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Partnerships for better innovation support
European Commission Enterprise and Industry
Year 6 - Issue 20 - January 2011
The newsletter of the Europe INNOVA initiative
Getting Innovation Right Europe INNOVA Conference > Pages 2-5
The 3rd Europe INNOVA Conference took place between 27 and 29 October 2010, in Liège, Belgium. This successful three-day event was organised by the Region of Wallonia within the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the EU, together with the European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry. The conference introduced expert presentations and panels that attempted to answer the conference’s core question “How to get innovation right?”
A Sea Change in Post-Crisis Europe > Page 6
DG Enterprise new Actions and Policy Initiatives > Page 8
Three main themes were discussed, namely: • Unlocking creative potential; • Greening industries; • Supporting innovative entrepreneurship. Jean-Claude Marcourt of the Belgian EU Presidency, who is also Minister for the Economy of the Walloon Government, kicked off the debate by highlighting the importance of innovation in regional and EU policy-making. “We live in a landscape of permanent change and it is our duty to innovate. It is the answer to re-boosting the competitiveness of the EU,” he said and concluded that “Regions are the best possible unit to face the challenge of innovation.”
Heinz Zourek, Director General for Enterprise and Industry, continued in a similar vein noting in particular the important role that enterprises must play in Europe in order to meet the EU’s challenging 2020 targets. Mr Zourek underlined that “Industry was hit hard by the economic crisis. There was a 4% decline of GDP in the Union from 2008 to 2009 – enterprises declined disproportionately by more than 20%. To reach pre-2008 levels we have to do so with lower CO2 levels and at lower prices. We need to do this through innovation.” He believed that “Europe is famous for having bright ideas and letting others exploit them. We have brains. We need to keep them.” Georgette Lalis, Director of Industrial Innovation and Mobility Industries at DG Enterprise and Industry, presented the Commission’s answer for the future of innovation. She indicated that “With the Innovation Union Communication, the Commission wants to raise the sense of urgency amongst our Member States, our regions, academia and enterprises.” This conference also gave representatives from clusters and incubators, leaders of creative industries and managers active in business development a chance to voice their opinions and these are detailed in the following pages.
Europe INNOVA Conference: Reshaping Europe Addressing Societal Challenges
Reshaping Europe The Europe INNOVA Conference in Liège was dedicated to discussions on dealing with societal challenges and addressing the policy priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The Roundtable discussion
On the first day Jean-Claude Marcourt, Minister for the Economy, SMEs, Foreign Trade and New Technologies of the Walloon Government, and Heinz Zourek, Director General for Enterprise and Industry at the European Commission, emphasised the importance of innovation and quality clusters in finding answers to societal needs. They also stressed the importance of events such as the Europe INNOVA Conference and encouraged participants to contribute actively, as previous conferences had helped to boost the transfer of knowledge and discussions on new policies that might be developed. Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt and Director General Heinz Zourek at the opening session
Conference delegates enjoying the 3D video sequences
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In the keynote addresses, experts from academia, the eco-industries and private business underlined the fact that policy had a major role to play in the support of innovation. Marianna Lubanski, an internationally experienced Business Development Director from Grundfos A/S in Denmark, stated that Europe was lacking serial entrepreneurs and support systems with global experience and is suffering from a very low tolerance of failure. To overcome these problems Europe should focus on speeding up marketing
and innovating more, being driven by users, concepts, partnerships, knowledge and added value. The keynote speeches were followed by a round table discussion on “Getting Innovation Right.� The discussion group agreed that better support for innovators is necessary in the fields of IP management and at the early stages of business development. Input from the creative sector was also seen as a vital component in innovative businesses and in the commercialisation of new products and services. Bringing together experts from science, technology and art was presented as a way of helping companies to develop innovative solutions to business and societal problems. A new drive to create a more entrepreneurial culture was discussed and it was recognised that risk and failure must be accepted more generally in European culture and society, if innovation is to flourish. The session ended with a presentation of 3D video sequences produced by companies within the Walloon TWIST cluster demonstrating to participants the capabilities and possible uses of 3D.
through Entrepreneurship and Innovation | 27-29 October 2010, Liège | www.europe-innova.eu/liege2010
The parallel sessions during the afternoon encouraged active discussion and subsequent feedback on six main themes. During these parallel sessions a new method was tested to better connect the audience to the presenters by using a live mind-mapping exercise which created a visual overview of each of the parallel session’s discussions and ideas. The second day was dedicated to policy and how it can help produce seed-beds for innovation. Real-life examples of the successful implementation of policies were presented, while the Commission introduced its proposals for new actions to be launched in 2011. These included the European Creative Industries Alliance, the Innovative Public Procurement Scheme and the European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance.
Other Happenings around the Conference Liège has managed to convert an ailing local economy based on heavy industry, into a city that has successfully nurtured high-end technology-based innovators. Thus, the beginning of the conference treated participants to innovation tours that included visits to three local clusters. A common theme that emerged from all of the tours was the ease with which a member company of a cluster is able to contact, share knowledge and create transformational partnerships with other local or regional organisations. The first tour visited the TWIST cluster and offered an interesting overview of companies operating in the high-end audiovisual technology sector. These included Digital Graphics, Micros images and XDC - all members of the TWIST cluster operating in the Walloon region. In the second tour, the participants were introduced to the SKYWIN Cluster and enterprises that have developed a strong international presence in the space industry delivering hardware, software and services for the sector. Visits were made to several cluster companies and other companies along the space-tech value chain. These included a high-end software company that creates virtual models to stress-test heavy
machinery before it is actually tested in real life, and a company that builds some of the world’s largest star-gazing telescopes. The third innovation tour was to the MECATECH Cluster, which concentrates on eco-innovation in the metallurgic sector. Participants visited a competence centre providing sector-specific training, a centre creating and implementing technological advances in the metals industry, and a company involved with innovative uses of steel. In parallel with the innovation tours, a seminar entitled ‘Invest in Med Innovation Workshop’ took place, where the MedVentures jury announced the names of the 10 start-ups short-listed for the 2010 MedVentures Awards. This project was supported by several Europe INNOVA partnerships.
TWIST Cluster: Technologies for Image, Sound and Text
Participants in an innovation tour at AMOS (Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems)
During the seminar Astrid Severin and Vincent Morfouace, from the GreenConServe and the KIS-PIMS partnerships, presented their innovation voucher approach and the possibilities for adaptating the approach for Mediterranean countries. Michela Michilli from ImMediaTe presented the new business support services, promoting its internationalisation strategy and the possibilities of cooperation within EuroMed area.
France Fannes, General Manager, BioWin, The Health Cluster of Wallonia
In addition to the innovation-related discussions, the participants were able to get together and network in locations outside of the conference hall. The welcome reception took place at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, while the official dinner was held, in a rather surprising venue - a marquee within the architecturally impressive railway station in Liège that was designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava. More information at: www.europe-innova.eu/liege2010
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Official dinner, Liège-Guillemins Railway Station
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Europe INNOVA Conference: Reshaping Europe Addressing Societal Challenges
Expert Opinions During a quiz session, which was a bit more like an opinion poll, the participants in the Europe INNOVA conference voted electronically for one of three possible responses to a number of questions related to the main themes of the event. Sparks has asked conference speakers to comment on the results.
Cathy Smith, Moderator of the Europe INNOVA Conference
Question 1: Which measure do you find the most appropriate to support innovation in Europe?
• 27% - the creation of a single EU Patent.
We need to create a new business structure, the "Global Collaborative" emphasising the need to share best practices across Europe and the US, as well as generating more extensive networking between key stakeholders – service providers and entrepreneurs.
Marianna Lubanski had just started in her new position as Business Development Director with the Danish company Grundfos A/S, one of the world’s leading pump manufacturers, and she felt that:
Better financial support for innovative SMEs is also a major factor, as the lack of such funding is one of Europe’s cultural challenges. Regrettably, Europe combines a low tolerance of failure leading to a lack of serial entrepreneurs, deficient support systems with little global experience, and a lack of funding.
In terms of supporting innovation, facilitating knowledge transfer is indeed one of the most critical elements. The approach to such
All these negative factors are interrelated and lead to low instances of innovation in Europe.
The results: • 42% - facilitating knowledge transfer and networking; • 31% - financial support for innovative SMEs;
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support would need to entail the creation of new R&D centres, both cross-sectoral and global.
through Entrepreneurship and Innovation | 27-29 October 2010, Liège | www.europe-innova.eu/liege2010
Question 2: Which measure could have the largest impact on greening the EU’s economy? The results: There was almost a balance between the three options:
Also in the Creative Wallonia framework programme, education is vital. This includes better educational provision in terms of creativity for future managers, creative teacher training programmes and, for society at large, developing creativity and innovation through life-long learning.
• 35% - financing of the development of eco-innovative technologies;
Question 4: What do SMEs most need to embrace innovation?
• 33% - supporting enterprises to use more environmentally friendly solutions;
The results:
• 32% - higher regulatory environmental standards. Christian-Marie Bols, Founder and CEO of Wetlands Biosciences incubator SA (Belgium), believed that:
• Better cooperation with universities and research was the most popular approach and attracted 46% of the votes; • More training on innovation management came second with 34%; whilst • Making better use of creativity and design came in well behind with only 20%.
All these three measures will have a significant impact. However, the financing of eco-innovative technologies, improved communication, and novel ‘greening standards’ are particularly important in industries where there is a longer distance and complex value chain between innovative enterprises and their products’ end-users.
Madi Sharma, whose innovative and motivational approach to business has brought her recognition as Asian Woman of Achievement and the UK’s Best Boss, was absolutely convinced that:
Question 3: How best to exploit Europe’s creativity?
There must be improved cooperation between the business world and those more closely involved in research and it is very important that SMEs should benefit from such collaboration.
The results:
Reinhard Büscher and Mette Koefoed Quinn from DG Enterprise and Industry
Angelos Manglis, President and Managing Director of Atlantis Consulting S.A.
• Support for the transfer of creative services into traditional sectors with 49%; • Creating a more innovation-friendly climate in Europe with 44%; • Promoting European design with 7%. Henri Monceau, the Chief of Staff for Creativity, Innovation, New Technologies and ICT in the Cabinet of Minister Marcourt in the Region of Wallonia, was happy to provide his views: In my capacity as Chief of Staff and as a Senior Political Advisor, I have already witnessed the success of supporting the transfer of creative services into traditional sectors in Belgium.
Proceedings Report of the Conference at: www.europe-innova.eu > Publications > Europe INNOVA Proceedings report
Videos of the Conference at: www.europe-innova.eu/liege2010 > Media gallery > Video gallery
Creative Wallonia www.creative-wallonia.be
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Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the European Commission presented the communication "An industrial policy for the globalisation era" at the press conference in Berlin, on 28 October 2010 with Rainer Brüderle, German Federal Minister for Economics and Technology.
A Sea Change in Post-Crisis Europe
The final three months of 2010 were an important and busy time for Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, who presented two hugely important flagship projects, as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era sets out an ambitious strategy for competitive European industries that will boost growth and create well-paid jobs, whilst becoming less carbon intensive. The initiative, which is one of the seven flagships within Europe 2020, was given the green light by fellow Commissioners on 28 October 2010 and went straight to the EU Ministers for a first debate on 25 November, with the European Council welcoming the initiative in December.
Single Market, its 500 million consumers and its 20 million entrepreneurs.” Officials outlined 10 key actions for European industrial competitiveness including: analysing the competitiveness impact of new legislation; cutting costs for business in Europe; supporting SMEs by making it easier to access credit; strengthening standardisation; upgrading transport, energy and communication infrastructures; presenting a new strategy for raw materials; developing a space policy and supporting innovation for energy-intensive industries. It is also intended to produce an annual report on the competition performance of the EU and its Member States.
Europe needs industry and industry needs Europe
“Europe needs industry and industry needs Europe,” said Mr Tajani during his presentation of the initiative and he added “we must tap into the full potential of the
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The initiative was published together with the European Competitiveness Report 2010, which analyses the factors influencing EU competitiveness in world markets. Some of the report's most important observations relate to the creative industries sector and include: “Accounting for 3.3% of total EU GDP and 3% of employment, creative industries are one of the most dynamic sectors in Europe with a large
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growth potential. Next to national policies, the EU can contribute to the flourishing of creative industries by supporting the mobility of creative Europeans, enforcing the implementation of the Service Directive, establishing a true single market for online content and services and by standardisation. Due to the strong link between creative industries and regional development, the Structural Funds could also serve as enablers for the sector.” The report also advises that the creative industries must be included within SME policies so that they can access proper finance and support. Another Europe 2020 flagship is the Innovation Union, which was presented on 6 October. “To achieve the Innovation Union there needs to be a sea change,” the Communication states and continues, “in the post-crisis world, Europe must move away from 'business as usual' and make innovation its overarching policy objective.” Innovation Union has over thirty action points and will include an innovation scoreboard to monitor development and progress in future years. The starting point is the creation of excellent, modern education systems in all Member States. The initiative promotes increased investment in research and development even during periods of financial constraint. As part of the plan, the Commission will support the establishment of an independent multi-dimensional international ranking system to benchmark university performance. The flagship initiative also calls for affordable intellectual property rights that support innovation.
One critical barrier to innovation investment in Europe is the cost and complexity of patenting. Buying patent protection for all 27 EU Member States is currently at least 15 times more expensive than for the US, largely due to translation and legal fees. The Communication describes the absence of a single cheap EU patent as “a tax on innovation.” “The EU Patent has become a symbol for Europe’s failure on innovation,” the Communication continues and also indicates “It would save innovative businesses an estimated €250 million and must be adopted without delay to show that the EU is serious about becoming an Innovation Union.” One of the initiatives’ key priorities is to support the establishment of European Innovation Partnerships and these partnerships are explained as follows: “Focused on a specific societal challenge the Partnerships will bring together all relevant actors at EU, national and regional level in order to step up research an development efforts, co-ordinate investments, fast-track eventual necessary regulation and mobilise demand in a given area. The scale and urgency of the societal challenges and the scarcity of resources in Europe makes it urgent that efforts and expertise on research and innovation is pooled. The aim of the innovation partnerships is precisely to design and implement the processes in parallel to cut lead times. It is a novel concept, which the Commission first wishes to test through a pilot partnership on active and healthy ageing. Each partnership will be led by a representative Steering Board, having as a first task to draw up a multi-annual strategic work plan. 2011 will be a ‘test phase’ for the Partnership approach with a Communication formalising the new concept to be presented in June 2011.”
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Antonio Tajani
Other potential partnerships could include 'smart cities,’ water-efficiency, the sustainable supply of non-energy raw materials, European citizen and business mobility and agricultural productivity and sustainability.
An integrated industrial policy for the globalisation era http://ec.europa.eu/ enterprise > Policy highlights > Industrial competitiveness > Industrial policy
The European Competitiveness Report 2010 – Innovation and the creative industries in the EU http://ec.europa.eu/ enterprise > What’s new > Publications > 27-10-2010 Annual European Competitiveness reports
The Innovation Union http://ec.europa.eu/ innovation-union
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DG Enterprise spearheads
New Actions and Policy Initiatives The New Year will see two new calls for proposals. One is based on supporting new, emerging, service sectors and the other on promoting world-class clusters in Europe.
The European Creative Industries Alliance (ECIA) The goal of this Alliance is in line with the Commission's Green Paper of April 2010, namely to unlock the massive potential of the creative industries, which are amongst the fastest growing sectors in the EU.
The calls will be published on the DG Enterprise and Industry website http://ec.europa.eu/ enterprise > Contracts and grants > Calls for proposals
Green Paper – Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries www.europe-innova.eu > Creative Industries > Studies and reports
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These industries are creating new jobs, playing key roles in global value chains and spurring innovation. Accounting for 3.3% of the total EU GDP and providing 3% of EU employment, creative industries are one of the most dynamic sectors in Europe. The open call for proposals will invite committed public authorities and public-private-partnerships to make an active input into strengthening the creative industries and the industry’s economic potential.
The European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance (EMMIA) Innovative services in the fields of mobile and mobility industries can contribute to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and EMMIA is meant to encourage this. EMMIA focuses on policy learning and concrete actions such as innovation vouchers and better access to finance that can be developed through public-private partnerships. The European Commission is seeking the active involvement of national and regional European partners, especially from those Member States that are less well-developed in this particular field.
Upcoming activities in the quest for more world-class clusters The time is ripe for fresh impetus in support of more world-class clusters in Europe. The Commission’s Communication on ‘An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era’ proposes the preparation of “a new strategy for globally competitive clusters and networks, including specific actions to promote globally competitive clusters and networks in both traditional and emerging industries.” The first new action aims to support the development of world-class clusters in Europe by promoting stronger international links amongst European clusters. It will encourage regional and national cluster programmes to work together and prepare joint internationalisation strategies. Professional cluster organisations are critical in raising the quality of business support services and in driving cluster initiatives forward. Thus, the second action will promote the professionalisation of cluster management by providing financial incentives to national and regional authorities for their use of the common tools developed under the European Cluster Excellence Initiative. To design better clusters and policies, better insight is needed. The third action is therefore aimed at improving and broadening the cluster-specific analysis provided by the European Cluster Observatory, especially in emerging industries. This action will be the subject of a separate call for tenders.
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Promoting Service Innovation
for smarter and more sustainable Tourism
This seminar brought together approximately 40 innovation and tourism experts on 22-23 November 2010 in the Aosta Valley, Italy. Discussions revolved around ways in which service innovations can attract both higher-value and more sustainable tourism into rural and mountainous areas, by building upon natural and cultural heritage and making better use of innovative mobile services and mobility concepts. There was a broad consensus amongst the participating experts that service innovations could offer excellent opportunities to take more advantage of the unique natural and cultural assets that rural and mountainous regions have to offer, and to provide tourists with a greater variety of, and better, more customised services. The discussions were based on three studies that had been produced specifically for this seminar. They confirmed that the cultural and creative industries are not only relevant to cities but also to rural and mountainous regions. A main difference, however, is that cultural treasures in these regions are often more difficult to discover. This calls for better information and the integration of this information into broader thematic concepts. Service innovation for tourism is very much about combining relevant information in an easily accessible manner - including live information on leisure activities and cultural heritage spots - and moving more radically towards services that offer real added value. The continuing high roaming costs and a
lack of commercial spirit were seen as the major stumbling blocks for exploiting the full potential of service innovation in support of smarter and more sustainable tourism. At the seminar some very interesting cases, in particular from the field of mobile and mobility services, were presented that clearly showed the transformative power of service innovations in tourism. The cases all shared a common denominator: a wider uptake of innovative services requires collaborative efforts at regional level in the form of public-private partnerships. Many of the information services that are offered today by tourist offices, such as brochures or websites, would have to be transformed into fully-fledged mobile services that provide real time information and facilitate personal contacts and business transactions. Apps alone will not solve this problem.
From left to right: Remo Chuc, Reinhard Büscher, Augusto Rollandin and Mette Koefoed Quinn
As a follow-up to this seminar, the forthcoming ‘European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance’ will also offer a platform for large demonstrators that aim to use innovative mobile and mobility services for the development of more sustainable and smarter tourism. The objective of these demonstrators is two-fold: • To make tourism in Europe more environment- and user-friendly; and
More information at:
• To promote the emergence of innovative mobile and mobility concepts that are rolled out at European level, thus helping to create a larger number of ‘European champions’ in this field.
> Search > Service innovation as an enabler of sustainable tourism
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Service Innovation can drive
Growth and Productivity in the EU
The Expert Panel with representatives of DG Enterprise and Industry
More information at: www.europe-innova.eu/ rome2011 Europe 2020 Strategy http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020 Expert Panel www.europe-innova.eu > Innovation in Services > Expert Panel
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The fourth and final workshop of the Expert Panel on Service Innovation in the EU took place on 2-3 December 2010 in Brussels, concluding the work that it began in March 2010.
coherent solutions to societal challenges. The Cabinet of Vice-President Antonio Tajani has invited the Panel to come up with concrete proposals on how to strengthen the services element in Innovation Partnerships.
The Expert Panel has focused on how service innovation can help implement the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy and stimulate smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It has also addressed the question of how service innovation can contribute to the Industrial Policy and Innovation Union flagships (See article on pages 6-7). The results of its work will be presented to Vice-President Antonio Tajani at a final event, in Italy, on 17-18 February 2011.
The Panel, will make a number of specific recommendations for action at EU, national and regional levels. One such recommendation is for the introduction of large-scale ‘demonstrators’ that could promote sustainable communities, such as those that are found in smart city demonstrators. Demonstrators can limit the risks in the innovation process, enable better learning across EU regions and involve the full value chain of producers, service providers, users and customers.
The Chair Allan Mayo from the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills explained that, “Our high level objective is how to deliver Europe 2020 through the power of transformative services. There are European Commission actions under way to push for more explicit recognition of the services potential and the Expert Panel should influence policy significantly.” The discussions in Brussels focused on issues such as the need to forge stronger links between services and manufacturing and the shift that will be required in policy-making to better reflect the demand and user-driven focus of the new services-manufacturing paradigm. The Expert Panel also identified the need to strengthen and build new globally competitive businesses based on transformative services and the new Innovation Partnerships, which should provide an excellent opportunity to develop more
The Expert Panel will also recommend a coordinated service innovation programme, which will include support for gazelles, to help build new globally competitive businesses based on transformative service innovation. Thirdly, the Panel will suggest that a European Service innovation Centre should be established. This would act as a hub of expertise on service innovation and provide authoritative analysis, evidence, evaluations and foresight to help raise awareness of the transformative potential of service innovations and strengthen the networks between policymakers, business and academia. Finally, the Expert Panel will make recommendations for the better use of existing programmes and initiatives including the Structural Funds and highlight the development of smart infrastructures.
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New Cluster Websites
The European Cluster Observatory is entering its fourth year with the launch of a brand new website and an extended range of services. “Our aim is to provide the European cluster policy community with knowledge and learning, in a way that can really facilitate analysis and support fact-based policy,” explains Göran Lindqvist, the Project Manager for the Observatory. The Observatory is a knowledge platform for policy makers, government officials, cluster managers and researchers.
The European Cluster Collaboration Platform is an online platform combining cluster social networking, cluster profiling/ competence and mapping and information services that have been developed to cover the needs expressed by cluster actors during a Europe-wide survey.
The website offers a user-driven tool for anyone interested in clusters and cluster policy. You can use the mapping tool to map clusters in different sectors across the EU and also in neighbouring countries, and then download the data. You can also add information such as cluster policy reports or details of cluster organisations, networks and events. Now the Observatory is not only a vital source of data but also a channel to the wider European cluster policy community.
• mapping and profiling of cluster organisations;
This innovative platform is intended to facilitate cooperation between cluster organisations and between cluster members. Its key functions are:
European Cluster Observatory www.europe-innova.eu > Cluster Cooperation > European Cluster Observatory and
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• mapping and profiling of cluster members; establishing sectoral and thematic communities; • providing information about cluster projects and financial sources; and • facilitating the setting-up of future cluster cooperation projects.
European Cluster Collaboration Platform www.clustercollaboration.eu
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takeitup.eu is now online! TAKE IT UP has activated its online resource ware at www.takeitup.eu. Through it, you can access: • The Warehouse for Innovation Support – showcasing ‘codified for use’ services and tools developed by Innovation Service Providers (ISPs) to accelerate the growth of knowledge intensive companies and start-ups willing to innovate; • The Testing Community – registering with the community you will have the opportunity to act as a test-bed for the innovative tools and services identified by TAKE IT UP, and to access innovation support instruments and knowledge from across Europe;
• The Learning Corner – with methodologies, toolkits and learning materials on innovation support and the TAKE IT UP methodological papers on the testing process, the capitalisation strategy and on pitching your innovative services; • The News Section – includes innovation news, a video presentation of the Warehouse, a video about the TAKE IT UP Webinar on how to effectively pitch innovation services, and updates on the latest development of the project. Start your journey now!
TAKE IT UP www.europe-innova.eu > Novel Tools & Servcices > TAKE IT UP and
www.takeitup.eu
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The News in Brief Building up the ECOLINK+ 100 Business Club Partnerships for better innovation support Europe INNOVA is an initiative of the European Commission’s Directorate General Enterprise and Industry which aspires to become the laboratory for the development and testing of new tools and instruments in support of innovation with a view to help innovative enterprises innovate faster and better. It brings together public and private innovation support providers such as innovation agencies, technology transfer offices, business incubators, financing intermediaries, cluster organisations and others. The newsletter of the Europe INNOVA initiative © European Commission - Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. To subscribe: www.europe-innova.eu/newsletter Editorial contact: newsletter@europe-innova.eu Published by: Sparks and all other elements of the Europe INNOVA communications project are performed by a consortium of companies headed by Logotech SA (Greece). Legal notice: This publication has been produced as part of the Europe INNOVA initiative. The views expressed in this report, as well as the information included in it, do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the European Commission and in no way commit the institution. This newsletter is financed under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) which aims to encourage the competitiveness of European enterprises.
ECOLINK+, the horizontal action within the Europe INNOVA Eco-Innovation Platform, has established the 100 Business Club (BC) that brings together the most promising eco-innovators from across the EU. The BC aims to assist its members to grow rapidly and to leapfrog into the global markets. Thus, it provides them with opportunities to network, access services and financial partners and become more visible to the community of international investors. Through the organisation of a series of European trans-regional events, ECOLINK+ is offering EU regions the opportunity to showcase their best eco-innovators and also their efforts to support eco-innovation. It is at such events that the members of the BC are selected. The eco-innovative companies which entered the ECOLINK+ BC through the trans-regional events, held during 2010 in Rome, Vienna and Birmingham, benefited from attending the ECOLINK+ academy. This took place just before the BC’s 1st Annual Networking Event, which was held in Düsseldorf, on 6 December 2010. At the academy, panels of experts offered professional insights to improve the companies’ presentations of their business and provided feedback on their business models. The companies then presented their eco-innovative solutions to an audience of industrial actors, investors, business experts and coaches from across Europe. Following their presentations, ECOLINK+ BC members explored partnership opportunities in one-to-one meetings with interested investors.
For more information please visit: www.europe-innova.eu/ecolink
COMING EVENTS:
24 February 2011, Brussels, Belgium Dynamics in Sectoral Innovation: Impact on Value Chains and Policy Implications? This conference will present sectoral analyses of innovation systems and consider their common trends across industrial sectors. It will focus on emerging and key enabling technologies, vertical integration into global value chains and the inter-penetration of services in manufacturing and eco-innovation. The conference will also discuss the implications of the analysis for industrial innovation policy, especially in relation to EU support for industrial innovation, smart specialisation and internationalisation. The conference For more information please visit: aims to reach out to business organisations and industrial www.europe-innova.eu associations, academia and national, regional and local authorities. It is also targeting think tanks, public agencies > Sectoral Innovation Watch responsible for promoting or supporting innovation, and > News and Events other organisations with an interest or stake in this field.
16 March 2011, Brussels, Belgium ACHIEVE MORE Final Event - Accelerating Growth of Knowledge-Intensive Service SMEs in the ICT sector ACHIEVE MORE was established in early 2008, and has since created a partnership of almost 70 business incubators, leading edge clusters, investors and stakeholders from 28 countries across Europe. In addition, it has created the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Exchange (EIX), which is an on-line community of nearly 600 professionals focusing on business incubation and innovation in the services sector. For more information please visit: The project’s aim is the creation of a continuous, virtuous circle through the identification and dissemination of best practices in leading organisations, and passing these on to support start-ups and early stage businesses. The achievements of the Achieve More Project will be celebrated at this event.
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Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based ink.
www.europe-innova.eu > Innovation in Services > KIS Innovation Platform > ACHIEVE MORE > News and Events > ACHIEVE MORE Final Event
European Commission Enterprise and Industry