Monthly Archive for August, 2009

Centrope_tt voucher – interregional innovation voucher

Published on August 27, 2009 in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Innovation policy and Slovakia. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

In his post, Vlastimil Vesely introduced the innovation voucher system of South Moravia. We at Pannon Business Network are working on a project called centrope_tt, where we are responsible for the development of a system for supporting innovation and cross border technology transfer between SMEs and R&D institutions in the Centrope region.

The main characteristics of the centrope_tt voucher:

  • while national programmes support innovation on national and regional level, centrope_tt supports technology transfer on interregional level
  • Any SME in Centrope can apply for one of the 50 pilot vouchers and use the voucher for services of one of the universities located in a foreign Centrope country
  • In 2010, 50 pilot vouchers are available: 20 in Austria, 10 in the Czech Republic, 10 in Hungary and 10 in Slovakia.
  • The maximum value of one voucher is € 5,000.
  • The financed activities are similar to other innovation voucher systems.

Currently the consortium is working on the preparation of the voucher system. (public call, implementation manual, trilateral contracts etc.)

When the official call is ready we will publish it on this site, too. Until then please collect your ideas and find your international partners for your project!

Technology Transfer and FP7

Published on August 25, 2009 in About CITT, Business innovation and EU funding programmes. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

I would like to use the occasion and respond to Günther’s remark on the phenomenon that everyone talks about technology transfer (“TT”), but still it is hard to find results.

Günther writes that actually TT is “NOT an issue – at least if one googles the term and looks at the results (…) surely there’s a lot of institutions promoting it, and the EC funds projects …”.

Being familiar with the EU policy and the focus of FP7 and other funding programmes, one could argue that public institutions really do promote technology transfer. I am sure technology transfer is indeed an issue. I guess the people actually DOING technology transfer only have a different understanding about it, they have different perspectives than the people TALKING about TT. Last, but not least, they do not publish their projects using terms of technology transfer etc.

So as Günther says it is probably just a matter of (non) marketing: “Universities are still very reluctant to publish about themselves, success stories are rare, and companies do not consider such news worth while publishing”. Anyway, marketing is not the only problem, there are of course always reasons and possibilities to improve things. Continue reading ‘Technology Transfer and FP7′

Potential technical solutions for Technology Transfer processes

Published on August 25, 2009 in About CITT and Innovation policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Technology transfer is a complex process. The supporting online solutions should be  clear and precise, user friendly and efficient. The IT industry offers a range of products which could offer various solutions. Technology transfer solution should provide an collaboration platform, utilising databases  in stand-alone  or client/server modes.

Two groups of products and services offer appropriate solutions:

External services – provided by an external company such as ISPs (internet service providers), by enhanced product portfolio with business communication and administrative functions.

Applications and solutions to be implemented into corporate IT infrastructures. I will now examine a handful of these solutions, including the platform we have adopted for our project (CITT) which is called the Central European Technology Exchange (CETEX).

Continue reading ‘Potential technical solutions for Technology Transfer processes’

South Moravia is introducing innovation vouchers

Published on August 24, 2009 in Current events, Czech Republic and Innovation policy. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

As mentioned by Petr Chladek in his post one of the regional innovation strategy projects in South Moravia is the Innovation vouchers (in Czech only) scheme supporting the research cooperation between SMEs and Brno universities. It has been started in August and the applications can be submitted until September, 25. Any Czech SME can get one of 36 vouchers valued up to 150k CZK (€ 6,000) for buying research services from Brno based universities.

Product, process or service development, testing and measurements, feasibility study, access to research facilities, prototyping, product design, innovative product business plan development, market analysis or marketing strategy, innovation or technology audit are the examples of proposals that can be supported by the vouchers if you find a university partner to realize them for you.
Continue reading ‘South Moravia is introducing innovation vouchers’

Is Centrope ready to meet the “offshore” demand?

Published on August 19, 2009 in About CITT and Business innovation. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

The challenge is simple. Do I engage tradional software houses to perform my software development requirements, or do I “offshore” this work to price-attractive, lesser known Centrope SME’s?

Today, especially in this time of financial crisis and economic recession, outsourcing work to offshore companies is becoming more and more the norm. Customised teams can do the job without the added expense of hiring internal staff and management. While offshoring was once considered to be high risk and hard-to-control, it is fast becoming mainstream.

We are already familiar with the ever-increasing number of these types of companies in India, Malaysia and South East Asia, but what about Centrope?

Centrope also has an abundant availability of small, flexible teams operating under controlled supervision by experienced managers with cultural and technological experience. But how do outsiders view the region? Does Europe still perceive Centrope to be “cheap, quick and dirty”? Surely the brain-drain of highly skilled professionals going westward is proof of this region’s quality and competence.

Large software houses are cumbersome with in-flexible internal processes and fixed overheads that must make high margins to cover costs, hence the prices for their products/services are greatly inflated. One such software house based in Switzerland recently quoted almost 7,000 man hours over a period of six months to the tune of close to €500,000! for web-based development work. That’s Swiss quality pricing!

Centrope SME’s would be able to perform the same project for a fraction of the price (dependant on location and specifications, of course) Central Europe might possibly offer a shorter turnaround time. These savings are hard to ignore when the financial pinch is being felt everywhere.

The software development market is lush with companies looking to save on costs but seeking to maintain product quality and dependability. Centrope SME’s are in a prime position to aggressively compete for these ripe opportunities and show what it has to offer. So what’s stopping them?

A bit of a cleanup…

Published on August 18, 2009 in About CITT. 4 Comments

This is a blog, so I dare to post what I would call meta-critizism, i.e. I would like to review the content of this blog.

Originally this blog was supposed to be a forum for ICT related technology transfer. This is a complex issue, I know, as I am also responsible for providing relevant news for the CITT website etc. And – I also wrote about deviating issues – simply because they were also interesting.

Technology transfer is not only a complex issue, it is NOT an issue – at least if one googles the term and looks at the results. Well, maybe I am exaggerating – surely there’s a lot of institutions promoting it, and the EC funds projects – one of them is CITT. Continue reading ‘A bit of a cleanup…’

Bing? Bang!

Published on August 7, 2009 in Business innovation and Current events. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Bing_Bang

A few weeks ago Microsoft launched its new search engine called Bing. With this new service Microsoft tries to compete with the market leader in search, Google.

The competition is somewhat resembles Internet Explorer vs. Netscape, MSN vs. ICQ or XBox against Playstation.

Nowadays, the advertising campaign is over and idle curiosity isn’t enough’to bring new users. Bing will only be able to win market share if it is significantly better than Google.

Bing’s screen layout is nice, giving wonderful background pictures. But to be successful, Bing needs to be a very good search engine, too. Continue reading ‘Bing? Bang!’