Economic and Technological Intelligence (ETI) projects for SMEs-2

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Contract number Project Acronym

CT-2005-023437 BOOST-IT Set-up of a collaborative permanent network for boosting the participation ofIncubated SMEs in innovation processes under FP6 activities

CT-2005-023304 DETECT-IT 2 A dedicated network of incubators detecting new FP7 opportunities for SMEsthrough connecting existing regional clusters in Biotech, Renewable Energiesand IST

CT-2005-023288 EASIER Engaging regional SMEs within the ICT sector in EU research

CT-2005-023295 EPISTEP Engaging SMEs with IST related European Technology Platforms

CT-2005-023406 INCUBATE Information and Communication Technologies innovation stimulated by incubators

CT-2005-023416 INNOSPORT Stepping up economical and technology intelligence in sport

CT-2005-023210 MAPO Enhancing Research and Development projects to find solutions to struggle againstvarious marine pollutions

CT-2005-023368 PASSPORT Passport to RTD - Internationalisation of LSH SMEs

CT-2005-023315 PLATON Top-down approach to initiate and enhance SMEs' participation in European

research in economic, political, social sciences and humanities and to supporttheir strategic decision-making

CT-2005-023220 PROMPT Peripheral regions oriented measure for promotion of technological intelligence

CT-2005-023270 PROSURF Promotion and support of SME research and innovation in the surface finishingand printed circuit manufacturing sectors

CT-2005-023438 RESCUE Action Plan for stimulating research and innovation in SMEs from CEECs in therenewable energy field

CT-2005-023426 SECURE-FORCE Stimulating SMEs Faced with research issues regarding glObal secuRityChallenge in Europe

CT-2005-23318 SEE-INNOVATION Facilitating innovation for ICT SMEs in South Eastern Europe

CT-2005-023401 SME-MPOWER Empowering SMEs for long-term research interest and increased participation

in EU RTD activitiesCT-2005-023378 SME-TO-LEAD Training of SMEs to be successful co-ordinators of Framework Programme projects

CT-2005-023339 SPAS SMEs virtual platform on agro-food sector to access the Sixth and SeventhFramework Programmes

CT-2005-023395 SYNERGY Expanding the competitive intelligence in the European distributed energyresources sector

CT-2005-023372 TRANSMES Bringing ACC and NMS SMEs operating in the transport and environment sectorcloser to the ERA by publishing an open call for submitting draft projectproposals

Economic and Technological Intelligence(ETI) projects for SMEsVolume 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Incubated small and medium-sized enterprises

should be ideal partners for innovative research consortia.

But the reality of limited resources within the enterprises

themselves, combined with competitive pressures, often restricts their

participation. This is despite the availability of incentives to encourage private

investment in R&D at national and European level. The Boost-it project will support and

train SMEs from the ICT and associated sectors from six countries to enable them to take active

roles in FP7 research consortia. The services and tools provided will also enable them to access other

funding opportunities and boost their innovation potential.

Purpose-designed supportive business environments that are created

to encourage growth for young, dynamic companies are a commonfeature of national and regional economic strategies across Europe.However, most of these incubated SMEs struggle to become solidbusiness realities as they face strong competition in the global marketplace often with limited resources. On the positive side, theseenterprises are open to embrace change, have close links to anincubator organisation with its existing networks, resources andfacilities, and are usually close to other incubated and complementarySMEs. They are frequently in close proximity to knowledge andtechnology poles that often result in incubated SMEs being amongthose companies with the greatest potential for innovation.

In parallel, national governments in Europe are trying to meet

Lisbon objectives, in particular in terms of private investment in R&D,and are encouraging spin-offs and entrepreneurship by providingincentives, such as tax benefits or other support, to create high value-added research structures in companies. At present, incubatedSMEs do not often take advantage of such incentives, as they lackthe resources and information to apply, being too focused in theirdaily business needs.

Exploiting potentialThe ETI project will improve the exploitation of incubated SMEsinnovation potential by developing a range of services to help thembenefit from European and national incentives. Boost-It will developa range of services and tools that can support incubated SMEsthrough the life cycle of their own innovation projects. The projectis geographically focused on the EU accession candidate countriesand recent new Member States and will work to promote theirparticipation in the next EC Research Framework Programme (FP7)and other international initiatives.

The project will concentrate on niche SMEs that are currently under-represented in RTD programmes. These incubator SMEs should beideal partners for RTD consortia and innovative projects. They areusually hi-tech firms involved in ICT development or automation andcontrol applications and are often enterprises that have been spunout of other larger companies or created by universities orentrepreneurs.

Boosting SME skills and success

An incubated SME should be the idealRTD project partner.

The Boost-It project is coordinated by Inovamais an innovation

and technology consultancy company from Portugal and involvesnine innovation service providers: organisations that provideincubator facilities. These will provide access to individual SMEorganisations in Portugal, Poland, Israel, the Ukraine, Croatia andHungary. The project also involves five science parks. The innovationservice providers supply added-value services to incubator SMEs,such as laboratory or office space, commercial support services andother advice and access to facilities. The Israeli model for incubationof SMEs has had considerable success and the involvement of Israeliorganisations in Boost-it will allow small firms from other countriesto share in their best practice.

Enabling participation

All nine incubator organisations will provide a list of between20-40 potential SME clients that are suitable for the project. Theconsolidated list of SMEs will be refined to around 200 companies.The project partners will go to at least 150 of these companies tomake technology audits and will also visit all companies to assesstheir development needs, their ideas and potential. This will producearound 30 potential project ideas or concepts to be promotedtowards FP7 or other European or national funding programmes.In addition, the Boost-It team will be able to assess the competenciesof the SMEs to participate in other project consortia of which theyhave knowledge. The main objective forBoost-It is to enable theparticipation of at least20 incubator SMEsin FP7 and thenew Competiti-veness andInnova t i onProgramme.

BOOST-IT

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Networking betweenSMEs is important.

Contact personEurico NevesInovamais Servicos de Consultadoriaem Inovao TecnologicaRua Afonso Cordeiro 877 Sala 2014450-007 MatosinhosPortugalTel: +35 122 939 6350Fax: +35 122 939 [email protected]

Project websitewww.boost-it.net

Participants1 Inovamais Servicos de Consultadoria

em Inovao Tecnologica (PT)2 Fundacja Inkubator (PL)3 EFP Consulting Ltd (IL)4 Sogistfipp Sociedade de Incubao Sectorial S.A. (PT)5 IPN Incubadora Associao para o Desenvolvimento

de Actividades de Incubao de Ideias e Empresas (PT)6 JVP Studio Lp. (IL)7 Center of Small Business Development Kharkov Technologies

(UA)8 Produzetnicki Inkubator Labin (HR)9 Tehnoloski Park Ljubljana (SI)

10 Primorski Tehnoloski Park d.o.o. (SI)11 Jozef Stefan Institute (SI)12 Matimop The Israeli Industry Centre for R&D (IL)13 Osrodek Przetwarzania Informacji (PL)

A second important objective is to focus on training: in particular

for FP7. Training will be delivered to SMEs in all six participatingcountries via four individual training sessions. The sessions will cover:Management of R&D; Financial Aspects of R&D Management;Intellectual Property Rights; and Commercial Exploitation of R&D.The training will be undertaken in parallel with the technology auditsin each country.

The project also hopes to involve at least 25 SMEs in R&D structuralprogrammes via national funding initiatives. EU Structural andCohesion Funds are increasingly being used to fund nationalresearch work and many SMEs could gain an immediate benefitfrom these schemes. Boost-it will also look at how it can help SMEsto recruit the people they need: the well-qualified staff with the right

skill sets that will enable the companies to deliver the goods andcontribute to truly world-class research consortia.

Project titleSet-up of a collaborative permanent network for boosting theparticipation of incubated SMEs in innovation processes underFP6 activities

Contract numberCT-2005-023437

Start date19/10/2005

Duration30 months

Total project cost 754 680

EC contribution 754 680

ETI Volume 2

SMEs should be given the skills theyneed to participate successfully.

E

uropeanCommunities,

2006-

Reproductionisauthorisedprovided

thesourceisacknowledged

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BICs andincubators help

to coalesceregional clusters of

research expertise.

With access to SMEs and research institutions,

business innovation centres (BICs) and incubators help

to coalesce regional clusters of research expertise. The Detect-

it2 project involves 26 BICs which will target local SMEs in the ICT,

renewable energy and biotechnology sectors. Small and medium-sized enterprises

will receive training on FP7 funding opportunities, and over 600 will also be asked about

their research interests and their ability to participate in EU projects. Strong European consortia

of well-matched SMEs and research institutions will be identified and their ideas developed into FP7

proposals. SMEs will play a central role, thereby improving their innovation and a more secure future for

Europes burgeoning industries.

Business innovation centres and incubators (BICs) move between two

very different worlds: academic research and market-driven business.Their association with universities and research institutions means theyhave good relationships with scientists and are aware of theirresearch expertise. Their client-base of SMEs, spin-out companies andstart-ups, meanwhile, provides incubators with commercial knowledgeand a rich network of diverse, innovative companies.

In short, BICs are perfectly placed to act as matchmakers and tofacilitate new working relationships between research organisationsand small businesses. They can both identify researchers able tohelp SMEs with their problems, and find those small firms willingto work with research institutions and provide commercial input intoresearch projects.

Recognising the bridging role that incubators play in regionalresearch clusters, the ETI Detect-it2 project aims to help SMEs in theareas of information systems and technology, renewable energy andbiotechnology take full advantage of the first calls of the SeventhFramework Programme (FP7).

A major part of the project is to educate SMEs about Europeanresearch, the potential roles they could play in FP7 projects, and howthey can develop or be part of project proposals. Each Detect-it2partner will organise events within their region to promote FP7 to localSMEs, and encourage them to express their interests and get involved.The small enterprises will also be invited to participate in smaller trainingseminars, such as those run by National Contact Points.

Detecting strengthsCommunication is only part of the process, however. The Detect-it2BICs will also invite their SME client base, along with other small firmscontacted through regional networks, to complete a questionnaire.This evaluation process will assess each SMEs skill base and theirpotential contributions to FP7 projects. The questionnaire also askscompanies to outline their own research needs and ideas.

This direct approach has been adapted from an earlier ETI project,Detect-it. This former project mobilised a network of over 30 BICsacross Europe; to date nearly 1 000 companies have completeda detailed RTD audit.

Business innovation centres hatchnew partnerships

Listening to what SMEs want from ICT,renewable energy and biotechnologyresearch will help to ultimately

strengthen Europescompetitive positionin these sectors.

Over half of the partners on Detect-it2 are new, with representation

from new Member States, candidate and third countries. A core teamof the best performing partners from Detect-it will transfer theirknowledge and skills to the new partners on Detect-it2 which willthen audit their own SME clients. In total, information from morethan 300 new SMEs will be fed by the partners into the pre-existing Detect-it database.

Picking out partnershipsUsing the database, a pool of experts on FP6/FP7 will provide theBIC partners and the participating SMEs with relevant informationand training on Framework Programme opportunities. At the sametime, they will provide technical assistance to BICs on how tobuild SME-intensive proposals in response to the first calls of FP7.

The intimate knowledge that BIC staff have of their SMEs and theirthorough screening procedures should make the collaborationsformed through Detect-it2 strong and enduring.

The Detect-it2 project will continue the collaboration started inDetect-it, an earlier ETI project. This latest project will also link intothe ongoing work of Detect-it through mutual sharing of informationand combined seminars. This will make the most of resources andprovide SMEs with the widest opportunity possible to find projectpartners and produce robust, competitive proposals.

Detect-it2 aims to raise thestatus of SMEs in FP7. Bycollating their ideas,i n co rpo ra t i ngthem into pro-posals and con-necting regio-nal clusters,SMEs should

DETECT-IT2

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Contact personVanrie Philippe

European Business and Innovation Centre NetworkAv. de Tervuren 1681150 BrusselsBelgiumTel: +32 277 28 [email protected]

Participants1 European Business and Innovation Centre Network (BE)2 Consorzio per LArea di Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica

di Trieste (IT)3 Business Innovation Center Warsaw Sp. Z.o.o. (PL)4 South West Business and Technology Centre (IE)

5 Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Frderung der Angewandten (DE)6 The European Association of Innovating SMEs (UK)7 Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor (LU)8 Innostart National Business and Innovation Centre

Foundation (HU)9 Coventry University Enterprises Ltd (UK)

10 BIC Ostrava Sro (CZ)11 Tallinna Tehnoloogiapargi Arendamise Sihtasutus (EE)12 Hermia Business Development Ltd (FI)13 Cicom Organisation (FR)14 BIC Lazio SpA (IT)15 Stichting Business and Innovation Centre Twente (NL)16 Zupa Paolo (IT)17 Agence Bruxelloise pour Lentreprise (BE)18 Cimark S.A. (CH)19 European Association for the Transfer of Technologies,

Innovation and Industrial Information (LU)20 Syndicat Mixte Atlanpole (FR)21 Barcelona Activa S.A. SPM (ES)22 Tzl-Technologiezentrum Ludwigshafen am Rhein GmbH (DE)23 Agrobiopole Wallon Asbl (BE)24 Instytut Podstawowych Problemw Techniki Polskiej

Akademii Nauk (PL)25 Centre de Recerca i Investigacio de Catalunya S.A. (ES)26 Pera Innovation Ltd (UK)

be well represented in many future projects. The Detect-it2 partners

hope to develop over 300 ideas for new research projects and tosubmit over 1 000 expressions of interest. They expect to write upto five proposals for large-scale Integrated Projects or up to tenSpecific Targeted Research Project proposals.

By facilitating the networking of transnational clusters, Detect-IT2 aimsto encourage more bottom-up, industry-led proposals. The processwill embed innovation and collaboration into the activities andphilosophy of SMEs and thus help to secure their survival andgrowth.

Project titleA dedicated network of incubators detecting new FP7

opportunities for SMEs through connecting existing regionalclusters in Biotech, Renewable Energies and IST



Duration30 months

Total project cost

1 990 000

EC contribution 1 600 000

ETI Volume 2

The Detect-it2 partners are involved inmany regional clusters and will help to

bring their skill base and

expertise together.

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Whilst clustering can help SMEs to get involved

in local research projects and national programmes,

such companies rarely hear about or have the skills to get

involved with EU RTD projects. Easier will educate and train SMEs to

enable their participation in research at a European level. Project partners will also

help them to find appropriate partners and produce proposals for research projects, primarily

under the Seventh Framework Programme. A variety of approaches, including seminars,

mentoring and company audits, will be assessed so that tools and strategies can be optimised and

used beyond the life of the project.

With little to insulate them from the vagaries of suppliers, customers

and markets forces, small and medium-sized enterprises can oftenfeel vulnerable, exposed and threatened with defeat. They frequentlyquestion their long-term survival, sometimes on a daily basis. Butstrength comes in numbers, and SMEs like to flock. ThroughoutEurope, geographical pockets can be identified where SMEs incertain sectors tend to group. In the ICT sector, this clustering oftenoccurs around universities and science and technology parks.

Clustering helps ICT SMEs to drive innovation and improve survival.They can share their knowledge, form strong partnerships andcollaborations and benefit from networking. Each SME gains fromthe success of others as a critical mass, more SMEs can achievesuccess whereas alone they might fail.

For instance, by clustering, SMEs may find it easier to work withlocal research institutions and to participate in national researchprogrammes. However, except in the most established clusters, littleattention is given to European research opportunities. Even aspart of a cluster, most SMEs still have the mentality that involvementin transnational research projects is beyond their capabilities.

Joining up to join inIt is hard to overcome this barrier: the lack of bottom-up interest iscompounded by an absence of top-down communication. Universitiesand research organisations understand European research and arekept in the loop, but SMEs are rarely invited to join in.

The Easier project is embarking on an exercise to engage with SMEsin regional ICT clusters and encourage them to get more involvedin European level research, primarily under the Seventh FrameworkProgramme. Working in 16 European regions in Turkey, Croatia,Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain,Portugal, Denmark, UK and Norway, the project will catalyse EURTD projects by drawing on the strengths of existing regionalnetworks and building a new transnational partnership.

The Easier partners recognise that SMEs cannot achieve this on theirown; they do not have the resources to find information and developthe necessary skills and contacts to join projects or draw up theirown proposals. Instead, Easier goes out to the SMEs. The partners

Easy access to European research

Easier will give SMEs the knowledgeand skills they need to participatemore in European research.

an eclectic mix of consultancies, business incubator organisations,

national research councils, European Information Centres anduniversity technology transfer and enterprise offices will target SMEsfrom their network of contacts and invite them to participate in a varietyof Easier training and support events and activities.

The partners will try a variety of approaches, such as informationseminars, company audits and workshops, to engage with theclusters. The Easier project offers an opportunity for the partners toshare best practice in this process.

Terms of engagementIndeed, an important aspect of the project is the inclusion of two pilotstudies to assess some more innovative approaches to promotional

and training work. These trials will be run in the contrasting regionsof Minho in Portugal and the West Midlands in the UK. The studiesshould allow Easier to develop tools that work best to train andmotivate clustered SMEs to participate in European research.Importantly, these tools will have a life beyond the duration of theproject and may even have application in sectors other than ICT, too.

One of the tools to be refined is a method of company auditing thatcan accurately assess an SMEs ability to participate effectively in aEuropean research project. Such audits cover financial and humanresources, research skills, capabilities and interests, work ethics,and management expertise.They provide partnerswith a concrete wayto assess candidateSMEs and targettraining appro-priately.

EASIER

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Contact personFriis TrondSrlandets Teknologisenter A.S.Televeien 34879 GrimstadNorwayTel: +47 90 786 [email protected]

Participants1 Srlandets Teknologisenter A.S. (NO)

2 The Scientific and Technological Research Councilof Turkey (TR)3 Euro Info Center Poland Polish Agency for Enterprise

Development (PL)4 National Documentation Centre/NHRF (EL)5 VIP Park. CZ Sro (CZ)6 Coventry University Enterprises Ltd (UK)7 Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (HR)8 First Elements Ventures Ltd (CY)9 Agderforskning A.S. Euro Info Centre (NO)

10 RR & Co Business consulting Doo (SI)11 Association for Entrepreneurial Innovation (PT)12 Fundacion Insula Barataria (ES)13 Industrial & Informatics Technologies Research

& Development Inc. (TR)14 Association of Information Technology Companies

of Northern Greece (EL)15 North Denmark EU office Aalborg Municipality (DK)16 Turkish Informatics Foundation (TR)

Audit results will be entered into a central Easier database which

will be used by partners to identify possible partnerships betweenSMEs, including those in other regions. Easier will also work withother ETI projects, including Detect-It 1 and 2 and Incubate. Theywill share their databases to extend the pool of candidate SMEsand increase the possibility of bringing partners together for newSME-driven research projects.

Over 300 SMEs will undergo Easiers auditing and it is hoped thatthis will lead to more than 70 proposals involving over200 companies. These will include proposals for research topicsin FP7, the two first calls in FP7, as well as Eureca/Celtic and similarprogrammes. This increased participation will enable SMEs towiden their support networks, increase innovation and, perhaps most

importantly, make them less vulnerable to failure and defeat.

Project titleEngaging regional SMEs within the ICT sector in EU research


Duration30 months

Total project cost 1 873 907


ETI Volume 2

The partners all have different ways ofengaging with the SMEs in their region

and Easier will assess and the

share best practice amongthe partners and

beyond.

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Although SMEs are prominent in the information

and communications technology (ICT) sector, it is difficult

for them to take part in EU-funded collaborative projects in ICT

without assistance. Epistep is an Economic and Technological Intelligence

project to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises from 15 countries to

join in with the activities of three European technology platforms dealing with nanotechnology,

embedded systems and mobile and wireless communications. Activities to promote contacts

between about 1 500 SMEs and representatives of the technology platforms are expected to lead to

new projects and partnerships that will help maintain Europes lead in these key areas.

European technology platforms (ETPs) are networks of companies,

research centres and other organisations that have come together tohammer out a common strategic research agenda for a particular area.The aim is to make European research more effective by assemblinga critical mass of expertise and resources. The Epistep CollectiveResearch project is seeking to help SMEs collaborate with three ETPsactive in the field of information and communications technology (ICT).

The first, ENIAC (European Nanoelectronics Initiative AdvisoryCouncil), covers an area of rapid growth and high strategic importancewith relevance to innovation in multimedia, telecommunications,transport, health, environment, industrial processing and other areas.The world market size of sectors affected by developments innanoelectronics has been estimated at a colossal 5 000 billion a year.

Artemis (Advanced Research and Technologies for EmbeddedIntelligence and Systems) covers the field of embedded systems computers within devices such as mobile phones, cars, hi-fiequipment and many others. This is one area where Europeanindustry remains strong and the aim of Artemis is to ensure that thislead is maintained. SMEs have an important role to play andpartners represent the automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics,communications, medical and manufacturing sectors.

The third ETP is eMobility (Mobile and Wireless CommunicationsTechnology Platform). Europe already has a clear lead in thissector but as wireless networking technology converges with internetand broadcast technology the potential for further growth is huge.Already there are more mobile phones connected to the internet thanpersonal computers and that number is expected to exceed1.8 billion by 2007. This is an area where SMEs can really make a mark.

Fairy godmother for SMEsDespite the potential for SMEs in each of these three areas, smallcompanies do find it difficult to take part in EU-funded collaborativeprojects which are often dominated by the big players. They neitherhave the time nor the resources to devote to research and tocultivate good working relationships. Many small and medium-sizedenterprises are impatient of long-term projects that do not producequick results, while others are simply unaware that SMEs can anddo take part in these collaborations.

Stepping on to ICT technology platforms

If youre a go-ahead innovative SME, youd giveyour right arm to be in the same room as thechief R&D officer of a company like Nokia,Ericsson or Siemens and to be

able to talk to them aboutyour technology.

Epistep, which has been put together from two similar proposals

for Economic and Technological Intelligence projects, will act as akind of fairy godmother for SMEs, helping them to contribute tothe work of all three platforms.

The 25 partners in Epistep, led by Targeting Innovation in Scotland,are business and innovation support organisations, business schools,universities and other bodies with skills and experience in areas suchas marketing and promotion. They represent 15 countries includingnew EU Member States, candidate states and Associated States.

Promoting opportunitiesThe first step will be to use the partners local knowledge to compilea database of around 1 500 SMEs which are judged to be

particularly suitable for taking part in ETP projects. Some of these(classed as high tech) will have their own in-house R&D capacity,while others (low tech) might have the ability develop a prototypebased on technology supplied from outside.

Support for the 1 500 will include partner brokerage events, trademissions, international conferences, and information days wherethey can meet representatives of the three ETPs. Advice and trainingwill also be available. The aim is to maintain a continuing dialoguebetween the SMEs and the ETPs so they are aware of the developingstrategic research agendas and haveadvance knowledge of thetopics selected for callsfor proposals.

EPISTEP

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Contact personDerek GallaherTargeting Innovation LimitedAtrium Court, 50 Waterloo StreetGlasgow G2 6HQUnited Kingdom

Tel: +44 141 572 1611Fax: +44 141 572 [email protected]

Project websitewww.epistep.org

Participants1 Brussels Enterprise Agency (BE)2 Archimedes Foundation (EE)3 Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato e Agricoltura

di Torino (IT)4 Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum (DE)

5 EFP Consulting Ltd (IL)6 SC Eurograph Ram Impex Srl (RO)7 ALMA Consulting Group (FR)8 European Business Associates Srl (IT)9 Eutema Technology Management GmbH (AT)

10 National Microelectronics Institute (UK)11 Innovations Centres (Scotland) Ltd (UK)12 Investnet Ltd (IE)13 University of Turku (FI)14 Turku School of Economics and Business Administration (FI)15 Ursit Ltd (BG)16 ICT Turku Ltd (FI)17 Scottish Optoelectronics Association (UK)18 Lithuanian Innovation Centre (LT)19 Swedish EU/R&D Council (SE)20 Slovenska Technicka Univerzita v Bratislave (SK)21 Zentrum fr Innovation und Technik in NRW GmbH (DE)22 Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea (IT)23 sterreichische Forschungsfrderungsgesellschaft mbH (AT)24 Enterprise Ireland (IE)

By the end of the 28-month Epistep project, a considerable number

of SMEs are expected to taking part in FP7 projects promoted bythe technology platforms. If successful, the project itself could well bea model for extending support for SMEs across the many other ETPs.

What will SMEs get out of Epistep? Most of all, they will have thechance to mix with some of the most successful companies inEurope. Many big firms like to buy in expertise developed bySMEs and others like to supply their own technology to be developedinto a prototype by an SME rather than do it themselves. In the longrun, everyone should benefit. Small companies, which are betterat blue sky thinking than bigger firms, will be able to find newmarkets, expand their business and take on more staff; bigcompanies will find specialist SME partners to help them make the

most of their technology. The hope is that Europes ICT sector willbecome more responsive and innovative and maintain its competitiveposition in the world.

Project titleEngaging SMEs with IST related European Technology Platforms



Duration28 months



ETI Volume 2

If the Epistep methodology is successfulwe hope it will be rolled out across other

European technology platforms as

a way of helping SMEs tobecome more involved

in FP7 projects.

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Start-up companies in the ICT sector often

struggle to participate in European research. Many have

neither the knowledge about available opportunities, nor the

time nor resources to write proposals and seek partners. The Incubate ETI

project unites 11 technology incubators from across Europe to help such SMEs

get more involved. The partners will audit 300 fledgling companies to assess their RTD

capacities and needs. Suitable project ideas and SME partnerships will form the basis of

proposals in future European RTD programmes. Incubate will make European networking and RTD projects

more accessible to ICT start-ups, and thus improve their innovation and support their sustainable growth.

Life in a start-up technology company is usually stressful. There are

products to develop, customers to contact and investors to satisfy. Timeand money are generally in short supply; collaborative Europeanresearch is most certainly a luxury if it is considered at all.

The Incubate project intends to change this situation. Targeting youngcompanies in the field of ICT, the project aims to help them take a moreprominent role in future European RTD activities and researchprogrammes. Although SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) inthe ICT sector have much research expertise to contribute, they havelittle or no knowledge of the opportunities open to them, nor thefinancial or human resources to develop project proposals on their own.

The Incubate partners comprise ten business incubator organisations

from across Europe that support start-up technology companies anduniversity spin-out ventures. They are therefore closely involved with,or have contacts in, many new, small ICT enterprises. By combiningtheir knowledge of the European research landscape, theirnetworking contacts and their management skills, the projectpartners aim to facilitate the involvement of these fledgling ICTcompanies in European research projects.

Testing timesFirst, the partners will produce a technology audit tool for auditingthe RTD capabilities and requirements of these target SMEs. The toolwill involve interview guidelines and reporting frameworks used toobtain a detailed profile of a company, its research interests, priorexperiences of European programmes and interests regards futuretransnational collaboration.

Technology audits will then be carried out for around 300 start-upcompanies. These will include the SMEs already receiving support fromthe incubator staff, plus additional companies that will be approachedthrough relevant regional or national networks and organisations.

The results of the audits will be pooled and analysed by the projectpartners. Three matching events will allow the partners to identifycommon research themes and link up like-minded SMEs. Thesepartnerships will then form the foundation for new RTD projectproposals in future European research activities and programmes,in particular the Seventh Framework Programme.

Incubating start-ups for European research

Through Incubate, start-up ICT companieswill have links to a large network ofsimilar SMEs through technology

incubators covering allof Europe.

From the initial technology audits, the partners hope to produce

around 150 project sketches. As many as 40 new proposals areexpected to be generated. Incubator staff will be closely involvedwith the SMEs in their preparations and the drafting of proposaldocuments.

All the project partners are also members of the Incubator Forum,part of the Gate2Growth initiative funded by the Enterprise andIndustry DG. The Incubator Forum brings together managers of120 incubators linked to research institutes and universities throughoutEurope for training, networking and sharing good practice. The SMEsinvolved in Incubate will therefore have access to a large networkof contacts in 27 countries across Europe, and have a good chanceof finding appropriate project partners, contractors and RTD

performers and of forming strong transnational collaborations.

Sustaining growthThe SMEs that find their proposals accepted have much to gain. Notonly will they be at the forefront of research, but their involvementwith other SMEs could open up longer-term collaborations or giveaccess to new customers and markets. Furthermore, participationshould foster an attitude of innovation within their companies,helping them to solve problems better and gain a competitive edge.

INCUBATE

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Contact personJohanna Skantze CarlssonINNO AGKarlstrasse 45bP.O. box 33676133 KarlsruheGermanyTel: +49 721 9134 552Fax: +49 721 9134 [email protected]

Participants1 INNO AG (DE)2 RTD Talos Ltd (CY)3 IPN Incubadora (PT)4 Grenoble Alpes Incubation (FR)5 Societa per la Gestione Dellincubatore dImpresa del

Politecnico di Torino Societa Consortile per Azioni SenzaFini di Lucro (IT)

6 Fachhochschule Deggendorf (DE)7 Science Park Jnkping AB (SE)8 Oxford Innovation Ltd (UK)9 Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (EL)

10 Politecnico di Milano (IT)11 Universita degli Studi di Padova (IT)

But Incubate will have a much wider impact. The technology

auditing process will help the start-ups to reflect on the role of RTDand innovation in their companies and introduce changes as theysee fit. Furthermore, having become more aware of the benefits ofEuropean collaboration and the availability of research funding,they will be more willing to participate in projects at a later date.

This project is designed to reach far beyond the first 300 auditedcompanies as its activities and those of the Incubator Forum will beintegrated wherever possible. In particular, Incubates best practiceauditing process will be disseminated to all members of theIncubator Forum, as well as regional and national incubator events.In this way, the work of the project will continue and spread.Incubate will be the start of a sustainable, long-term effort to

provide start-ups all across Europe with better access to the benefitsof participating in European research.

Project titleInformation and Communication Technologies Innovationstimulated by incubators



Duration30 months



ETI Volume 2

Small, emerging ICT companies have theopportunity to access another source of

funding and, through collaboration,

improve their competitiveposition and growth.

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The Dutchrowing teamwore specially

developed comfortclothing to combatthe heat at the 2004

Athens Olympics. TNO

Sports equipment and clothing have evolved

dramatically over the past few decades. Products

increasingly incorporate advanced technology as the means of fine-

tuning performance to the needs of professionals and highly demanding

amateur enthusiasts. While much of the manufacture for volume markets resides

in the Far East, there is ample scope for knowledge-based competition in niche sectors.

ETI project Innosport brings together a group of academic and industry association partners with

the aim of fostering EU-wide RTD collaboration. The goal is to help European businesses capitalise through

innovation and added value on the growing interest in health, fitness and active leisure.

Sport is an important activity in economic terms, as well as in

promoting social cohesion and a healthy population. In the decadeto1999, employment in sports grew by 60% in Europe, to providejobs for nearly 800 000 people. This figure is expected to reachnearly 2 million by 2 010.

The field encompasses many industrial sectors and services, andis a growing area of interest for both larger companies and SMEs(small and medium-sized enterprises). Furthermore, it is distinguishedby the early adoption of new ideas and innovations in improvingequipment for established sports, and through the introduction oftotally new adventure-oriented pastimes.

International expertise

In the Innosport project, a consortium of 11 research institutions andindustry associations is focusing on business creation andacceleration as the means to build a strong knowledge-basedsports product sector in Europe. It will target both existing and newSMEs coming from more traditional industries such as shoes andclothing, and from the worlds of electronics, advanced materialsand ICT for example, to explore combinations of smart textilesand sensors in environment-sensitive clothing.

Coordinating the two-year project is TNO Sport (the NetherlandsOrganisation for Applied Scientific Research). It is joined in the ETIproject by partners from the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands,Spain, Slovenia and the UK. Together these form a compact,manageable core group having contacts with a broad swathe ofEuropean stakeholders and a proven ability to motivate SMEs.

Each partner adds its own network to this collaboration. TNOSport, for example, brings a Netherlands-based group of researchorganisations and companies in sports and innovation, plus thevaluable experience gained in creating and working with thisnetwork. In one case, this led to the development of special hot-weather clothing for athletes competing in the Athens Olympics of2004. (The product has since been commercialised as a range withspecialised high-end user appeal.) In another, a traditional carpetmanufacturer was able to build a new market in artificial turf forfootball pitches.

Podium position for Europe in sportsequipment challenge?

We need to demonstrate success - andin order to achieve that, we mustmake it happen.

In addition, French participant ESTIA is already at the heart of a

sports and leisure Ple de Comptitivit based in the Rhne-Alpes region, which brings together 35 research institutions anda network of companies.

Problem-solving actionsIn order to create a more innovation-friendly environment, theteam will address a number of known sectoral problems, including:

fragmentation of research, due to technological limitations,human factors and an absence of targeting within the sector;

limited research and innovation resources, especially amongSMEs;

lack of long-term vision and of commitment to new business

start-ups; and, concentration on national, rather than European, approaches in RTD.

The partners will study the findings of earlier Framework Programmeinitiatives as a basis for identifying the barriers and success-criticalfactors for SME integration into RTD at the EU level. An initial actionis to set up a website forming an interactive forum for sharingknowledge, encouraging technology transfer and offering accessto databases and other services that need to be provided on aEuropean scale. In addition, they will investigate and test newapproaches to stimulating innovation and promoting entrepreneurism.

Another prime objectiveis to draw up aninnovation road-map based onsports needs,opportunities

INNOSPORT

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Sensors measure the slidingcharacteristics of artificial turf

for football pitches.

TNO

Contact personRene WijlensTNO SportDe Rondom 15600 HE EindhovenThe NetherlandsTel: +31 402 650 359

Fax: +31 402 650 [email protected]

Project websitewww.innosport.org

Participants1 Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast

Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO (NL)2 Pospesevalni Center za malo gospodarstvo (SI)3 Ecole suprieure des technologies industrielles avances (FR)4 Asociacin de Industrias de las Tecnologas Electrnicas

y de la Informacin del Pas Vasco (ES)5 The Sports Industries Federation Ltd (UK)6 Vereniging van Fabrikanten en Groothandelaren

in Sportbenodigdheden (NL)7 Asociacin de Fabricantes y Distribuidores

de Artculos Deportivos de Espaa (ES)8 Association of the Sporting Goods Industry CR (CZ)9 Stichting Sports and Technology (NL)

10 Loughborough University (UK)11 Instituto de Biomecnica de Valencia (ES)

for companies and the knowledge available to set an agenda andstimulate market-driven research. The mid-term delivery of a Vision

for 2015 will contribute to the framing of relevant priorities to beconsidered under FP7, and inform debate on the potential valueof a European Technology Platform for the sector.

Drive for SME participationDissemination efforts will intensify in the second project year. Aswell as promoting the website, a programme of seminars, workshopsand participation in industry events is envisaged. At the sametime, consortium members will do much to address companiesdirectly proposing new business ideas, and assisting SMEs inplanning and submitting proposals for future EU-funded projects.

With a current annual market value of 37 billion in Europe,

sports products and equipment represent one of the most promisingsources of employment growth in coming years. By takingappropriate action, EU enterprises can capitalise especially inareas where high functionality, service, proximity and proactivityare the keys to customer satisfaction.

Project titleStepping up economical and technology intelligence in sport


Start date

01/02/2006

Duration24 months



ETI Volume 2

By defining market-oriented R&D, weaim to interest at least 100 SMEs in

committing to at least ten future

European project proposals.

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Degradation of themarine environment is

a growing concern.

Europes crowded seas are continually being

threatened by pollution, whether from accidents or from

normal traffic and emissions. A wide range of monitoring, control

and amelioration services are offered by small and medium-sized enterprises

but they have had little chance to share information or take part in research projects.

Now the MAPO project is uniting all Europes SMEs in this sector to collaborate on

mapping their skills and developing best practices. They will identify areas where research would

be useful and prepare joint proposals for future projects. This will speed up the response to marine

pollution events thereby reducing their economic and environmental damage.

The worlds oceans might seem vast enough to absorb any amount

of waste and pollution, but degradation of the marine environmentis a growing concern. Major tanker and pipeline accidents may makethe headlines, but the daily operation of shipping and washing outof ballast tanks dumps even larger amounts of oil into the sea.Further threats come from industrial waste, agro chemicals borne byrivers and untreated sewage. All these contaminate coastal andmarine habitats, damaging the marine environment and the plant andanimal life that they support. Europe, with its enclosed seas, heavymarine traffic and high population, is one of the most threatened areas.

This exposure has meant that Europe has also developed skills incombating marine pollution, many of which are provided by smallercompanies. Although they offer a range of services, more effective

ones are needed. The MAPO ETI project, Enhancing Research andDevelopment Projects to find Solutions to Struggle against variousMarine Pollutions, aims to involve such companies in new researchand development projects. We have suffered from two majormarine accidents here in Brittany, says Franoise Duprat, MAPOproject coordinator, of LAssociation du technopole Brest-Iroise.They had a major impact on our coastline that was difficult to handle.Our marine habitats and fisheries took a long time to recover so theeconomic benefit of better pollution control would be considerable.

Innovation from SMEsSmaller companies are the main source of marine anti-pollutionservices. There are specialists in oil and chemical pollution, as wellas inert pollution. SMEs are highly innovative and reactive to thissort of problem, affirms Mme Duprat. They are the most numerousproviders of skills and techniques to fight marine pollution, but theycan find it difficult to communicate with each other. If they do notfind partners, they will not be able to plan ahead properly, and willjust go on from day to day like small business tend to do. We decidedto contact other countries in Europe to try and set up a consortiumso that we could identify and develop more efficient solutions to themarine pollution problem.

The result was MAPO, which aims to reach the 600 or so Europeancompanies active in maritime safety. The consortium unites13 partners from ten countries which, between them, border all theEuropean seas, so that every kind of problem is represented. They

SMEs make cleaner seas

SMEs are highly innovative and reactive tothis sort of problem. They are the mostnumerous providers of skills and

techniques to fight marinepollution.

comprise a pan-European network that specialises in marine

pollution. Although we only started work in MAPO in 2005, wehave already identified some relevant SMEs, says Mme Duprat.

MAPO started by collecting data on SME services and capabilities.These services fall into various categories: prevention of and resistanceto all forms of pollution, detection and control of emissions, developmentof non-toxic anti-fouling coatings, treatment and disposal of pollutionwastes, monitoring for pollution and analysis of results. All thisinformation is being organised electronically and will ultimatelyappear on the project website, which is under development.

Four important stagesThe collected data will be used in the first stage of MAPO, which

is to identify the good and best practice that already exists in Europe.This will help all SMEs to improve their performance, and also serveas a foundation for them to enter European research anddevelopment projects. The main goal of getting SMEs to take partin research projects will begin in stage two by identifying sometechnological needs that could be met by future projects in the fieldof maritime safety. Then we will approach SMEs that are alreadytaking part in Integrated Projects or Networks of Excellence in relatedfields in FP6, explains Mme Duprat. In this way we shall establisha map of SME competency and skills in fighting marine pollution.Finally, we aim to develop some technol-ogical; partnerships that willtranslate into actualresearch projects infuture FrameworkProgrammes.

MAPO

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Contact personFranoise Duprat

Association du technopole Brest Iroise40 rue Jim Sevellec29238 BrestFranceTel: +33 298 056 311Fax: +33 298 054 [email protected]

Participants1 Association du technopole Brest Iroise (FR)2 Icelandic Centre For Research (IS)3 Cliff Funnell Associates (UK)4 Degrand Olivier Jacques Carl Franois (FR)

5 Ecotechnika (UA)6 BFU Bro fr Umweltfragen GmbH (DE)7 HLP Development (FR)8 Safinah Limited (UK)9 Alliance of Maritime Regional Interests in Europe (BE)

10 Innova SpA (IT)11 Vilniaus Gedimino Technikos Universitetas (LT)12 Ege Universitesi Faculty of Fisheries, Dept. of Marine

and Freshwater Sciences and Technology, Section MarineBiology (TR)

13 Universidad de Oviedo (ES)

The objective is not necessarily to find the right solution to solve everyproblem immediately but above all to make European countries co-operate in this important area. The findings will be disseminatedto large companies and laboratories that also aim to fight marinepollution.

We think that the MAPO network is a first step towards establishingan excellent European system for fighting against marine pollution,concludes Mme Duprat.

Project titleEnhancing Research and Development projects to find solutions

to struggle against various marine pollutions



Duration24 months



ETI Volume 2

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Many SMEs have the potential to contribute to

the development of Europes life sciences and health

sector but few are sufficiently well prepared to enter into the

partnerships required for effective exploitation of their ideas. The Passport

project, part of the Economic and Technological Intelligence programme, will

select about 700 SMEs from seven EU regions and coach them in the skills and knowledge

required take part in EU-funded collaborative research and development projects. They will be

helped to find suitable international partners with the aim of launching 25-30 seed projects by the

end of the 30-month venture.

One of the most innovative industrial sectors is life sciences and

health, where numerous SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises),many of them start-ups, are trying to commercialise the wealth ofbiological discoveries now pouring out of Europes universitiesand research centres.

The problem is that SMEs have few employees and their staff haveto devote all their time to establishing and running the business. Theydo not have the time or resources to build the partnerships neededto make the most of the market opportunities open to them. Inparticular, very few SMEs are able to take part in EU-fundedcollaborative research projects that would help them develop theirideas as well as finding partners in other countries to help them marketnew products and services. This is where Passport comes in.

Passport is a new project under the European CommissionsEconomic and Technological Intelligence (ETI) programme designedto help prepare SMEs in life sciences and health to take part in EU-funded research programmes. It is led by the Edinburgh office ofScottish Enterprise, Scotlands main economic development agency,and arose from Edinburghs experience as a region of excellencein the PAXIS initiative.

Fast track to EU fundingThe object of Passport is to provide direct assistance to SMEs byproviding a fast-track route to developing proposals for EU funding.The first step will be a rapid capability review to assess the potentialof the 2 500 life sciences and health SMEs known to the nine partners.About 700 of the most promising ones will then be selected for furthersupport in the shape of exhibitions, trade shows and partneringevents to encourage networking and collaboration. SMEs are oftenwary about going into partnerships with big organisations such aspharmaceutical companies, research institutes and universities, andPassport will help them to gain the confidence they need. They willalso be trained in the art of preparing a proposal and by the end ofthe process about 25 to 30 seed projects should be under way.

The nine partners have a wealth of complementary expertise insupporting SMEs in life sciences and health. Scottish Enterprise, theproject coordinator, is in touch with more than 500 organisationsworking in life sciences, biotechnology and health, including drug

Helping hand for life sciences SMEs

Passport is an excellent name if you have a passport you canreally go places.

development companies, bio-manufacturing organisations, medical

device companies and early-stage biotech university spin-outs. Six ofthe other partners have similar contacts in their own regions and willbring their own particular strengths: Bio-industry Park del Canavesein Italy, is a science park specialising in biosciences and has expertisein technology transfer; Biopolisz Innovation Services is a Hungariancompany specialising in the exploitation of university research, andSyntens, a Dutch consultancy assisting with the commercialisation ofideas. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the French Rivierawill link the consortium with other chambers of commerce, while theBrandenburg Economic Development Agency in Germany will tie intothe network of Euro Info Centres and Innovation Relay Centres.

Guide to best practice

Perhaps the most intriguing of the partners is the Medicon ValleyAcademy, a not-for-profit membership organisation, based inDenmark and southern Sweden, that unites 14 universities,26 hospitals and hundreds of companies to exchange technicalknowledge on health and life sciences. It started out itself as an EUproject and offers a model of the kind of sustainable networkPassport may become when its EU-funded phase is complete.

The regional partners are supported by two private organisations:Eurobiobiz, which specialises in training life-science start-ups andhas already assisted in the creation anddevelopment of 35 com-panies, and inno TSDwhich will bringlong experienceof helping organ-isations worktogether onEuropeanprojects.

PASSPORT

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Contact person

Ann FazakerleyScottish Enterprise Edinburgh and LothianApex House, 99 Haymarket TerraceEdinburgh EH12 5HDUnited KingdomTel: +44 131 313 6278Fax: +44 131 313 [email protected]

Project websitewww.passporteu.net

Participants

1 Scottish Enterprise, Edinburgh and Lothian (UK)2 Stichting Syntens, Innovatienetwerk voor Ondernemers (NL)3 Medicon Valley Academy, FMBA (DK)4 Brandenburg Economic Development Agency (DE)5 Inno TSD (FR)6 Bioindustry Park del Canavese (IT)7 Biopolisz Szegedi Innovcis Szolgltat Kft (HU)8 Chambre de Commerce et dIndustrie Nice Cte dAzur (FR)9 Eurobiobiz S.A.S. (FR)

Although each of the partners could offer support to their local SMEs

outside the project, Passport provides the opportunity for thepartners to learn from each other and develop best practice at aEuropean scale. Indeed, one of the objectives is to publish a guideto best practice in supporting SMEs in this area.

At this early stage, it is difficult to quantify what the long-term benefitsmight be, but greater collaboration and networking betweenEuropean SMEs is likely to lead to more creative thinking, more spin-outs of ideas, more innovations, more new products, more accessto new markets and ultimately more jobs and a more competitivehealth and life sciences sector.

Project title

Passport to RTD Internationalisation of LSH SMEs



Duration30 months



ETI Volume 2

We see this project as a real boost tothe industry in helping to access

European funding to do

collaborative research.

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Socio-economic research can help to identify

the business trends that all companies need to take

account of in their forward planning. Smaller companies have not

so far taken part in this kind of research, but a new project, PLATON, aims

to use industrial associations and Chambers of Commerce to get SMEs involved

in it. They will improve their own skills and influence the kind of research that is done.

The activity will help small businesses to improve their competitiveness in an increasingly global

market place and protect these firms on which so much of Europes economic activity depends.

Small and medium-sized companies have always had difficulties

in finding time and funds for research, although the EU hassuccessfully helped them to get involved in many technical andscientific projects. Now, for the first time, the Platon ETI project isseeking to persuade SMEs of the value of social, political andeconomic studies. In todays highly competitive and internationalisedbusiness environment, smaller companies and groups need to lookahead more than ever, says Platons coordinator DimitriosPapageorgiou of Q-PLAN N.G., Thessaloniki, Greece, but they donot have the knowledge or experience to go about it. To staycompetitive, SMEs must formulate long-term business targets, andappreciate that softer research can make their targets realistic andgive them the tools to meet them. They need a better understandingof trends so that they can identify business opportunities and

threats, adds Papageorgiou, and adopt a more proactive attitudeto business planning.

The European textile industry offers an example of a sector that failedto see the writing on the wall. Many small manufacturers were drivenout of business when the market turned to other countries with muchlower labour costs. Advance knowledge of the trend could haveenabled some of them to plan to diversify and look for nichemarkets, and thus survive the change.

When Platon began in 2005, there was not a single SME inEurope taking part in any research project in the Citizens targetedpriority area in FP6. They dont see it as meeting their immediateneeds, explains Papageorgiou. It seems too academic andirrelevant, while they are concerned with the day-to-day businessof survival. The mainspring of Platon is to target this group and showhow research can help them.

Research players and SME groupingsIt would not be realistic to expect a typical small business toparticipate directly in socio-economic research projects, commentsPapageorgiou. They may appreciate the need but dont have theskills or experience to participate in such projects. We will mainlytarget the organisations that small businesses join in our sixparticipating countries, Greece, Italy, Germany, the UK, Poland andEstonia. These SME groupings could be industrial associations,sectoral groupings, clusters and networks and Chambers of

Helping SMEs to look further ahead

More than 2 000 SMEs, SME groupingsand research organisations in the EUwill be contacted, informed, join

in and generally benefitfrom our activities.

Commerce. Also, we expect a small number of individual highly

innovative SMEs interested in socio-economic issues to join, suchas consultancies, IT service companies and socio-economic studiescompanies.

Our approach is top-down. We will contact organisations alreadyactive in EU-funded socio-economic research and persuade themto involve SME groupings or even individual SMEs in their projects.We will put them in touch and help them to find common groundfor collaboration and do the research they both need.

This contact will be a two-way process: the Platon project will tryand persuade social and economic research organisations to tailortheir research towards the needs of SMEs. They will then be able

to get the kind of information they require earlier in the planningprocess and influence the course of the research as it develops.

On a need-to-know basisThe six countries in Platon have widely different economies,industries and businesses. The national organisations that willspread knowledge and interest in Platon will focus initially onservice companies, and those in the IT business, as these have themost direct interest in the kind of research that is being covered.Some more traditional areas, like manufacturing, agro-food andtourism, also need to be aware of socialtrends, so efforts will be madeto bring them Platon willalso help SME man-agers to improvetheir adminis-trative skills

PLATON

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Contact personDimitrios PapageorgiouInternational Environment and Quality Services North Greece LtdNestoros Typa 754646 [email protected]

Project websitewww.platonproject.net

Participants1 Q-PLAN N.G. International Environment and Quality

Services North Greece Ltd (EL)2 Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea (IT)3 Hill & Knowlton Eesti A.S. (EE)4 Politechnika Wroclawska (PL)5 Universitt Hannover (DE)6 Beta Technology Ltd (UK)

through training and by taking part in these research projects. Smaller

businesses are unlikely to take account of socio-economic factors andthe increasing importance of corporate social responsibility in theirbusiness planning. Many research projects, processes and servicesfail to be turned into business opportunities because these aspects arenot sufficiently recognised in the design and validation stage.

Platon is adopting a range of measures to help achieve its objectives.They include conventional information days, networking events,workshops and similar activities. A range of more advancedservices has also been devised for individual SMEs and groups ofSMEs, including training sessions, strategic guidance and help inpreparing research action plans. More than 2 000 SMEs, SMEgroupings and research organisations in the EU will be contacted,

informed, join in and generally benefit from our activities, concludesPapageorgiou.

Project titleTop-down approach to initiate and enhance SMEs participationin European research in economic, political, social sciences andhumanities and to support their strategic decision-making



Duration27 months



ETI Volume 2

In todays highly competitive andinternationalised business environment,

smaller companies and groups

need to look ahead morethan ever.

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Peripheral islands,like Malta, much tocontribute to Europes

RTD programmes

and activities.

SMEs in peripheral regions may be hi-tech

and innovative, but they rarely get involved in EU RTD

projects. Along with the usual shortage of time and money, these

SMEs may lack even basic information about how to participate. The

PROMPT project aims to promote involvement in ten peripheral regions, and

prepare SMEs for FP7 participation. Bottom-up activities will identify suitable small and

medium-sized enterprises to join project consortia. A top-down approach will develop proposals

in which peripheral regions take a lead role. Finally, exchanges with staff in organisations experienced

in EU projects will transfer important skills to the peripheral regions and equip the SMEs to participate in

projects to their best possible advantage.

Businesses in the isolated and peripheral regions of Europe are far

from rustic or antiquated. Many are hi-tech enterprises with superiorknow-how and innovation capabilities. They have much to contributeto Europes RTD programmes and activities. In return, transnationalcollaboration will help to improve the skills, knowledge andinnovative capabilities of these SMEs, and thus contribute to theeconomic and technological development of their regions.

But like SMEs throughout Europe, these far-flung companies lack thetime and resources to actively seek out projects or develop their ownproposals. Furthermore, their geographical isolation often cutsthem off from even the most basic information. They may never haveheard of Framework Programmes, let alone considered contributingto a project.

Bridging the knowledge gapThe Prompt project was initiated by the Canary Islands TechnologicalInstitute (ICT) to break down some of these barriers to participation.It realised that involvement of SMEs from peripheral regions intransnational research could help to improve their skills, knowledgeand innovative capabilities, and thus contribute to the economic andtechnological development of these regions.

Prompt is a unique collaboration between technology, innovation, andresearch institutes from ten peripheral regions of Europe. Several ofthe partners are members of regional Innovation Relay Centresconsortia, but all offer support for, or have relationships with, alarge proportion of the hi-tech SMEs in a number of island communities(Canary and Balearic Islands, Madeira, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia,Cyprus, Iceland and Crete) and the Aegean region of Turkey.

The ETI project aims to provide a number of targeted SMEs in theseregions with the necessary knowledge, skills and support toparticipate in European research programmes, form projectconsortia, and develop and submit research proposals of their own.Over the course of Prompts funding period, the partners hope towork on around 20 both SME-driven proposals and involving SMEas partners, involving about 40 SME partners in total. Theseproposals will be in response primarily to the first calls of theSeventh Framework Programme.

Prompting participation from Europesperipheries

Prompt offers a rare opportunity forisolated SMEs to expand their horizonsand access the many benefits of

participating in transnationalresearch projects.

Talent spotting

Prompt takes a three-pronged approach to achieve its ambitious aims.The initial bottom-up component involves the partners analysing theparticular strengths of the SMEs in their regions. The partners willselect sectors on which to focus, and from their existing knowledgeof the SMEs in these sectors, invite promising companies toparticipate in Prompt activities.

These candidate SMEs will be visited by staff from the local Promptpartner organisations who will conduct audits and interviews toidentify each companys capacity to participate in research projects.A final portfolio of suitable SMEs will be distributed among thePrompt partners, other organisations close to Europes majorparticipants in FP projects, and various networks (for example, other

Innovation Relay Centres) to see if any of the SMEs could meetrequests from existing research projects for additional partners, orjoin consortia developing proposals for future projects.

Along with this matching exercise, Prompt is also taking a top-downapproach. The partners want to stimulate the submission of projectproposals generated and coordinated by SMEs from the peripheralregions.

To achieve this task, the Prompt partners will create a think-tank ofscientists, researchers and industrialists,recruited from their ranks andfrom other institutionsaround Europe. Thegoal of this forumis to develop

PROMPT

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Businesses in the isolated andperipheral regions of Europe, like Iceland,

are far from rustic or antiquated.

Contact personJuan Ruiz AlzolaPlaza de Sixto Machado 338009 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary IslandsSpainTel: + 34 922 56 89 00Fax: + 34 922 56 89 01E-mail: [email protected]

www.itccanarias.org

Project website:www.promptnet.org

Participants1 Instituto Tecnolgico de Canarias S.A. (ES)2 Consorzio per lAssistenza alle Piccole e Medie Imprese (IT)3 Malta Enterprise (MT)4 Fundacin IBIT (ES)5 Polo Cientifico e Tecnologico da Madeira Madeira

Tecnopolo S.A. (PT)6 Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (EL)7 Technological Institute of Iceland (IS)8 Ege Universitesi Bilim-Teknoloji Uygulama ve Arastirma

Merkezi (TR)9 Consorzio Catania Ricerche (IT)

10 Cyprus Institute of Technology (CY)

ideas for technological projects in which the SMEs from the

peripheral regions could play a prominent role.

The final aspect of this project focuses on staff training for both thepartners and the SMEs. Successful transnational technologicalcooperation will only be possible if participants can rely on whatis often their most scarce resource qualified human resources. Theproject therefore will include an exchange programme: researchersand innovation managers from mainland Europe who haveexperience of EU projects will be invited to spend time with theircounterparts in peripheral regions, and vice versa.

These exchanges, along with the SME auditing activities and thedevelopment of research proposals and transnational SME consortia,

will be a major boost for technology companies in some of Europesmost isolated communities. Through Prompt, they will not onlydiscover the many opportunities for RTD activities in Europe, but willbe equipped to get involved in them, too.

Project titlePeripheral regions oriented measure for promotion oftechnological intelligence


Start date

01/09/2005

Duration30 months



ETI Volume 2

The aim is to build long-lasting, sustainablepartnerships that will link these the

SMEs in peripheral regions to

the rest of Europeanresearch.

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Surface treatment of metals and manufacture

of printed circuit boards are two similar areas of industrial

activity. They are dominated by small enterprises, and face

growing pollution problems and competition from regions where labour is

cheap and environmental legislation less stringent. The Prosurf Coordinated Action

is identifying market and research trends in the sector. By linking the SMEs in an

information network, it will encourage them to take part in research projects for the first time.

This should help them to improve their practice and introduce new processes and products with added

value. These measures should create employment and safeguard the economic future of the sector.

There are many small businesses in two closely related fields of

industrial technology: the surface treatment of metals and themanufacture of printed circuit boards. Like many small firms, themajority use the technology that they know and rarely have theresources to take part in research and development programmes.Most of them employ fewer than 20 people. Yet the two sectors areboth under commercial pressure and would benefit by upgradingtheir processes and practices. The Prosurf coordinated action, inthe part of FP6 that is devoted to stepping up economic andtechnological intelligence, is focused on developing a research andinnovation strategy to meet their needs.

Sectoral problemsThese SMEs need to increase the level of their technology and

become more competitive, explains Dr Ian Dalrymple of C-TechInnovation Ltd, UK, who coordinates the Prosurf project. Oneproblem common to both areas is the increasing need to be awareof environmental concerns. Both industries rely on a multitude ofchemical processes, many of them toxic and capable of causingsignificant harm to the environment.

Surface finishing implies anything that alters the surface of a metalor gives it a coating to improve its properties. It includes plating,anodising, etching and phosphating. Many such processes use water-based toxic solutions containing metals like cadmium and chromiumand corrosive acids, which give rise to serious effluent problems.Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are crucial components of electronicassemblies and their manufacture often includes metal-finishingprocesses. PCB makers need to find alternatives to lead solder andharsh cleaning materials.

In Europe, legislation to protect the environment is becoming ever-more demanding, a burden that is not shared by competitors in theFar East, where labour costs are also much lower. PCB makers inparticular are under great market pressure. The way for thesecompanies to maintain their market position is to boost theirtechnology so that they can make better products that will commanda higher price than the current output. They also have to continuethe improvements they have made in environmental protection, withcleaner processes, taking into account end-of-life issues like recyclingand safe disposability.

Cleaning up surface treatment

Prosurf will establish mechanisms forintroducing more sophisticatedtechnology and increase

employment and skilllevels in these SMEs.

Boost for technology

Much EU research has already been invested in technologicalimprovement, driven by environmental pressure. It has resulted insome lead-free solders for PCB manufacture and reduced chromiumcontent for some plated finishes. Much more work is needed,however, to increase the range, complexity and value of productsavailable, comments Dr Dalrymple. Prosurf will establishmechanisms for introducing more sophisticated technology andincrease employment and skill levels in these SMEs.

The project will start by analysing the needs of the sector for newtechnology and market information. Collecting this information isno mean task in view of the large number of small companies thathave to be canvassed. The analysis will look at the innovative

potential of current research and generate a research strategyand a road map for its implementation. It will also gather marketintelligence, analysing economic trends and identifying opportunities.This project can only succeed with good information, saysDr Dalrymple. Networking and dissemination will be vital tointegrate the sector. We are setting up a web-based platform tocoordinate communication with the SMEs and creating morespecialised groupings within the sector. They will be able toinfluence the course of the project.

A further goal is to establish best practicefor implementing the researchstrategy formulated inthe initial stages. Thiswill help the SMEsto gain accessto emergingand future

PROSURF

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Contact personIan DalrympleC-Tech Innovation LimitedCapenhurst Technology ParkChester CH1 6EHUnited KingdomTel: +44 151 347 2908Fax: +44 151 347 [email protected]

Project websitewww.prosurf-online.org and www.prosurf-online.com

Participants1 C-Tech Innovation Ltd (UK)2 Deutsche Gesellschaft Fr Galvano-

und Oberflaechentechnik E.V (DE)3 EIPC Services B.V. (NL)4 RTC North Ltd (UK)5 Syndicat National des Entreprises dApplications,

de Revtements et Traitements des Surfaces (FR)6 International Project Management,

Plating and Materials (FR)

R&D programmes, maximising the benefit obtained from them. A

test of success will be the involvement of surface finishers and PCBmakers in proposals and projects for the next Framework Programme.

Increasing the level of technology in this field and bringing out newproducts will make this sector more viable in tomorrows markets,concludes Dr Dalrymple. New methods to prepare aluminiumcoatings, which are very difficult and expensive to achieve at themoment, constitute one objective. Another is to eliminate water-basedelectrolytes completely, and replace them with ionic liquids whichhave a salt-like structure but are liquid at room temperature andincrease the range of possibilities. Such developments will advancethe state of the art, modernise the sector and secure its future.

Project titlePromotion and Support of SME Research and Innovation in theSurface Finishing and Printed Circuit Manufacturing Sectors



Duration36 months



ETI Volume 2

Increasing the level of technology in thisfield and bringing out new products will

make this sector more viable in

tomorrow's markets.

E

uropeanCommunities,

2006-



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An innovativesmall-scale Polish

wind turbine

Stimulating research and innovation in SMEs

from Central and Eastern Europe is an important factor

in the region's economic recovery and future European growth.

This is especially so in the energy sector, where additional factors such as

sustainability and renewable technologies need to be considered. The RESCUE

project will prepare SMEs involved in renewable energy to take part in future European

RTD activities by addressing barriers that impede participation such as language issues and

unfamiliarity with modern R&D project organisation. The project will stimulate effective networking

capabilities and use technology audits to match SME skills with relevant RTD consortia.

For the energy sector, the recent enlargement of the EU confirms

and extends current energy trends: rising consumption, growingdemand for conventional fossil fuels and increasing dependenceon imported energy sources. In Eastern and Central Europe,additional factors come into play as the new Member States havestrong and recent legacies of highly centralised and plannedeconomies. This poses significant new challenges for the Europeanenergy sector, in particular with respect to the introduction ofrenewable energy sources (RES) and distributed power generation.

Since the 1990s, Central and Eastern European countries have beenrebuilding their economies in the market model. The success of thesereforms is crucial to the economic recovery of these countries, aswell as future EU economic performance. This is especially so in

the energy sector, although it is also important to provide a soundbasis for sustainable development in this area. One of the mostimportant factors in achieving this is the introduction of innovationsto the industry: in particular, making the most of the potential forrenewable energy technologies in the region.

In order to mobilise SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) inthe region to move to more R&D intensive activities, it is importantto integrate with activities and initiatives in Western Europe andcollaborate with other EU companies. However, a number ofspecific factors impede such integration efforts. These includelanguage barriers, unfamiliarity with modern R&D projectorganisation and management, and effective networking capabilities.These factors are relevant throughout the business sector in Easternand Central Europe, but especially so for SMEs.

Integration barriersTo tackle these barriers, the RESCUE project will provide selectedSMEs from the RES sector with knowledge about FP6 and FP7programmes and processes, strengthen their competitive intelligencethrough targeted training, assist in their innovation activities andfacilitate their co-operation with the research sector and other FPplayers across Europe. A key role for the project will be theprovision of information on technology opportunities in nationallanguages. Many documents are only available (at least initially)in English or French and German and this can be a significant barrierto participation.

Rescue remedy to stimulate energy SMEs

Language barriers are a significant issue.

A key step will be to assess the current level of information and

resources within the SME partners in RESCUE and the generalsituation in the participating countries and region. This will be doneby producing country reports on RES technology trends and specificstructural obstacles. In parallel, a study will look to set appropriatebenchmarks from western European best practice.

Technology audits will assess how the SMEs manage innovation andstrategic information, how their infrastructure can cope withinvolvement with collaborative RTD, how they manage intellectualproperty, and their R&D training and resources.

The goal is to make sure that SMEs in the RES sector are fully awareof the market and technology situation and future trends in the

European market place. The process will identify gaps in the SMEsknowledge and therefore the training and assistance that is needed.Information on SMEs that are already involved in the sector will alsobe gathered to assess their immediate technology needs andopportunities.

RESCUE teamThe RESCUE team will provide awareness-raising events in eachparticipating country to show the benefits that engaging incollaborative European research programmes can bring. At the sametime, participation of Eastern Europeanpartners will be promotedwith Western Europeanorganisations.

RESCUE

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An innovative small-scale Polish wind turbine

Contact personAlicja WalczakEuroprojekts Sp. Z.o.o.Marconich 2/5a02-954 WarsawPolandTel: +48 224 231 883Fax: +48 226 517 452

[email protected]

Project websitehttp://rescue.protechnology.lt

Participants1 Europrojekts SP Z.o.o. (PL)2 Latvijas Tehnologiskais Centrs (LV)3 Ec Brec Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej SP Z.o.o. (PL)4 Comit de Liaison Energies Renouvelables (FR)5 European Labour Institute (BG)6 Wip Kg (DE)7 Hungarian Science and Technology Foundation (HU)8 Centrul Pentru Promovarea Energiei Curate si Eficiente

in Romania (RO)9 Kauno Technologijos Universitetas (LT)

10 Bic Bratislava. Spol. Sro (SK)

RESCUE is coordinated by the Polish EuroProjekts consultancy and

includes a selection of SMEs, RTD and Innovation centres from Bulgaria,Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia withknowledge of and access to the SMEs players in their national RES scene.

In addition, two Western European organisations are included in theproject to provide the link with ongoing projects and potentialpartners in the West. CLER is a large French RES association thatincludes around 150 professional organisations in France and othercountries involved in clean energy. The organisations cover enterprises,regional bodies, NGOs and universities. The WIP KG consultancyfrom Germany is another active RES organisation with experts in boththe technical and non-technical side of renewable energy.

The RESCUE project will work closely with another ETI projectSynergy + to ensure their work is complementary. This will includeexchange of inform

Documents

Economic and Technological Intelligence (ETI) projects for SMEs-2