Innovation procurement through SBIR initiatives hot topic at INNO-Partnering Council Meeting
Vienna, Austria 2010, May 19-20th
On the 19th to 20th of May 2010, the second meeting of the INNO-Partnering Council took place in Vienna. The Council is part of the INNO-Net called INNO-Partnering Forum, in which innovation agencies collaborate to develop better innovation support services for SMEs. At the meeting, Innovation procurement through SBIR initiatives was one of the measures in focus for more in depth collaboration.
One highlight of the meeting was the kick off of a task force on the potential of an EU Small Business Innovation Research Programme. The task force is currently set up and is headed by the Technology Strategy Board (contact: david.golding@tsb.gov.uk). The Technology Strategy Board (UK) and NL Agency, European innovation agencies with track record in implementing SBIR initiatives, are among the key partners. Peer reviews of the two schemes in place in the UK and in the Netherlands were briefly presented at the meeting. Another measure in focus was innovation vouchers, where the Austrian scheme was presented and a discussion was held on potential future developments of vouchers schemes based on analyses by Sven Schade from DG Enterprise.
Another topic of great interest was the, recently launched invitation to European innovation agencies to express their interest in participating in the development of better innovation support for European SMEs. Activities will encompass peer-reviewing and the transfer of existing agency support measures and may develop into detailed co-operation between agencies to design new programs targeting innovative SMEs.
The Council consists of high level persons involved in policy design and implementation for innovative SMEs across Europe. At the meeting, project partners – VINNOVA (SE), Tekes (FI), Technology Strategy Board (UK), Enterprise Ireland (EI), NL Agency (NL) and FFG (AT) – gave an update of the activities and progress of the INNO-Partnering Forum. In addition, participants gave input regarding the future orientation of the project.
Katja Reppel, Deputy Head of Unit at DG Enterprise and Industry, gave an overview of the current state of play of EU Innovation Policy. In view of the current preparation of the EU Research and Innovation Strategy, the INNO-Partnering Forum, will strive to contribute in many ways to design and implementation of policy that make Europe an attractive place for innovative SMEs.
More info: http://www.proinno-europe.eu/partnering-forum/project-overview
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