News

Committee of the Regions: Territorial Dialogue 2008
The Territorial Dialogue will discuss how to tackle the challenges local and regional authorities face in implementing the Lisbon Strategy.

Following the success of the Committee of the Regions' (CoR) Second Territorial Dialogue in March 2007, and the CoR's decision to annually address the Presidency of the Council regarding the effective implementation of the Lisbon strategy at the regional and local level, the CoR is now organising its Third Territorial Dialogue, co-hosted by the Slovene Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Territorial Dialogue gives regional and local stakeholders the opportunity to express their views to representatives of the European Commission, the Slovene, French and Czech Presidencies and European associations, and to engage in a useful dialogue on how to tackle the challenges local and regional authorities face in implementing the Lisbon Strategy.

This year's Territorial Dialogue will also be an occasion to discuss with relevant stakeholders the Report to the European Spring Council 2008 by the Committee of the Regions' Lisbon Monitoring Platform. The report is the CoR's response to the request of the Spring European Council 2006 to provide a summary report in support of the Jobs and Growth Strategy by 2008, and aims to assess the effects of the revised Lisbon Strategy on the local and regional level and to provide an outlook beyond 2008. It also reflects the key role that regions and cities play as economic actors.

2007 European Innovation Scoreboard published
The Scoreboard provides a comparative assessment of innovation performance across EU Member States.

The 2007 European Innovation Scoreboard has been published on 14 February 2008. It provides a comparative assessment of innovation performance across EU Member States and with major innovating countries worldwide, together with new analysis on innovation in services, on socio-economic factors influencing innovation, on innovation efficiency and on non-R&D innovation. There is also a press release and an interactive tool to view countries' performance in different areas.

Presentations from IRE workshop on impact assessment
The presentations from the workshop 'Impact assessment for better governance of regional innovation policies' are available.

The aim of this event, which took place in Bilbao on 29-30 January, was to present current developments in impact assessment and benchmarking tools that could be applied in the innovation policy-making of European regions, and show practical examples of successful applications. The event built to a great extent on the results of the eight 'Regional innovation policy impact assessment and benchmarking' pilot projects, which have developed new methods for innovation policy impact assessment of interest to all European regions. It also included an expert presentation on governance of innovation policy, and presentations from the European Commission, OECD and the Committee of the Regions.

Implementation of Silesia's innovation strategy
A recent publication presents the implementation of Silesia's regional innovation strategy.

Silesia carried out a RIS project in 2001-2004, which resulted in a regional innovation strategy covering the years 2003-2013. Over the past few years, the strategy has been implemented by a number of consistent activities. A recently published brochure presents the activities launched and results achieved.

IRE event on impact assessment of regional innovation policies
The IRE Secretariat is organising a conference on impact assessment of regional innovation policies in Bilbao on 29-30 January 2008.

The conference 'Impact assessment for better governance of regional innovation policies', organised by the IRE Secretariat in collaboration with the Basque Government, Basque Development Agency (SPRI) and LABEIN Tecnalia .

Governance is increasingly recognised as a crucial factor for effective policies. The realisation of any common goal requires appropriate decision-making to coordinate multiple efforts. A very important ingredient of governance is knowledge of the actual situation in the region in order to set the long-term strategic objectives, choose appropriate actions and undertake necessary corrections. A pilot action launched by the European Commission in March 2004 has resulted in eight pilot projects developing new methods for innovation policy impact assessment and benchmarking, which is of interest to all European regions. The tools developed have a great potential to improve policy-making processes and the adaptation of regional research and innovation policies to upcoming needs and opportunities in the regions.

The aim of this event is to present current developments in impact assessment and benchmarking tools that could be applied in the innovation policy-making of European regions, and show practical examples of successful applications. An overview of initiatives related to evaluation of the innovation performance and policies in Europe will be made. Participants will discuss how the new tools can be applied in the regions and what should be next steps on the European level for the development of an 'impact assessment culture', so that it becomes an integrated part of regional innovation policy.

The draft agenda of the event and the registration form are available through the link below. Registrations should be sent to the IRE Secretariat before 14 January 2008. Participants will receive a hotel booking form upon registration. Pre-reserved rooms for special conference rates are available until 14 January. To take advantage of them, please register before this date.

Minutes of 'Regional innovation systems' working group
Multilevel governance of regional innovation system was the topic of the last meeting of this working group.

The IRE working group 'Effective regional innovation systems' met for the fourth time on Crete on 29-30 October. The  topic of the meeting - Multilevel Governance - which can be described as the dispersion of policy decision making across multiple territorial levels, deserves more and more attention from the regions across Europe.

Two phenomena have been decisive in creating multilevel governance in Europe over the last decades: on the one hand, European integration has shifted authority of innovation policy making from national states up to European level institutions; on the other hand, regionalisation in several European countries has shifted political authority from the national level down to sub-national levels of government. In particular, decentralisation has made local and regional governments more powerful and supposedly increased their capacity to formulate and deliver innovation policy. These trends have made governance of public policies both more complex and more demanding, involving multiple actors (public and private) and requiring a rethinking of how central and sub-national governments should
collaborate.

Two main dimensions can be considered when talking about multilevel governance: vertical and horizontal. The “vertical” dimension refers to the linkages between higher and lower levels of government (e.g. between ministries and agencies or between ministries and regional administrations). The "horizontal" dimension refers to the co-ordination of many policy domains to achieve better innovation policy, involving both a broadening of goals beyond core innovation policy and a multi-sectoral approach.

The meeting of the working group aimed at discussing how is multilevel governance affecting the regional innovation systems and presenting the practices that regions are undertaking in order to interact with the other layers of governance. Three subgroups were formed in order to debate the following aspects:

• EU Governance Layers: what are the EU governance layers? Are they relevant to making a regional innovation system work? Are some more relevant than others? How do we engage with those of importance?
• In which way does Multilevel Governance affect regional innovation systems? What are the challenges, the advantagesand the disadvantages for the regions and the regional innovation systems in a European Multilevel Governance system? How can a region increase its influence in the EU decision making system?
• How should the articulation between the European, national, regional and local levels be structured? How should the articulation between the EU, national, regional and local levels be organised and structured in order to achieve effective regionalinnovation systems?

Minutes from the knowledge transfer working group available
The fourth meeting of this working group focused on transnational knowledge transfer.

The fourth meeting of the working group 'Knowledge transfer between universities and enterprises' was part of the ongoing meeting cycle aiming to contribute to the learning process amongst IRE member regions of how knowledge transfer activities can be stimulated, developed and promoted. The theme of the fourth meeting was 'The role of EU and regional networks in supporting cross border knowledge transfer and the role played by specialised SME Technology Centres'.

The methodological approach used for this fourth meeting sought to mix the presentations of the regional delegates identifying potential good practices and case studies followed by group discussions and feedback. A brainstorming exercise was included to help develop ideas for the proposed knowledge transfer indicators table.

DG Enterprise report on innovation clusters in Europe
DG Enterprise and Industry has publised a statistical analysis and overview of policy support to innovative clusters.

The report responds analyses on the basis of the best available data the presence of clusters in Europe and their role as drivers of innovation and economic growth. It also describes national and regional approaches in support of clusters and identifies the main challenges still to be addressed to exploit their full potential, and presents the main Community instruments that are currently used in support of cluster policies of the Member States and regions.

INTERREG IVC call for proposals open
The first INTERREG IVC call for proposals is open until 15 January 2008.

This first INTERREG IVC call for proposals covers the two thematic priorities of the programme:

• Innovation and knowledge economy
• Environment and risk prevention.

Trans-regional impact assessment and benchmarking congress
The impact assessment and benchmarking projects OMEN and ARISE are orgaising a joint congress on 12 October.

Two IRE projects, OMEN and ARISE, representing the pilot action 'Regional Innovation Policy Impact Assessment and Benchmarking’, are organising an international event to present the exploitable results of the RIS assessment projects and critical issues that still need to be solved by using a data-driven approach in innovation policy making. The action aims to encourage European regions to assess the impact of their innovation policies and strategies in a systematic manner and to create methodologies and instruments for benchmarking regional innovation performances.

The event will bring together policy makers, policy users, research centres and delegates of the European Commission to share knowledge, experiences and methodologies on the crucial themes of Benchmarking and Policy Impact Assessment. The conference will also provide an opportunity to get closer to many different approaches and to meet representatives of European regions that have already implemented policy impact assessment and benchmarking methodologies.

RICARDA conference on developing regional cluster initatives
This event will present intellectual capital reporting as a new tool for cluster managers and policy makers.

The RICARDA project, a Regions of Knowledge project, aims to transfer the method of Intellectual Capital Reporting to the level of regional innovation networks or clusters. Researchers and practitioners from Austria, Germany, Hungary and Sweden have explored the potentials of analysing the intellectual capital of cluster initiatives in theory and practice. At the final conference on 15 November 2007, the RICARDA consortium will share format and results of the project.

Cluster managers will report their hands-on experiences with using intellectual capital reports in different regions and sectors. With the launch of the RICARDA manual conference participants will receive a practical guide for drafting their own intellectual capital reports. The European Commission will present new activities in the field of cluster management. The conference format gives cluster managers, policy makers and all other stakeholders ample opportunities to network with European colleagues.

Further information about the conference, including links to the programme and registration facility, can be found via the link below.

Recommendation for financing small businesses
A summary of five reports recommends ways to improve finance flows to small firms.

The European Commission as well as the Member States and finance professionals have recently studied ways to improve the financial situation of SMEs. Five reports, including the 'Fifth Round Table between Bankers and SMEs: Transparency and Dialogue; Mezzanine Finance; SME Securitisation', 'The Regulation of Microcredit in Europe', and 'Removing Obstacles to Cross-border Investments by Venture Capital Funds', have reviewed loan and equity finance. A summary recently published by the European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry presents the key conclusions of the reports. The recommendations are addressed to policy makers, banks and SMEs, and focus on five areas:

• More transparency between banks and SMEs
• Combining debt and equity
• Increasing lending volume with securitisation
• Easier venture capital investment across borders
• Better regulation of microcredit

OECD publication on national cluster policies
OECD has published a study of national policies to promote regional clusters.

Many nations and regions are struggling to maintain their competitive edge in the context of globalisation. The regional specialisations built up over decades are transforming rapidly. Many regions that were historically production centres in a given sector are losing out to lower-cost locations and reorienting to higher value-added niches. Yet even some of these upstream activities are being off-shored. How durable are the competitive strengths on which regional economies are based?

National programmes to promote cluster-based approaches - linking firms, people and knowledge at a regional level - are being used to meet the challenge. Evolutions in regional policy, science and technology policy and industrial/enterprise policy are converging on the objective of supporting clusters at the regional level. Nevertheless, policy makers face a series of difficult choices given limited resources. For example, they may focus on the leading regions and sectors that drive national economic growth and technological breakthroughs or the lagging regions that need to reorient their economies to preserve jobs and diversify. This report analyses the objectives, targeting, instruments and inter-governmental role sharing used by 26 programmes in 14 OECD countries.

A summary of the report is available following the link below. The full study can be ordered from the OECD.

EMERIPA requesting feedback on benchmarking methodology
EMERIPA is asking IRE members for feedback on its impact assessment and benchmarking methodology.

The EMERIPA project has published an abstract of the methodology developed for regional innovation policy impact assessment and benchmarking. EMERIPA (European Methodology for regional Innovation Policy Impact Assessment and Benchmarking) has the main objective of developing a European methodology which enables the regional actors to assess the effectiveness of their regional research and innovation policies within a European framework and to benchmark and recommend policies for increasing their regional performance in terms of innovation.

After two years of project implementation, EMERIPA is currently contacting external agents dealing with regional innovation policy to obtain their feedback on the methodology through a questionnaire. The results obtained will be used for its final refinement. Moreover, the project consortium is conducting a pilot implementation of the methodology in the EMERIPA regions.

IRE members currently involved in the definition and deployment of regional innovation strategies might be thinking about the most appropriate tools and mechanism to assess the impact of their strategies. Therefore, their opinion on the "Regional Innovation Policy Impact Assessment and benchmarking methodology" suggested by EMERIPA is very valuable for its final refinement. The link below leads you an abstract of the methodology and a short and userfriendly questionnaire. The EMERIPA coordinators would be very gratefull if you could fill the questionnaire out and send it back to them as soon as possible (if possible before 31.08.2007)

Anyone who has queries or would like to obtain more information about the methodology. are welcome to contact the contact person indicated below.

OECD review on globalisation and regional economies
OECD has published a review on how regions can respond to globalisation.

With regional economies transforming rapidly in an increasingly global system of production, what can regions do to seize the best opportunities? To answer this question, a better understanding of these trends and what they mean for regions is required. This review studies regions that are specialised in key global industries to see how overall trends play out in practice and how regional actors are responding.

Minutes of cluster working group meeting
The topic of the group's last meeting was cluster foresight.

The 15 members of the working group 'Regional clustering and networking as innovation drivers' met on 29 May to discuss cluster/sector foresight. The objective of the meeting was to address and discuss the following key issues:

• What is cluster foresight and what benefits does it bring?
• What are the key element/stages of a foresight process?
• Which practical tools and techniques are valuable in foresight exercises?
• What pitfalls are there and how can they be avoided?
• Can foresight be useful for European regional clusters?

IRE Award to Sistema Madri+d
The Comunidad de Madrid received the first IRE Award, presented during the IRE Plenary Conference, for its Sistema Madri+d.

The IRE Award for Best European Regional Innovation Scheme has been launched in order to get European recognition for their successful efforts and highlight their good practices to representatives of other European regions. A total of 23 applications for the Award were received. The applications were evaluated by a panel which nominated the following for schemes for the Award:

Centres of Industrial Collaboration - Yorkshire and Humber
Research/Knowledge vouchers - Limburg
Sistema Madri+d - Madrid
Regional tourism development strategy - Balearic Islands

The evaluation panel's motivations for selecting these four schemes can be found following the link below.

During the award ceremony at the IRE Plenary Conference, the IRE Award was given to Sistema Madri+d. The evaluation panel's motivation for giving the Award to this scheme was the following:

“The selected scheme is an excellent example of a forum for implementation of regional innovation strategy that has been created as the result of a RITTS project. Its well-known name has raised the profile of innovation support in the region and made it known in both the research and the business world, and its ‘Science in Society’ programme has raised the awareness of and interest in science and innovation policy among the general public. In an environment where the memory of new innovation projects is generally short, the scheme has achieved a long-term coherence in the provision of innovation promotion services, and is a permanent mechanism for regional innovation policy governance and implementation.”

IRE Plenary Conference and 'open sessions'
Register now to the IRE Plenary Conference on 24-25 May and the related 'open sessions'.

The 5th IRE Plenary Conference will take place in Ennis, Ireland on 24-25 May 2007. In the beginning of the year, IRE member regions were invited to submit expressions of interest to organise ‘open sessions’ in conjunction to the Plenary Conference. The objective of the open sessions is to allow IRE regions to highlight topics of their interest at the Plenary Conference, and provide additional networking opportunities for conference delegates interested in specific issues. They will be organised at 14:30 - 17:00 on 25 May, directly after the end of the Plenary Conference.

The themes of the open sessions have now been selected, and will be the following:

‘Open session’ 1: Schools as seeds for innovative regions organised by Lucerne School of Business in collaboration with the regions of Mersin, Jerusalem and Galilee

‘Open session’ 2: Establishment of Innovation Hubs as part of a Regional Innovation System organised by Yorkshire Forward.

‘Open session’ 3: Importance of Intellectual Property for Regions and their Business Development – An Insight into the IP Rights System organised by the IPR-Helpdesk

More information about the sessions is available following the link below. The link also leads you to the conference agenda and registration form. Registrations are open until 1 May. Reserve your place at the Plenary Conference now!

RIS methodological guide stage 2 available
The IRE Secretariat has just published a new methodological guide for RIS projects.

A successful Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) projects should ultimately result in a positive impact on the innovation performance of the region, and not merely in a glossy brochure. This methodological guide intends to serve as a guide for practitioners in innovation policies helping them to achieve a positive impact in their region. It deals with the process of defining and implementing a regional innovation strategy as well as selected challenges and pitfall in the strategy formulation process. In particular, it aims at sharing experiences in the field of ensuring that analyses and plans actually form the basis for actions and are not considered a value in their own rights. Moreover, the Methodological Guide for Stage 2 also tackles the issues of monitoring and evaluating RIS projects and regional innovation strategies.

Apply for the IRE Award
The IRE Award for best European innovation scheme will be presented at the 5th IRE Plenary Conference.

The Award is an initiative to distinguish successful measures related to regional innovation policies developed and implemented by European regions. It will be presented to the winner at the 5th IRE Plenary Conference, which will take place in Shannon on 24-25 May 2007. Regions are invited to apply for the Award using the specific application form. Further details, including the application form, are available following the link below. The deadline for submitting applications is 15 February 2007.

IRE workshop on regional innovation systems
Register now for the workshop 'Effective regional innovation systems' on 30 November - 1 December.

The aim of the workshop is to provide participants with a deeper understanding of what a regional innovation system is and how it functions. Speakers from IRE member regions will share their experience on how to further develop and strengthen their innovation systems in order to achieve long-term success. Practitioners will also share their views on what the roles and contributions of key institutions should be in an efficient regional innovation system.

Please register for the event by filling in the registration form available through the link below and returning it to the IRE Secretariat before 15 November. Pre-reserved rooms for special conference rates are available until 30 October. To take advantage of them, please register before this date.

IRE subgroup report on cluster management
The IRE subgroup 'Regional clusters as innovation drivers' has published a report on cluster management.

The report focuses on organisational set-up, monitoring and evaluation, and five key fields of managment action: information and communication, training, cooperation, marketing and PR, and internationalisation.

Last week for expressing interest in joining new IRE Subgroups
IRE members are welcome to express their interest in joining three new IRE subgroups until 9 September.

2nd MLP Workshop on Regional Benchmarking
The MLP workshop 'How to perform regional innovation benchmarking' will take place in Brussels on 20 June.

Interested regional actors are welcome to register.

Cluster policy overview in New Member States
Cluster policy overview in New Member States

The IRE subgroup 'Regional clusters as innovation drivers' has published an overview of cluster policy and clusters in New Member States.

Minutes of IRE cluster working group
The meeting focused on enhancing companies’ skills through cluster initiatives.

The objective of the meeting was to achieve a profound understanding of how a selection of measures function as well as to develop ideas of how such measures can be improved based on the experience of the group members. Four different cases of the group members were presented during the meeting, followed by discussion sessions.

Publications on effective innovation
NESTA has published two studies on rural innovation and effective regional coalitions for innovation.

NESTA, the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, has recently published two reports on effective innovation.

Leading Innovation: Building effective regional coalitions for innovation discusses the fact that regions without the extraordinary assets of Silicon Valley ‘ordinary’ regions), making the leap from an old-economy paradigm to one based on innovation in services and high-tech industries can seem impossible. But, the report argues, it isn’t. This leap is made up of a series of smaller, more achievable steps. Two things stand out, however: this isn’t a fast process; and it requires deep regional knowledge and strong regional leadership. The study includes case studies from seven European regions that have successfully made the transition from ordinary to innovative region; and from four UK regions that are somewhere along that journey. It concludes by presenting a guide to the ‘regional innovation journey’ and an analysis of the types of leadership that may be required along the way.

In the past, innovation policy has tended to concentrate on urban areas. This is understandable: simply due to density, much traditional innovation that is countable by R&D expenditure or patent production happens in cities. But 86 per cent of the UK is rural, and those areas are home to almost 20 per cent of the population. The second study, Rural Innovation, examines how innovation happens there and how it might be stimulated.

EUROMED project searches for IRC and EIC experts
The Medibtikar is looking for an expert specialised in the implementation and management of Innovation Relay Centres and Euro Info Centres services.

The EUROMED Innovation and Technology Programme, also called Medibtikar (derived from MEDiterranean and Ibtikar, Arabic for Innovation), aims to provide the MEDA countries with new and improved instruments to stimulate innovation in firms and at national level. The project will also simulate networking across the MEDA region, and between the region and the countries of the European Union. The beneficiary countries are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia, and Turkey.

One planned project activity is to establish a network similar to the IRC/EIC network in the EU to facilitate technology transfer. Medibtikar is thus looking for an expert specialised in the implementation and management of Innovation Relay Centres and Euro Info Centres services. The aim of this assistance will be to:

• Identify relevant services to be offered to the industry in the target countries to facilitate the building of strategic international industrial partnerships
• Define the infrastructure to put in place to run these services
• Define the processes of the services in the infrastructure (who is doing what and when)
  
• Identify the financial, human and operational resources required to set-up such infrastructure
• Set targets for the infrastructure regarding output data and key expected results
• Run the first pilot actions that will prove to the national innovation stakeholders the interest and the efficiency of the model for the country
• Initiate the establishment of a Regional Network that will syndicate the needs, develop synergies and facilitate the creation of shared resources.

• At least 5 years of experience from the IRC or the EIC network; meaning that the Expert has worked in an IRC or EIC or in the Network Management Units
  
• Ability to work in English (for Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine territory, Syria and Turkey) and French (for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia).
• The expert should have strong relationship with European Innovation organisations and have a deep understanding of the procedures used in the IRC/EIC Networks.
• The Expert should have experience in project management from a theoretical and practical point of view and should have experience in leadership and coordination of network projects.

Report 'Towards Developing an Entrepreneurship Policy for Ireland'
The Irish agency Forfas has published a background report for the development of a national entrepreneurship policy.

The report sets a vision for an entrepreneurial society, and proposes measures to further improve the environment for entrepreneurship.The report looks at a number of key issues in detail and identifies areas for further development in improving the entrepreneurial culture, entrepreneurship in the education system and entrepreneurial activity among women and immigrants. Additionally, a mapping exercise has been carried out outlining initiatives to support entrepreneurship in Ireland.

UNIDO CEE/NIS training programme on technology foresight
UNIDO offers an opportunity to participate in training sessions on technology foresight.

• Technology Foresight Summit 2007: 27-29 September 2007, Budapest, Hungary
• Technology Foresight for Decision Makers, September, 2007, Budapest, Hungary
• Training Course on Technology Foresight for Organisers, November 2007, Gebze, Turkey
• Training Course on Technology Foresight for Practitioners - A Specialised Course on Scenarios Building, November 2007, Prague, Czech Republic
  

INNO Learning Platform call for independent experts
The INNO Learning Platform is launching its second call for independent experts on innovation policy.

The INNO Learning Platform consortium is inviting applications from individuals wishing to provide expert assistance on analysing initiatives proposed under the following two themes:

1. Society-driven innovation – Promotion of innovation for citizens
The main objective of the initiatives to be analysed under this theme is to encourage trans-national cooperation between national and regional innovation policy makers and programme managers in specific new fields in order to better address emerging and future societal needs through innovation policy.

2. Better innovation policy governance – a toolbox for innovation policy makers
The main objective of the initiatives to be analysed under this theme is to support national and regional policy makers to improve the quality of their innovation policies in order to increase the efficiency of policy instruments and reduce the administrative burden in implementing innovation support actions.

Two parallel task force teams (one for each of the two themes) will be created in view to conduct feasibility studies. The development of feasibility studies will lead to the definition of a number of initiatives suitable for generating strong trans-national policy cooperation.

Applicants should send their CV in European format and biographical note, indicating which theme(s) they are applying for, to the INNO Learning Platform to Ms Paula Galvao, [email protected]. The deadline for applications is 22 June. The link below leads to further call specifications.

Zilina publishes regional innovation strategy
The Slovak region of Zilina has put together its innovation strategy.

Zilina is one of the 33 regions currently carrying out their Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) projects. Zilina has now completed its innovation strategy, which can be accessed at the IRE website. The region is currently preparing its implementation by launching pilot actions.

INTERREG IVC programme published
An updated version of the INTERREG IVC Operational Programme was submitted to the EC on 19 April 2007.

The new "INTERREG IVC" programme (the exact name is still to be defined) for cross-border collaboration under the Structural Funds will run from 2007 till 2013. INTERREG IVC will have a clear focus on regional development policies in the areas of innovation, knowledge economy, environment and risk prevention. Different types of interregional cooperation projects and networks will be funded. Currently the Operational Programme is being developed by a Programming Committee comprising representatives from 27 EU Member States, Switzerland, Norway and the EU Commission. This updated version of the Operational Programme will be further adjusted as comments from the public consultation as well as from the European Commission made during the approval process have to be incorporated.

A first application round for the new programme can be launched - at the earliest - in autumn 2007.

Support Actions to RIS-NAC processes event
The four 'Support Actions to RIS-NAC processes' are having a joint final event in Ennis on 25 May.

These projects have supported the 16 regions carrying out RIS projects during the period 2001-2004 to prepare the implementation of their innovation strategies. This event, which will take place in conjunction to the IRE Plenary Conference, will present the experience gathered during this process. The session targets in particular the current Regional Innovation Strategy projects and aims to give them an opportunity to learn how the RIS-NAC regions manage to implement their innovation measures.

New European portal for SMEs
The European Commission has launched a web portal for SMEs.

This portal provides access to information on the whole spectrum of EU policies, legislation, programmes and initiatives relevant to Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises. Further information is provided in the following areas:

• EU funding for SMEs
• Support services across Europe
• On-line tools
• Going international
• The EU's SME Envoy
• SME policy in Europe
• Promoting entrepreneurship
• A single market in Europe
• Making SMEs more competitive
• EU sectoral policies

Commission communication on improved knowledge transfer
The European Commission has published a communication on improved knowledge transfer between industry and research.

The communication 'Improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and industry across Europe: embracing open innovation' was published on 4 April. It underlines the need for having skilled knowledge transfer staff in universities and research institutes, but also emphasises that all researchers should have basic knowledge transfer skills and an entrepreneurial way of thinking.

Case study compilation of regional innovation projects
DG Regional Policy has published case studies of regional innovation projects.

The publications includes examples of projects funded under the ERDF Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions. These case studies, in English or in French, present the objectives and activities of the projects, the strategic context, the innovative aspects, partnership, obstacles in terms of design or implementation, results and impacts.

Register for the IRE Plenary Conference
It is now possible to register for the 5th IRE Plenary Conference on 24-25 May in Ennis, Ireland.

The fifth IRE Plenary Conference is a key European event on regional innovation. The conference will bring together regional policy makers and innovation practitioners from the over 200 IRE member regions. The European Commission will present its innovation policies, and parallel sessions will focus on the following topics:

• Innovation policy governance and cross-border policy cooperation
• Development on research-based clusters and growth poles
• Powering innovation policies with the help of Structural Funds
• Impact assessment of regional innovation policies
• Innovation in the service sector
•  Innovative approaches for traditional sectors

Minutes of RIS methodological workshop available
The third methodological workshop for RIS projects focused on the last project stage.

During this stage, the RIS projects will develop their regional innovation strategies and action plans and prepare for strategy implementation. The workshop aimed to give practical advice and lessons based on the experiences of IRE member regions that have previously gone through this process.

The minutes of the meeting, as well as the presentations, are avilable following the link below.

Evaluation of innovation in the Structural Funds
An evaluation of innovation and knowledge aspects of the Structual Funds has been published.

The evaluation entitled 'Strategic Evaluation on Innovation and the knowledge based economy in relation to the Structural and Cohesion Funds, for the programming period 2007-2013', has been commissioned by DG Regional Policy.

Minutes of knowledge transfer subgroup
The minutes and presentations of the first meeting of the knowledge transfer subgroup are available.

The first meeting of the subgroup 'Knowledge transfer between universitites and enterprises' took place in Malta on 4-5 December. The group consists of 15 member regions and will focus on regional policies and practices and of the issues facing SMEs and universities trying to develop more effective knowledge transfer activities.

Presentations from innovation systems subgroup
The presentations from the first meeting of the subgroup 'Regional innovation systems' are available.

This was the first meeting of the six to be held. It took place on 29 November in Helsinki.

Check out the new IRE subgroups
Information about the activities and members of the three new IRE subgroups is now available.

The three subgroups, which will run 2006-2008, are entitled 'Effective regional innovation systems', 'Regional clustering and networking as innovation drivers', and 'Knowledge transfer between universities and enterprises'. The information available includes a description of the groups' main aims and activities, as well as details concerning the members and the regions they represent. Documentation related to their activiites, as well as their final deliverables, will also be published here.

Fourth IRE Customer Satisfaction Survey
A summary of the results of this year's IRE Customer Satisfaction Survey is available.

The survey is carried out every year in order to ascertain to what extent the services provided by the IRE Secretariat correspond to the needs and expectations of IRE members.

Presentations from MLP workshop on growth poles available
The presentations from the MLP workshop on how to make regional growth poles work can now be accessed.

The first MLP workshop on Regional Profiles focused on the identification of the criteria, ingredients and regional prerequisites for a growth pole. This second workshop followed up the first one and it aimed to identify ways of making right use of these ingredients. It focused on the “recipe” and how the ingredients can be put together in order to create the desirable results.

2nd MLP Workshop on Regional Profiles
The MLP workshop 'How to make Regional Growth Poles work" will take place in Brussels on 14 June.

Interested regional actors are welcome to register.

Minutes of the regional innovation systems working group
The minutes of the last meeting of this IRE working group are now available.

The IRE working group 'Effective regional innovation systems' met in Ennis on 23 May to discuss three main issues:

• The interaction and openness of regional innovation systems
• Activities and need orientation of regional innovation systems
• The vision, strategy and steering of regional innovation systems

Info Day on the Intelligent Energy – Europe II programme
The Info Day in Brussels on 19 April will provide inforamtion and advice for those interested in applying.

About 55 million Euro will become available this year under the new Intelligent Energy – Europe II programme to support European projects promoting energy efficiency and renewables. Up to 75% of the eligible project costs will be supported.

The European Info Day 2007 (Brussels, 19 April 2007) will provide those interested in applying with essential information and advice. It will also present ongoing IEE-supported projects, explain the broader policy context of the programme, and allow participants to meet and network with colleagues from across Europe. Some 600 participants are expected.

It is possible to register and download the Info Day programme following the link below. The morning session will also be broadcast live on the internet by www.managenergy.tv.

'Open sessions' at the IRE Plenary Conference
IRE regions are invited to signal interest in organising 'open sessions' in conjunction to the IRE Plenary Conference.

The 5^th IRE Plenary Conference will take place in Shannon, Ireland on 24-25 May 2007. In order to allow IRE regions to highlight topics of their interest and provide additional networking opportunities for conference delegates interested in specific issues, IRE member regions are invited to submit expressions of interest to organise ‘open sessions’ in conjunction to the conference. The open sessions provide an opportunity to invite participants at this major European conference to a programme fully organised by IRE regions. Three open sessions, preliminarily scheduled at 14:30 – 17:00 on 25 May, will take place in parallel.

The three most interesting expressions of interest for open sessions will be selected by the IRE Secretariat in collaboration with the European Commission. The opportunity of organising a session is open to IRE member regions. The session organiser should be a regional and public or semi-public organisation (or a group of such organisations) actively contributing to the development of innovation policies and strategies in its region.

The application form including further details about the practical organisation of the open sessions, conditions to submit an expression of interest etc can be found following the link below. Please send your expression of interest to the IRE Secretariat by 15 March 2007.

Call to develop Nordic innovation policy
The Nordic Innovation Centre is launching two calls for expressions of interest on Nordic innovation policies.

The themes of the two calls for expressions of interest are Regional innovation and Regional innovation actors of tomorrow, and User-driven innovation.

The Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe) will be investing up to €1.20 million and €1.5 million respectively in each to support separate portfolios of projects. Though the main focus is to promote the collaboration between Nordic countries, it is possible for partners outside Nordic countries to be involved in the projects. A Nordic consortium may invite relevant international actors to join the project in order to add value and improve impact of the project.

Irish report on services innovation
The Irish agency Forfás has published a report on services innovation.

The report is entitled ‘Services innovation in Ireland – Options for innovation policy’ and includes policy recommendations for how to stimulate innovation in the services sector. Forfás is Ireland's national policy board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation.

New publication: Showcasing Innovative Greece
'Showcasing Innovative Greece' presents Greek Regional Programmes of Innovative Actions.

The publication provides an overview of all Innovative Actions programmes carried out in Greece 2000-2006.

Outcomes of public consultation on industry-research links
A document summarising the outcomes of the public consultation conducted by DG Research is available.

This draft report presents the outcomes of the "Public consultation on transnational research cooperation and knowledge transfer between public research organisations and industry" carried out 12 May - 31 July 2006.

Summary of RIS Focus Group on academic-business link
A summary document from the RIS Focus Group dealing with university-industry collaboration is now available.

The meeting took place on 11 May in Gdansk, and included experience sharing with IRE member regions are already implementing their innovation strategies.

E-RAIN project inviting new members
The 'Regions of Knowledge 2' project E-RAIN is inviting potential new members to join its activities.

The recently launched E-RAIN - the European Network for Regional Innovation Agencies - project will study innovation policy programmes and analyse their implementation procedures, in order to find the ways to enhance the efficiency of research and innovation programmes across Europe.

Starting cluster implementation
Starting cluster implementation

How to go from cluster mapping to cluster implementation is the topic of a new review published by the IRE cluster subgroup.

Coventry University Enterprises recruiting programme manager
Coventry University Enterprises is recruiting a programme manager dealing with innovation.

The programme manager will work in particular with European projects on innovation. As part of the Business Development Group, the programme manager will help secure and deliver contracts from the commercial sector, the European Commission, UK Government and Regional Government; everything from successfully writing proposals to delivering grant funded projects. Further information is available under the link below.

Final reports of the Mutual Learning Platform (MLP) available
The final reports of the MLP can now be downloaded.

The reports were presented on the MLP Final Conference, which took place in Brussels on 13 October. They focus on three themes: boosting regional potential through foresight, tools to make regional growth poles work, and a blueprint for regional innovation benchmarking. Paper copies of the reports can be ordered from the IRE Secretariat.

The future of cluster policies and programmes
This report summarises the conclusions of the IRE subgroup 'Regional clusters as innovation drivers'.

The report discusses issues such as clusters in a changing global environment, implications for cluster policies and implications for policy measures and organisations supporting clusters.

Subscribe to IRE news alerts
A new facility on the IRE website enables you to receive alerts by e-mail inbox about IRE news of your interest.

After having subscribed to this service, personalised e-mail messages will tell you that new information has been published on the IRE website. You can indicate exactly what kind of news you would like to receive, by type of article – Regional Innovation in Europe magazine articles, events, news announcements, etc – and/or by thematic key words. You can choose to receive the news alert each week or each month. Click on the link below to subscribe.

Report from MLP foresight workshop available
The workshop report from the second MLP workshop on regional foresight is now available.

The report can be downloaded from the IRE website.

Presentations from MLP Workshop on Foresight avaliable
The presentations from the MLP workshop on regional foresight on 31 March are now available.

The presentations from the MLP Workshop on Regional Foresight which took place on Friday 31 March in Stuttgart are now available.

Second minutes of knowledge transfer subgroup
The minutes and presentations of the second meeting of the knowledge transfer subgroup are available.

The second meeting of the subgroup 'Knowledge transfer between universitites and enterprises' took place in Madrid on 19-20 February. The group consists of 15 member regions and will focus on regional policies and practices and of the issues facing SMEs and universities trying to develop more effective knowledge transfer activities.

Presentations on promotion of innovation in SMEs available
Presentations on promotion of innovation in SMEs available

The presentations from the first meeting of the Focus Group 'Promotion of innovation in SMEs' for running RIS projects are now available.

Newsletter from the benchmarking project EURO-COOP
Newsletter from the benchmarking project EURO-COOP

The regional innovation policy impact assessment and benchmarking project EURO-COOP has published its newsletter no.2.

Guide to evaluation of innovation programmes
Guide to evaluation of innovation programmes

DG Enterprise and Industry has published a practical guide to evaluate innovation programmes.

Report from MLP workshop on regional profiles and growth poles available
Report from MLP workshop on regional profiles and growth poles available

The workshop report from the MLP workshop on regional profiles and growth poles held on 9 December 2005 in Brussels is now available.

Joint RegStrat and MLP event on policy intelligence and regional foresight
Joint RegStrat and MLP event on policy intelligence and regional foresight

The Conference on Strategic Policy Intelligence and the second MLP Regional Foresight Workshop will take place on 30-31 March 2006 in Stuttgart.

Report "Creating an Innovative Europe"
Report "Creating an Innovative Europe"

This report, published by four high-level experts appointed by the Commission, urges Europe’s leaders to take radical action on research and innovation "before it is too late".

Report on ICT use in 10 sectors
Report on ICT use in 10 sectors

The European e-Business W@tch Report studies how European firms in 10 economic sectors use ICT to transform their business processes.

Good practice in regional innovation schemes by IRE Thematic Networks
Good practice in regional innovation schemes by IRE Thematic Networks

The IRE Secretariat has put together a good practice compilation built on the results of the IRE Thematic Networks which run during 2001-2004.

Report on MLP benchmarking workshop
Report on MLP benchmarking workshop

The report from the MLP workshop 'Benchmarking for better regional innovation policies' is available.

Vacant position at the IRE Secretariat
Vacant position at the IRE Secretariat

The IRE Secretariat is looking for an IRE Expert to join our Luxembourg team (see attached job description). Interested persons, having at least 5 years experience in the field of innovation policies atregional and/or European level are invited to send their CVs to [email protected]

Call for experts on innovation culture
Call for experts on innovation culture

The 5SCHEMES project is looking for experts to help design measures to foster a regional innovation culture.

European Innovation Scoreboard 2005
European Innovation Scoreboard 2005

The European Innovation Scoreboard, which analyses European innovation performance, has been published.

Minutes from IRE workshop on innovation culture
Minutes from IRE workshop on innovation culture

The minutes from the IRE workshop 'Promoting an Innovation Culture in the Regions' are available.

MLP benchmarking workshop
MLP benchmarking workshop

The Mutual Learning Platform (MLP) workshop on regional benchmarking will take place in Brussels on 25 November 2005.

Presentations from IRE innovation culture workshop
Presentations from IRE innovation culture workshop

The presentation from the IRE workshop 'Promoting an Innovation Culture in the Regions' are now available.

New action plan on research and innovation
New action plan on research and innovation

The European Commission has published a communication entitled ‘More Research and Innovation: Investing for Growth and Employment - A Common Approach’.

Newsletter from benchmarking project EURO-COOP
Newsletter from benchmarking project EURO-COOP

The regional innovation policy impact assessment and benchmarking project EURO-COOP has published its first newsletter.

EC public consultation on a European Institute of Technology
EC public consultation on a European Institute of Technology

A public consultation on whether and how to create a European Institute of Technology (EIT) has been opened by the European Commission. It will gather the views of stakeholders on how an 'EIT' could strengthen research, education and market innovation in Europe. The public consultation will run until mid-November, and will feed into a wider analysis by the European Commission services.

PATINNOVA '05 conference in Budapest 8-10 November
PATINNOVA '05 conference in Budapest 8-10 November

The PATINNOVA '05 conference will focus on intellectual property (IP) management as a business strategy for growth.

Partner search for 'Mutual learning and co-ordination in research policy making' call
Partner search for 'Mutual learning and co-ordination in research policy making' call

The Fundación Insula Barataria from Castilla La Mancha would like to join a proposal for "Mutual learning and co-ordination in research policy making".

New call for proposals on mutual learning and co-ordination in research policy making
New call for proposals on mutual learning and co-ordination in research policy making

This call for proposals aims to improve and better coordinate research policies on national and regional level. Proposals can be related with public research spending and policy mixes; public research base and its links to industry; fiscal measures for research; intellectual property rights and research; and SME’s and research. The deadline for the call is 3 February 2006.

New RIS regions presented
New RIS regions presented

Descriptions of new IRE member regions that carry out RIS projects since June 2005 are now available

Subgroup paper on identifying and mapping clusters
Subgroup paper on identifying and mapping clusters

The IRE subgroup 'Clusters as drivers of regional innovation' has published a paper entitled 'Emergence, identification and mapping of clusters - review report'.

Conference ‘'Integrating Regional Intelligence'
Conference ‘'Integrating Regional Intelligence'

The Meta-Foresight project, part of the Regions of Knowledge Pilot Action, organises a conference on 6-7 October 2005 in Cáceres (Spain), which is to bring together European actors in the field of innovation involved in the promotion and integration of regional intelligence.

Key Figures 2005 on Science Technology and Innovation
Key Figures 2005 on Science Technology and Innovation

The European Commission's 'Key Figures 2005 on science, technology and innovation' are now available.

Guidelines for Structural Funds support 2007-2013: focus on research and innovation
Guidelines for Structural Funds support 2007-2013: focus on research and innovation

The draft Community Strategic Guidelines entitled 'Cohesion Policy in Support of Growth and Jobs: Community Strategic Guidelines, 2007-2013' propose a strong focus on research and innovation.

Western Europe top destination for foreign investment
Western Europe top destination for foreign investment

The 2005 Ernst & Young European Attractiveness Survey shows that Western Europe remains the most attractive destination for foreign investment, despite increasingly strong competition from Central and Eastern Europe and China.

Minutes of the MLP launch conference
Minutes of the MLP launch conference

The minutes and presentations of the Mutual Learning Platform (MLP) launch conference are available.

Methodological workshop for RIS projects
Methodological workshop for RIS projects

The first methodological workshop for the new Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) projects will take place in Vilnius on 7-8 June 2005.

Research and Innovation Plan for Catalonia (2005-2008)
Research and Innovation Plan for Catalonia (2005-2008)

A new plan for research and innovation in Catalonia has been published by the Catalan Government.

Presentations from the 4th IRE Plenary Conference
Presentations from the 4th IRE Plenary Conference

The presentations from the 4th IRE Plenary Conference are now available on the IRE website.

MEDINNOV – Réseau Euro-Méditerranéen de l’Innovation
MEDINNOV – Réseau Euro-Méditerranéen de l’Innovation

A new network has been launched to promote innovation in the Mediterranean basin. MEDINNOV aims to bring together key actors in the field of innovation in order to carry out activities such as studies, reports, joint research and forums.

Design of cluster initiatives
Design of cluster initiatives

The IRE subgroup 'Regional clusters as innovation drivers' has published an overview of policies and praxis in design of cluster initiatives.

Meetings for forthcoming IRE projects
Meetings for forthcoming IRE projects

Meetings for coordinators of IRE projects to be launched in 2005 will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 6 June 2005. Project representatives can register.

'Regions of Knowledge 2' – Partner searches
'Regions of Knowledge 2' – Partner searches

Regualary updated information about actors who would like to submit proposals or join as partners for this call for proposals is available.

IRE workshop 'Innovative Business Incubators'
IRE workshop 'Innovative Business Incubators'

This event, which aims to present different kinds of innovative business incubators, is organised in conjunction with the ERIK network and the Malopolska Region on 21-22 April 2005 in Krakow. Welcome to register!

Blueprint for foresight actions in RIS/RITTS contexts
Blueprint for foresight actions in RIS/RITTS contexts

An expert group set up by DG Research developed a series of blueprints to support regions to implement foresight activities. One of the blueprints looks at ideas for developing foresight in RIS/RITTS contexts. To access this blueprint

Minutes from the IRE subgroup on clusters
Minutes from the IRE subgroup on clusters

The minutes from the first meeting of the IRE subgroup on clusters are now available. To acces them

Regional innovation strategy of South Central Bulgaria
Regional innovation strategy of South Central Bulgaria

The regional innovation strategy of South Central Bulgaria has been finalised. To access it

'Regions of Knowledge 2' - call for proposals
'Regions of Knowledge 2' - call for proposals

A call for proposals has been launched for the "Regions of knowledge" (FP6-2004-KNOW-REG-2). Proposals are invited to promote better regional investment in research through mutual learning, coordination and collaboration between regional policies and initiatives. For more information

4th IRE Plenary Conference - final agenda
4th IRE Plenary Conference - final agenda

The final version of the agenda for the 4th IRE Plenary Conference, which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 7-8 June 2005, is available.

'Regional innovation in Europe' December 2004 available
'Regional innovation in Europe' December 2004 available

The December 2004 issue of the 'Regional Innovation in Europe' magazine, which focuses on innovation in the service sector, is now available. To access it

Project on organisational restructuring - search for partners
Project on organisational restructuring - search for partners

The County of Aarhus, Denmark, is searching for partners to join a project proposal on management change and organisational restructuring. If you are interested

New Trend Chart website
New Trend Chart website

A new website has been launched for the European Trend Chart on Innovation, which provides a better overview and easier access to information about innovation policies in Europe. To visit the site

Innovation strategy for Latvia available
Innovation strategy for Latvia available

The innovation strategy and respective action plan for Latvia have recently been completed. To access the strategy

Call for applications for 'INSME Award'
Call for applications for 'INSME Award'

INSME - International Networks for SMEs - has launched a call for applications for the 'INSME Award', a prize that will be assigned to intermediaries or their networks in order to acknowledge the success or the importance of the activities and initiatives they have undertaken at international, regional, national or sub-national level to promote innovation in SMEs. For further information

Fourth European Forum for Innovative Enterprises, 5-7 December 2004
Fourth European Forum for Innovative Enterprises, 5-7 December 2004

The '4th European Forum for Innovative Enterprises' will bring together high-level European innovation policy makers, researchers and practitioners to present and debate the latest policy ideas, opportunities and challenges for a more innovative and competitive Europe. For more information

Entrepreneurship Action Plan
Entrepreneurship Action Plan

The European Commission has published an Action Plan which establishes five strategic priority areas setting out Europe’s agenda for entrepreneurship, as well as a series of key actions. To access the Action Plan

Epirus call for project partners
Epirus call for project partners

The region of Epirus - North Western Greece is looking for partners for an INTERREG IIIC project focusing on sustainable rural development, and for an EQUAL II project dealing with tourism, in particular rural tourism, and emigrants. For further information about the call for partners

Report on improving university spin-out performance
Report on improving university spin-out performance

Too few UK university spin-outs become successful businesses, claims a study. The success rates could, however, greatly increased if universities were more aware of what promots successful spin-out activity. To access the study

INTERREG IIIC East Info Day
INTERREG IIIC East Info Day

The Info Day, which is to be held in Krakow on 6 September, will inform about the current open call for proposals of the INTERREG IIIC East programme, and will offer participants the opportunity to learn about the programme’s funding and procedures. For further information,

Service Charter of the IRE Secretariat
Service Charter of the IRE Secretariat

The Service Charter of the IRE Secretariat describes the kind of support the Secretariat provides to IRE member regions and other actors involved in regional innovation strategies. To access the Service Charter

CRESCENDO final conference
CRESCENDO final conference

The final conference of CRESCENDO, the IRE Thematic Network dealing with innovation finance, will take place on 9 - 10 September in Cork, Ireland. For more information about the conference

Fourth INTERREG IIIC call for proposals launched
Fourth INTERREG IIIC call for proposals launched

The North, East and West zones of INTERREG IIIC launched their fourth call for project proposals on 14 June 2004. In the South zone, the third call for proposals is still open for Regional Framework Operations (RFO) only. For more information

Regional Innovation Strategy for Wielkopolska
Regional Innovation Strategy for Wielkopolska

The Polish region of Wielkopolska has developed a regional innovation strategy within the framework of its RIS project. To access the strategy

Presentations from Industrial Regions group available
Presentations from Industrial Regions group available

The presentations from the meeting of the Industrial Regions group on 17 - 18 May are now available. To access them

IRE Thematic Network brochure available
IRE Thematic Network brochure available

The brochure "Thematic Networks - Sharing our experiences", which has recently been published by the IRC-IRE Central Unit, describes selected outcomes from the 14 IRE Thematic Networks. To access it

Regional Innovation Strategy of Slovenia
Regional Innovation Strategy of Slovenia

Slovenia has finalised its innovation strategy, developed within its Regional Innovation Strategy project, in April 2004. To download the strategy

International Conference on Rapid Product Development
International Conference on Rapid Product Development

CIRTES, European Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Rapid Tooling, is organising a conference on Rapid Product Development on 3-4 June 2004 in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France. Interested participants as well as potential speakers are welcome to register. For more information

Conference on development of regional innovation strategies
Conference on development of regional innovation strategies

Organised by several Polish national and regional entities in Poznan on 14-17 June 2004, this event encompasses exchange of experience on the development of regional innovation strategies, as well as a fair exhibition with stands from Polish and other European regions. For more information

IRE workshop "Implementing and monitoring Regional Innovation Strategies"
IRE workshop "Implementing and monitoring Regional Innovation Strategies"

The IRC-IRE Central Unit and RIS Cyprus are organising this workshop in Cyprus on 13-14 May 2004. For further information

Regional Innovation Policies call for proposals published
Regional Innovation Policies call for proposals published

The Commission has published the call "Regional Innovation Policies, including new tools and approaches". The deadline for project proposals is 16 June 2004. For further information

INTERREG IIIC call for proposals published
INTERREG IIIC call for proposals published

The third INTERRG IIIC call for proposals was published on 8 March 2004. The last day for submission of proposals is 30 April 2004. For further information

Europe in the Creative Age
Europe in the Creative Age

A report published by the London-based thin tank DEMOS, says that a "creative crescent" of northern European countries is challenging the economic power of the United States and "old Europe". The study ranks European countries according to their creative potential, i.e. talent, technology and tolerance. To access the full report

BASAN Final report available
BASAN Final report available

The final report of the IRE Thematic Network BASAN - Baltic Sea Agro-Industrial Network - is now available. To access it

Dates for INTERREG IIIC call for proposals fixed
Dates for INTERREG IIIC call for proposals fixed

The third INTERREG IIIC call for proposals will be launched on 8 March 2004, with a deadline for submission of applications on 30 April 2004. A Partner Search Forum will take place on 8-9 March 2004. For more information

METROPOLIS newsletter now available
METROPOLIS newsletter now available

You can now access the last newsletter produced by METROPOLIS. This IRE Thematic Network focuses on innovation in Large Metropolitan areas. To download it

Meeting of national networks of innovating regions
Meeting of national networks of innovating regions

The co-ordinators of four national networks of innovating regions met in Florence in December 2003 to exchange experience and discuss collaboration. To access the minutes and the presentations

Call for tenders on successful cluster strategies
Call for tenders on successful cluster strategies

The European Commission's Research DG has launched a call for tenders on successful cluster strategies in European regions with relevance to research and development policy. For more information

Event on clusters, Abruzzo, 26-27 February 2004
Event on clusters, Abruzzo, 26-27 February 2004

The IRC-IRE Central Unit and the region of Abruzzo are organising a workshop to examine how successful clusters have been created and supported in selected regions. To download the agenda and the registration form

STRINNOP guidebook available
STRINNOP guidebook available

The IRE Thematic Network STRINNOP has published a guidebook summarising its final results. To access the guidebook

Some key issues in Europe's competitiveness - towards an integrated approach
Some key issues in Europe's competitiveness - towards an integrated approach

This communication from the European Commission covers competitiveness policy, challenges and developments as well as how to better address competitiveness issues. For a copy of the report

The Brain Drain Study
The Brain Drain Study

This study into the movement of European scientists and engineers within Europe, to the US and elsewhere describes and measures the consequences of the brain drain/brain gain phenomenon within Europe. For a summary

STRINNOP Newsletter 3 available
STRINNOP Newsletter 3 available

The third newsletter of the Thematic Network STRINNOP is now available. To access it

The Science, Technology and Industry (STI) Scoreboard 2003
The Science, Technology and Industry (STI) Scoreboard 2003

The STI brings together the latest internationally comparable data on trends in the knowledge-based economy. It contains over 200 indicators covering four key areas, notably the creation and diffusion of knowledge; the information society; economic globalisation; and productivity and economic structure. For details on how to obtain the STI

IRE Customer Satisfaction Survey results
IRE Customer Satisfaction Survey results

The first IRE Customer Satisfaction Survey was carried out in May 2003 to ascertain to what extent the services offered by the Central Unit met IRE members' needs. To access the results

RIS-NAC awareness raising events
RIS-NAC awareness raising events

A series of events have been organised in eight EU candidate countries, which will illustrate how regions can benefit from developing a Regional Innovation Strategy and provide information on the forthcoming call for proposals for RIS projects in candidate countries. For more details

University of Florence search for partners
University of Florence search for partners

The University of Florence and the region of Tuscany are looking for partners for a project proposal to be submitted under FP6. The project will focus on the creation of an innovation culture in the emerging knowledge society. For more information

Novel handbook on innovation process
Novel handbook on innovation process

TECTRA, an EU project based in Spain, Finland and France, has developed a novel handbook aimed at coaching young innovators and small businesses during all phases of the innovation process i.e. from the initial awareness of the business environment and own core competencies, to the final implementation and development of business activities. For more information about this free handbook

Innovation policy in seven candidate countries: the challenges
Innovation policy in seven candidate countries: the challenges

According to this report, written at the request of DG Enterprise, innovation capabilities in the candidate countries still lag somewhat behind those within the 15 current Member States. The report, which focuses on Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Turkey, is targeted towards policy makers, enterprises and researchers within the EU and applicant countries, and provides suggestions for policy approaches aimed at promoting innovation levels. To view the report

Report: An Agenda for a Growing Europe
Report: An Agenda for a Growing Europe

A recently published report has outlined a path for growth in Europe, which emphasises the importance of innovation, research and higher education in order to transform Europe into an innovation-based economy. For a copy of the report

INTERREG III C East workshop for lead applicants and individual consultations
INTERREG III C East workshop for lead applicants and individual consultations

The aim of this workshop, which will be held in Regensburg (DE) on 2 and 3 September 2003, is to support Lead Applicants and provide guidance on the application procedure for the INTERREG IIIC programme. Individual consultations will be possible by appointment. For more information

CAFÉ Newsletter 4 available
CAFÉ Newsletter 4 available

The fourth newsletter of the IRE Thematic Network CAFÉ is available. To access a copy

New EC publication: Entrepreneurial Innovation in Europe
New EC publication: Entrepreneurial Innovation in Europe

The European Commission has just published a report on innovation policies, which outlines a European model for smart innovation policy. It is designed to help policy makers strengthen Europe's innovation capacity through the introduction of effective, targeted legislation and social measures. For more info

"Regions of Knowledge" pilot action
"Regions of Knowledge" pilot action

DG Research is launching a pilot action entitled "Regions of Knowledge", which seeks to support regional measures to promote the establishment of "regions of knowledge" in the field of technological development and regional-level cooperation among universities and researchers. An information meeting will be held on 24 July 2003 in Brussels. For more info

Call for speakers on Business Intelligence (BI)
Call for speakers on Business Intelligence (BI)

VERITE is organising a conference entitled - For intelligent organisations: methods and tools of business intelligence. The event will analyse the potential of BI for organisations and examine how to take BI initiatives one step further. If you would like to submit a paper

Forum designed to boost European knowledge-based economy
Forum designed to boost European knowledge-based economy

The main focus of the European knowledge management forum is to establish and maintain an effective support infrastructure throughout Europe for the coordination of research activities, as well as for formal and informal networking

3rd report on the implementation of the European Charter for SMEs
3rd report on the implementation of the European Charter for SMEs

The EU Member States and the European Commission have made the commitment through the European Charter for Small Enterprises to actively support and promote small enterprises in ten key areas. The implementation report from 2003 summarises how the EU lives up to its commitment, and illustrates good practice examples from Member States

Communication "Investing in research: an action plan for Europe"
Communication "Investing in research: an action plan for Europe"

Adopted by the European Commission on 30 April 2003, this action plan is aimed at increasing investment in European R&D in order to approach 3% of GDP by 2010. To access it

Suggestions for ERA-NET proposals
Suggestions for ERA-NET proposals

The European Commission has published a document with suggestions concerning the preparation of an ERA-NET Co-ordination Action. The document includes points to be considered and mistakes to be avoided. To access it