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Insight into French SME participation in European FP Programmes

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  October 7, 2005
  in  Innovation policy
. 0 Comments

If you ask French specialists in Innovation issues whether results of SMEs’ participation in FP programmes are satisfactory, the answer is clearly no. Why is that so?

Despite an active participation of French SMEs in FP programmes (at the second rank in the EU 25 after Germany), they get only 9% of FP programmes’ funding that benefits to France. This figure must be compared to a general objective set at a 15% rate and 14% for German SMEs.

Continue reading ‘Insight into French SME participation in European FP Programmes’

A CRAFT Project for Competitive and sustainable growth

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  October 4, 2005
  in  Case studies
. 0 Comments

ROVIMA SA, a French SME specialised in paint manufacture was involved, along with 7 other partners from 6 European countries overall, in a FP5 Craft Project aiming at developing a new type of paint made of enzymes based on antifouling agents. This material is used in marine coatings for ships and other offshore constructions and gives ships and offshore constructions an improved aero-dynamism while being less toxic for the environment.

This project was carried out in the framework of the specific research and technological development “Competitive and Sustainable Growth”.

This project, initiated by the industry, can be considered as very successful as the underlying concept was to gather - ex-ante ? innovative ideas coming from several European SMEs. In other words, this project was based on clustering in a view to build European partnerships.

Thanks to a strong networking effort, bringing together SMEs which worked in their specific area but on similar projects targeting niche markets application processes this project was made possible.

Concerning in particular ROVIMA’s involvement, the company has developed over the years important research activities in order to elaborate innovative products and new applications. It not only takes part in European projects but also collaborates with French universities and research laboratories of big French companies.

Countries involved in the Project: Denmark (Co-ordinator), France, Portugal, UK, Greece, Netherlands.
For more information: Cordis

Publication by CORDIS of profiles of the first FP6 projects in support of SMEs

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  December 21, 2004
  in  EU funding programmes
. 0 Comments

Cordis published yesterday the profiles of the first FP6 projects in support and SMEs. These are listed as Integrated Projects (IPs) or Specific Targeted Research, Projects (STREPs). Collective Research projects and Economic and Technological Intelligence (ETI) actions, under the FP5, have also been extended to the FP6.

The objective of ETI actions is to use existing sources and networks in order to identify SMEs’ needs and anticipate market and technology new trends. The projects promote innovation in SMEs, compile and analyse information on scientific developments and identify and disseminate best practice. Continue reading ‘Publication by CORDIS of profiles of the first FP6 projects in support of SMEs’

What are technology platforms? Questions and answers by The European Commission

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  December 15, 2004
  in  Innovation policy
. 0 Comments

Technology platforms have been an innovation in EU research policy. They bring together all interested parties in a particular sector, or areas. These areas are chosen for their strategic importance or their potential contribution to the European Union’s goals of knowledge-based growth, competitiveness and employment. Continue reading ‘What are technology platforms? Questions and answers by The European Commission’

Integrated projects and the networks of excellence: two instruments of the Sixth Framework programme targeting SMEs

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  December 14, 2004
  in  EU funding programmes
. 0 Comments

In order to implement the FP6’s priority research schemes, two new instruments have been put in place: Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence. The new instruments have been designed to be applicable throughout the priority themes and to all participants and are both targeting SMEs. Continue reading ‘Integrated projects and the networks of excellence: two instruments of the Sixth Framework programme targeting SMEs’

Opening of the Fourth IST call

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  December 2, 2004
  in  EU funding programmes
. 0 Comments

The fourth Information Society call within the 6th framework programme has been published on 25 November 2004 and opened since the 1st of December 2004. The total allocation to this call is 1.12 billion euros.

The IST Call 4 funds five types of projects:

- Integrated projects (IPs),
- Specific Targeted Research Projects (STREPs),
- Networks of Excellence (NoEs),
- Coordination Actions (CAs),
- Specific Support Actions (SSAs). Continue reading ‘Opening of the Fourth IST call’

Who are the most innovative countries of the European Union?

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  December 1, 2004
  in  Innovation policy
. 0 Comments

The fourth edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), published on 24 November 2004, confirmed previous years’ results: Sweden and Finland are the most innovative countries of the European Union and Estonia and Slovenia are leaders of the ten new Member States.

Through 20 indicators, measuring human resources, the creation of new knowledge, the transmission and application of knowledge, and innovation finance, the ESI, established by the European Commission as part of the Lisbon strategy, compares innovation performance within the EU Member States. A composite indicator provides an overview of national performances.

The scoreboard also looks at four aspects of non-technical innovation:

o Non-technical change,
o Implementation of changed organisational structures,
o Implementation of advanced management techniques,
o Implementation of significant changes to aesthetic appearance.

Main observations

Sweden and Finland maintain their leadership positions. Germany and Denmark are performing well above the EU average, with Denmark moving ahead quickly. Netherlands, Ireland and France are slowing down and most of the new EU Member States seem to be catching up.

Luxembourg performs best in three out of the four categories relating to the non-technical aspects of innovation. Germany comes second in all four. Several countries considered as average or poor performers on the overall scoreboard, such as Luxembourg, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Estonia and Slovenia, perform much better according to the indicators for non-technical change.

This reflects, according to EIS, a “substantial changes to organisation and management, as part of a modernisation process, that may provide the necessary foundation for both an increase in per capita GDP and the capacity to innovate”.

EIS indicates that the gap between the EU and the US and Japan remains constant. The gap between the EU and the US is explained by three indicators: patents, percentage of the working population with tertiary education and research expenditure.

Perspectives

The EIS working paper will be used to identify the main innovation policy changes, needed in order to reach the Lisbon objectives. In this respect, the Commission intends establish a policy dialogue with the Member States to establishing a common framework of innovation policy objectives.

For further information, please visit:
TrendChart

Announcing the 2005 Eastern European e-Government Day

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  November 24, 2004
  in  eGovernment
. 0 Comments

Reverting to the publication of the comparative survey study about e-Government in Central Europe, let’s keep in mind that the Austrian Computer Society (OCG) will organise the third Eastern European eGov Days in Budapest on March 17-18 2005, in conjunction with the fourth Austrian eGov Days in Vienna (14-16 March 2005). The Eastern European eGov Days are jointly managed by the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration.

The 2005 eGov days will address a number of topics including the opportunities and potentials existing for SMEs in doing business with government.

For more information:
Forum for European e-Public services

Improving the competitiveness of the European ICT sector: high level European workshop on good public national and regional policies

Published
by
Julie Koeltz
  on  November 14, 2004
  in  Current events, Innovation policy and eCommerce
. 0 Comments

The European Commission organised on Friday 12 November 2004 a high level workshop to present the results of the study on good public national and regional policies in support of the competitiveness of the ICT sector, in which LL&A participated as a consortium member along with Fraunhofer Institute Systems and Innovation Research (FhG-ISI - Germany) and the Strategy, Technology and Policy Institute of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO-STB). Continue reading ‘Improving the competitiveness of the European ICT sector: high level European workshop on good public national and regional policies’

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