Project Overview

The ennovation-NET project will develop solutions for a better coordination of national e-business initiatives and for the design of trans-national e-business programmes in order to improve the innovative behaviour of SMEs. Secondly, it will investigate how to create an e-business/innovation policy forum that unites innovation and e-business stakeholders.

ennovation-NET will improve the coordination of the national e-business and innovation programmes of several countries in order to increase their national and European impact and to implement joint programmes. For this purpose, a set of support activities is planned within the framework of the European Innovation Area (EIA). It will also prepare the ground for a Coordination Action project in the enlarged European Union, which is to be proposed under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP).

Key activities:

The ennovation-NET will begin by increasing the mutual knowledge of programme managers and exploring the feasibility of stronger forms of coordination. It will then progressively extend its operations and investigate the scope for a future trans-national coordination of national innovation and e-business programmes. This will entail a dialogue among key players in Europe in the area of innovation and e-business, addressing the following issues:

• Assessing the feasibility of joint trans-national e-business programmes aiming at fostering the innovation potential of SMEs. This will allow an identification and analysis of relevant e-business policies targeted at SMEs. Other topics include identifying potential areas for trans-national cooperation and specifying the modalities for cooperation between innovation/e-business programmes.
• Exploring the possibility of setting up a European forum on innovation and e-business by carrying out a feasibility study and an assessment of needs; and setting up the forum in line with the results of the preliminary analyses.

Expected impact:

The ennovation-NET project is expected to prepare the ground for a harmonised regulatory and statutory environment for coordinating European activities in sectors which are strategically important for innovation and e-business. It will enable a coherent European system of "e-business embedded in innovation" and lead to a common pool of knowledge for future policy areas, especially those of European interest, to be implemented within the Seventh Framework Programme.

Further information:

For further information on the ennovation-NET project, please consult the initiative's website at http://www.ennovation-net.org.

Project Officer: Iordana ELEFTHERIADOU