to SMEs' needs" and "Support SMEs to benefit from the growth of markets".
In order to be eligible, applicants from all EU territories must have the necessary political competence to implement a comprehensive strategy aimed at mainstreaming SBA principles. Regions are defined in the broadest sense, including communities, autonomous communities, departments, Länder, provinces, counties, metropolitan areas, large cities, as well as cross-border territories with legal personality.
Successful regions will be granted with the label "European Entrepreneurial Region" (EER).
The application procedure will be open until the 18th of March 2016.
Please visit the Committee of the Regions website to know more about the award.
With the objective of fostering growth, creating jobs and responding to societal challenges, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises - EASME has recently launched a competitive dialogue for SME Instrument Business Community and Academy. Through this competitive dialogue EASME aims at defining a solution to increase the economic impact of the grants and of the business innovation coaching for funded SMEs, through Commercialization Services including: access to finance, access to markets, partnering, networking and learning opportunities.
The SME Instrument is divided in 3 different phases:
Successful applicants will receive a grant and a personalized business innovation coaching.
EASME invites candidates from the Member States of the European Union and the European Economic Area to participate in the tender. Participation is also open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons in a third country which has a special agreement with the EU in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in the agreement.
The deadline for submissions is the 8th of February 2016.
For more information about the tender please visit this page.
The Global Innovation Fund - GIF is a not-for-profit fund based in London and supported by the Department of International Trade in the UK and the United States Agency for International Development among others.
Breakthrough solutions to global development challenges from social enterprises, for-profit firms, non-profit organizations, international organizations, researchers, and government agencies are supported through grants and risk capital.
GIF invests in a wide range of organizations and projects, responding to the following criteria: Innovation and Impact, Potential to Scale, Team.
The application process is divided in three different steps:
GIF offers three stages of funding:
There is no deadline, GIF welcomes applications anytime.
Please visit this page for further details and start your application here.
In the context of the Digital Single Market Strategy, a consultation on the evaluation and modernization of the legal framework for the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) has been launched by the European Commission on the 9th of December 2015 with the aim of:
The consultation will be available in six different languages and consists of 5 different questionnaires addressing the following stakeholders groups: rightholders, the judiciary and legal profession, intermediaries, Member States and public authorities, consumers and civil society.
Interested stakeholders may participate in the consultation until the 1st of April 2016.
Find out more here.
Mr. Andrea Di Anselmo (INSME President) and Mr. Christian Saublens (Former Executive Manager at EURADA - INSME Member from Belgium) recently contributed to the Asia-Pacific Tech Monitor with an inspiring article on "Smart Specialization, the European approach to research and innovation support".
Smart Specialization is considered as the basis for European Structural and Investment Fund intervention and the authors put the attention on the fact that a regional strategy for smart specialization (RIS3) should consider innovation from different points of view, from market innovation to social innovation, allowing each region and Member State to prioritize and shape policies according to their socio-economic conditions and assets.
Based on the authors' experiences the article includes two case studies:
The authors highlighted the fact that the engagement of private resources is the key to effectively support and increase competitiveness of SMEs and show how most of the RIS3 have been designed in a closed environment and in practice the international dimension is related only to support to export.
Please read the whole contribution here.
The ASEAN Region is considered as one of the prime investment destinations worldwide, attracting investment and influencing corporate strategies in the region. For the third consecutive year Foreign Direct Investment into ASEAN registered a notable increase: from $117.7 billion in 2013 to $136.2 billion in 2014.
Furthermore the investments from ASEAN Member States continue to grow reaching 24.4 $ billion in 2014. In the first half of 2015, Mergers & Acquisitions sales and FDI flows to the region went down, a fact that might represent a significant challenge in terms of recording higher FDI flows in 2015.
These are some of the data included in the ASEAN Investment Report 2015 focused on "Infrastructure Investment and Connectivity" - the annual publication released by the ASEAN Secretariat and the UNCTAD Division on Investment and Enterprise (DIAE).
Among the most important highlights of this year's edition, it is worth mentioning that at least $110 billion a year will be needed in the region through to 2025 covering transport, power, ICT and water and sanitation developments.
The report also highlights the key role played by the private sector in supporting governments to bridge the infrastructure gap in ASEAN and by networks of players across the infrastructure value chain.
The whole report is downloadable here.
"Trade for all - Towards a more responsible trade and investment policy" is a communication recently released by the EU to disclose the new EU trading and investment strategy built on Europe's excellent trade track record.
The new strategy is based on three key principles: effectiveness, transparency and values and is conceived to improve conditions for citizens, consumers, workers and the self-employed, small, medium and large enterprises and the poorest in developing countries. Trade Policy must achieve a double objective: it has to deliver growth, jobs and innovation and must be consistent with the principles of the European model.
Thanks to this new strategy, the EU aims at:
Please download the whole communication here.
The Knowledge Sharing Platform (KSP) is a tool collecting and sharing best practices to create energy smart communities. As part of the Energy Smart Communities Initiative - launched by the U.S. President Barack Obama and the Japanese Prime Minister within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) - the platform represents an opportunity for researchers, scientists, academics and relevant stakeholders to learn, engage and share the latest developments in sustainability and energy efficiency. In particular KSP is focused on the ESCI's four main pillars: Smart Transport, Smart Buildings, Smart Grids and Smart Jobs and Consumers.
By registering to the platform, interested users may submit projects focused on the development of new methods, technologies and applications and offering opportunities to encourage best practices, facilitate knowledge-sharing and giving public recognition to accomplishments in energy smart-related cases within the APEC region.
Find out more about the Knowledge Sharing Platform here.
The MIRRIS Project has recently published the 10th edition of the Newsletter offering inspiring insights and information on the participation of EU13 New Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) to the European research and innovation programmes and the opportunities available under Horizon 2020.
This newsletter's edition is focused on:
Read the newsletter here.
Through a series of analysis, dialogues, mutual learning among key stakeholders, MIRRIS - Mobilizing Institutional Reforms in Research and Innovation Systems aims at encouraging a better exploitation of European research and innovation programmes and participation in the European Research Area of the 13 target countries.
INSME contributes as a partner to this project coordinated by META Group.
Learn more about the project here.
ISPIM Innovation Forum on "Charting the Future of Innovation Management"From the 13th to the 16th of March 2016 "Charting the Future of Innovation Management" is the theme chosen by ISPIM (INSME Member from UK) and IAOIP (INSME Member from U.S.) for the upcoming Innovation Forum. From the 13th to the 16th of March 2016 Boston/USA, will host a three-day initiative gathering innovation top executives and international managers to discuss the state-of-the-art of innovation and its future perspectives with a particular focus on:
With a mix of sessions, workshops and site visits, the Innovation Forum will touch key aspects in the changing innovation landscape from an academic, research, consulting, industry, intermediary and policy point of view. More details about the Forum are available here. |
From the 1st to the 5th of February 2016
Startup Europe Week
Organized by Startup Europe
28 European Countries
From the 18th to the 22nd of February 2016
Women for Success: "Women Leaders for Economic prosperity"
Organized by Business Women of Egypt 21 and League of Arab States
Cairo/Gouna, Egypt
From the 29th of February to the 1st of March 2016
Designs: Into the Future
Organized by the International Trademark Association - INTA
Singapore, Republic of Singapore
From the 2nd to the 4th of March 2016
GLOBE 2016 - The Leadership Summit for Sustainable Business
Organized by Global Series
Vancouver, Canada
From the 3rd to the 6th of March 2016
Istanbul International Inventions Fair - Inventions, Ideas and New Products
Organized by AFANYA and hosted by the Turkish Patent Institute under the patronage of the International Federation of Inventors' Associations
Istanbul, Turkey
3rd of March 2016
The 14th Annual European Financial Services Conference
Organized by Assonime, Barclays and Kreab under the aegis of the European Commission
Brussels, Belgium
3rd of March 2016
AIPPI/ASEAN Regional Seminar 2016
Organized by the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property -AIPPI
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
From the 9th to the 10th of March 2016
The 1ST EU-GCC Collaboration Forum in Science, Technology and Innovation
Organized by the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF)/ Innovation Lab
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
From the 13th to the 16th of March 2016
ISPIM Innovation Forum
Organized by ISPIM
Boston, USA
From the 15th to the 17th of March 2016
18th Microcredit Summit on "Frontier Innovations in Financial Inclusion"
Organized by the Microcredit Summit Campaign and the Arab Gulf Program for Development, and sponsored by Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (INSME Vice-President)
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
6th of April 2016
The Emerging Companies Summit
Organized by NVIDIA
San Jose - California, USA
From the 14th to the 16th of April 2016
1st Euro-Mediterranean Conference 2016 on "Smart Urban Development and Blue Growth opportunities for cities, communities and islands in the Mediterranean basin"
Organized by University of Cyprus - KIOS Research Center for Intelligent Systems and Networks, National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Dept. of Geography and Regional Planning, the Smart Cities Mediterranean Cluster, the CNE Business Development Ltd and Papadopoulos and Schinis Production Ltd
Limassol, Cyprus
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