PIDS - PROJECT INFORMATION AND DISSEMINATION SERVICE ON CORDIS

It is a 'one stop shop' service that enables FP6 Project Coordinators (COs) and Project Officers (POs) to:

- Find information on their projects
- Store their projects' public outputs (news, events, results,
documents, etc.)
- And disseminate these public outputs through CORDIS services (CORDIS Wire, Results database, CORDIS Library, etc.)

 For more information: http://cordis.europa.eu/pids/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.home

EU FINANCE DAY FOR SMES SERIES OF ONE-DAY EVENTS IN 2008-2009

EU Finance Day for SMEs is a series of one-day events in the Member States organized by European Commission in
cooperation with the national financial intermediaries. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness about different sources of
finance available for SMEs and provide a forum for sharing good practices in helping innovative SMEs get easier access to
finance.

One-day events are due to take place in all Member State capitals in 2008-2009.

To obtain more information, please visit: http://www.smefinance-day.eu/index.php?id=13
Contact: entr-finance-sme@ec.europa.eu

A DRAFT TEXT OF ‘PRACTICAL GUIDE TO EU FUNDING FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION’ PUBLISHED ON CORDIS

The guide gives an overview of the opportunities provided by the three sources of European funding: the 7th Framework Programme for Research, the Competitiveness & Innovation Programme and the Structural Funds and explains how they can be combined to support research and innovation activities on the long term.

The guide consists of three separate documents: the 'Practical Guide', the 'Checklist' and the 'Scorecard'. All comments and suggestions should be sent by end April to the e-mail address: RTD-PRACTICAL-GUIDE@EC.EUROPA.EU.

To obtain more information, please visit:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/consultation_en.html

ENTERPRISES BY SIZE CLASS - STATISTIC OVERVIEW OF SMES IN THE EU

This report gives a comprehensive overview of the situation of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU. It is available in three languages: English, French and German.

Anyone interested to obtain this document should contact:
eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu

NEW PUBLICATION ON SMESTECHWEB
SMEs keep local - go international. Opportunities for transnational research. Currently available only in English.

Can be downloaded from:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/sme-techweb/index_en.cfm?pg=publications

ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK – AN INITIATIVE OF THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY

The Enterprise Europe Network is made up of 600 partner organizations in more than 40 countries, promoting
competitiveness and innovation at the local level in Europe and beyond. It is made up of former Euro Info Centers
and Innovation Relay Centres and is managed by Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI). The network offers support and advice to enterprises across Europe and helps them make the most of the opportunities in the European Union. Apart from small and medium sized companies its services are also available to research centers and Universities across Europe.

The addresses of the network can be downloaded from: http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/network_en.htm

 The Launch Event of the network took place in Brussels, on 6 of February 2008. The presentations from that event are available at: http://www.enterprise-europenetwork.ec.europa.eu/events_en.htm

And here is the website of the EACI
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/contact/index_en.htm

A NEW DEVICE DEVELOPED IN THE FRAME OF THE INNOSME PROJECT

The device is called - The RTD Project Memory - it provides an easy guide to define and write proposals for RTD and Innovation projects. The guidance notes has been taken from requirements of the European Commission in FP7, as well as from other sources.

More about the project itself and the RTD Project Memory can be found at:
http://www.innosme.eu/page.asp?n=home

FINANCING ECO - INNOVATION

It is said that Europe is a global leader in eco – innovation, but it has a great problem with converting its ideas and patents into
investments. A comparison between Europe and USA in venture capital investment in clean energy technologies revealed that investments in the USA are four times higher than in the EU. More about financing eco – innovations companies can learn from the series of Eco – innovation Information Days, which will be held in the main European cities in the forthcomming months.

The first European Info Day on Eco – Innovation will take place in Brussels on 8th of May 2008. It is addressed mainly to companies that have developed an environmental product, service, management practice or process that has a proven track record, yet is not fully marketed due to residual risk.

More about National Info Days can be found at :
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/ecoinnovation/infoday_en.htm

Information about the current call:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/ecoinnovation/library_en.htm

Date of publication: 21.04.2008
Closing date: 11.09.2008
Budget: 28 million euro
Expected number of funded projects: approx. 40

RESEARCH FOR SMES ASSOCIATIONS

According to the news received from the Programme Comittee the 2nd call for the Research for the benefits of SMEs Associations will be published on 15 June 2008 with the closing date (for the first stage) foreseen for the 26th of September 2008. The exat dates will be communicated and the revised work programme put on Cordis when the budget for this call is made available.

EUROSTARS

The Eurostars programme has been given the official seal of approval with a EUR 300 million budget and a further EUR 100 million from the FP7. The proposed programme is targeted towards small consortia driven by an R&D performing SME
(http://ec.europa.eu/research/sme-techweb/index_en.cfm) from one of the participating
countries (http://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/where.do)

A project financed under the Eurostars Programme can address any technological area with the intention of
developing a new product, process or service. The project should be market-driven: it should have a maximum duration
of three years and within two years of project completion, the product of the research should be ready for launching on to
the market. The exeption to this rule applies to biomedical or medical projects, where clinical trials must be started within two years of project completion.

To obtain more information, please contact the EUREKA Secretariat at:
http:/ / www.eurostars-eureka.eu

SME DAYS 2008 - PREPARATIONS ARE ON - GOING

The event is foreseen to take place on 15&16 of September 2008 in Paris, France. The draft programme can be downloaded from here (SMES PFUE Programm) together with the press release.

 Currently the organizers are seeking for twelve (12) Smes accounts as leaders of European and sucessfully achieved projects, with strategic outputs and ability to be part of high level debates around the theme " Consolidating Rersearch and Innovation
for European Smes" -HOW TO DO MORE AND BETTER

Selected SMEs will be invited to the event and their travel expenses will be reimbursed. Furthermore around 40 good success stories cases will be elaborated, in order to promote both companies and European mechanisms (press releases, interviews, spots etc.).

Persons responsible for gathering the adresses of SMEs:

corine.plantard@oseo.fr and mguillaume.weisser@oseo.fr

FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

08.05.2008, Belgium, Brussels European Day on Eco – Innovation
13-14.05.2008, Austrian – Romanian Science Days
14.05.2008, Bursa, Turkey, Research for the SME Associations and Industry - Academia Partnerships and Pathways
15.05.2008, Lodz, Poland, Bio-Forum and match-making Event
15.05.2008, Warsaw, Poland, How to finance eco-innovations from the Competiveness and Innovation Programme?
11.06.2008, Oviedo, Spain, Financial and intellectual property rights aspects in 7th EU Framework Programme projects
17.06.2008, Cracow, Poland, SMEsgoHealth, European Partnering days on health and Biotechnology in the FP7

20.06.2008, Mersin, Turkey, Opportunities for SMEs in FP7 and Eureka, Seminar
17.06.2008, London, England, SMEsgoHealth, European Partnering days on health and Biotechnology in the FP7
04.07.2008 Austrian – French workshop on water research and policy issues
08.2008, Bursa, Turkey, Seminar about National and international funds for SMEs