Innovation, a Business Opportunity for SMEs!

The two-day conference, EuroSME2013, will be hosted in Dublin on 11 - 12 June, during Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union in 2013. The driving theme of this event will be "Supporting Innovative SMEs in Their Ambition to Grow". The event will spotlight new trends shaping innovation in the 21st century, identify SME opportunities and challenges in exploiting these trends and highlight public and private support structures allowing SMEs to tap into the emerging growth opportunities. In addition, the event will be used to publicise the approach to innovation in SMEs under Horizon 2020.

The conference will consider and make reference to the role of the SME in:

• The Europe of 2020, and its’ envisaged smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive economy, where research and innovation are at its very core;
• The Innovation Union, as one of the flagship initiatives supporting the implementation of the EU2020 strategy. It comprises the whole innovation chain from ideas to market and it places particular emphasis on innovation and support measures for SMEs: Enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs;
• Promoting employment and supporting labour mobility; and Strengthening research, technological development and innovation.
• Economic growth and job creation.

The Irish presidency of the EU welcomes your registration for this event

Read the full invitation for the event.

Why SMEs should take full advantage of the benefits and opportunities offered by European Standards?

The European Conference "SMEs and Standardisation" will be held in the Square Business Center in Brussels on the 28th May 2013. It will provide a unique opportunity to discuss how to promote the successful participation of SMEs in standardisation activities, and make it easier for them to access the results.

What are the benefits that European Standards can offer to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?  

• To improve their efficiency and competitiveness, minimize waste and reduce costs. 
• To ensure the quality and safety of products and services, and to make it easier to sell them throughout Europe and around the world  
• To help to create a level playing field, allowing SMEs to access more markets and to attract new customers.  

SMEs can take full advantage of the benefits and opportunities offered by European Standards, but often don't know how.

More information about the conference "SMEs and Standardisation".

EMF issued a Position Paper on the Future of the EU-Latin American ICT dialogue

EMF issued a Position Paper on the Future of the EU-Latin American ICT dialogue, in view of the EU-LAC Summit to be held in Santiago de Chile in January 2013. Key recommendations for both sides of the Atlantic include: 

• Creating a framework to develop collaborative agendas in areas of mutual interest to create win-win scenarios; 
• Fostering the ICT dialogue at all levels, including grass root level; 
• Supporting SMEs as important actors in the innovation value chain and as drivers of the economy and employment; 
• Foster cross-stakeholder collaboration; 
• Promote the use of ICT at all levels for an ubiquitous access to knowledge and information; 
• Continue the fruitful collaboration under the motto "united in diversity". 

Position Paper (in Spanish only).

the 1st European Conference on e-Public Procurement

On 23 March 2013, the 1st European Conference on e-Public Procurement and 1st Exhibition of European e-Platforms takes place in Barcelona, Spain. European Commission invested e-public procurement that can play a strategic role:

• To generate public savings through improved sourcing and more effective competition between suppliers
• To increase transparency and fair decision making to award public contracts
• To help SMEs to participate in public markets
• To stimulate innovation and the development of e-marketplaces
• To promote a low-carbon society and more sustainable growth

More information about the programme of this conference

Influence the support given to innovative SMEs from the ICT sector in Horizon 2020

"If you are based in the EU or in an associated country, and are an innovative ICT company or an ICT association (network, alliance or platform), we want to hear your opinion!"

The European Commission is currently conducting a survey to know what drives innovative SMEs to participate - or not - the R&D projects funded under FP7-ICT. The results will provide recommendations for future program 2020. Answer the survey should take no longer than 15 minutes. The questionnaire is available in English, German and French.

More information about SME non participation . eu

SMEs create more and better jobs

According to a recent study of the European Commission analyzing the important role small and medium sized enterprises play in creating more and better jobs, SMEs provide a vital contribution to the European economy. Actually, they are responsible for more than two thirds of the total employment in the private sectors and 85% of the net job growth. We understand easily how SMEs are primordial for the economic recovery and for reducing the negative employment effects of the crisis. 

This European study provides statistical evidence and analysis of:

- the quantity of jobs SMEs deliver, and how it has changed over time, with a focus on the recent crisis.

- the quality of jobs SMEs deliver, with a view to shed light on the nexus between the creation of jobs in Europe's SMEs and the simultaneous improvement of the competitiveness of the EU SME sector.

More information about this European study

European Business Awards for the Environment 2012 : 5 winners

"The finalists in this year’s European Business Awards for the Environment clearly demonstrate that taking a green approach can make a major difference to their profitability and to our common good through innovative and sustainable eco-technologies and processes." said Janez Potočnik Commissioner for the Environment.

The five winners represent large corporations and SMEs, old and new Member States, and sectors from retail to energy to material engineering. Most of the applicants were SMEs. The greatest number of entries (62) was in the newly introduced “business and biodiversity” category. They were selected from a shortlist of 14 candidates from nine European countries and wide-ranging economic sectors. They are companies that successfully combine innovation, competitiveness and outstanding environmental performance.

"The Europe 2020 Strategy recently adopted by the Commission follows the same line of thought, recognizing that a better environment matters not only for the quality of life of citizens, but also for the economy. The strategy will help prepare businesses for the long-term challenges of resource efficiency and sustainable growth, and it will do this with economic incentives that promote true innovation and creativity." concluded Janez Potočnik Commissioner for the Environment.

More information about the 5 winners of the European Business Awards for the Environment 2012

More information about Green ICT on Green Corner

European Commission publishes draft ICT PSP Work programme for 2012

The CIP ICT Committee has recently approved the draft ICT PSP Work Programme 2012. The ICT PSP supports the realisation of European policies and in particular the Digital agenda for Europe and is aligned with its priorities. The programme addresses obstacles hindering further and better use of ICT based products and services and barriers for the development of high growth businesses, notably SMEs, in this field.

In order to optimise the impact of Union support, funding is concentrated on a limited number of themes and objectives. WP 2012 focuses on 5 themes:

– ICT for "smart" cities
– Digital content, open data and creativity
– ICT for health, ageing well and inclusion
– Innovative government and public services
– Trusted eServices and other actions

The 6th ICT PSP Call for Proposal is expected to open from 1 February to 15 May 2012. An information day on Call 6 is foreseen the 3 February 2012. Confirmation of the date, the exact venue and the draft agenda will be published during this week on the ICT PSP website.

Download the draft ICT PSP programme

Please note that the document is still subject to the formal approval by the Commission expected in January 2012.

Multilingualism for jobs mobility, but not only

On November 17, the Council of the European Union issued conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility. In the document the Council not only addresses multilingualism for jobs mobility but also mentions the importance to foster better use of language competences as a mean of increasing the competitiveness of EU business, and especially that of small and medium-sized enterprises. In this context, the Council welcomes the work of the Business Platform for Multilingualism of which EMF is a member of the Steering Committee, and invites the European Commission to further pursue its support and stakeholder initiatives of this kind.

Download the document

Debate on the definition of SMEs

The European Commission announced last week, in a review of the SmallBusiness Act (SBA) held in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), its intention to open a consultation on the definition of SMEs in the course of 2012.

At present SMEs are defined by the following 3 parameters:

-Micro-entities are companies with up to 10 employees;
-small companies employ up to 50 workers, whilst;
-medium-sized enterprises contain up to 250 employees.

However the definition of a company for specific tax or regulatory purposes may change as a range of other criteria are also taken into account under different rule

The announcement received diverse reactions from stakeholders, some of which ask what the purpose of such a consultation will be.

More information

ECO-Innovation, call for proposals are now open!

The calls support Eco-innovative projects in different sectors which aim at the prevention or reduction of environmental impacts or which contribute to the optimal use of resources.
The call is open to all legal persons that are based in eligible countries but the priority will be given to Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Clusters of applicants and projects which demonstrate a European added value and have a high potential for market replication are strongly encouraged.

Although priority will be given to SMEs* and private beneficiaries, the calls for proposals are open to all legal persons located in one of the following countries:

• 27 EU member states
• Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein
• Albania, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Israel, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey
• Other non-EU countries provided they have the appropriate agreement in force.

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Linking ICT SMEs to Investors - ICT Venture Gate, 19 May, Budapest

The ICT VentureGate Brokerage Event will take place in Budapest, the 19th May, 2011. The event is organized between two other major European Commission events in Budapest targeting the ICT sector: the Future Internet Week (16-19 May 2011) and the ICT Proposers Day (19 – 20 May).

ICT Venture Gate is an EU-funded project to bringing SMEs and Investors together. The project wants to connect and better equip ICT SMEs (Information and Communication Technology-focussed Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) who have been in previous EU-funded projects, to Venture Capital and Business Angel investors.

Download the preliminary agenda
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".eu" has become the 9th biggest top-level domain (TLD) on the Internet

Registrations for a ".eu" domain have grown every year since its introduction and now reach almost 3.5 million. The domain first opened on 7 December 2005 to holders of prior rights and since early April 2006. From then to now, the ".eu" has become the 5th most popular country code top-level domain worldwide and ranks in 4th place in Europe.

Having a ".eu" domain is especially beneficial to small and medium-sized companies as it raises their profile on European markets by providing them with a pan-European identity on the Internet.

Live tracking of ".eu" statistics
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