Good morning,
I hope you are keeping safe and well through these trying times.
In spite of such a dramatic year, thanks to your support and valuable contribution INSME has managed to achieve interesting results which I would like to share with you:
1. Within the INSMEAcademy we held 15 webinars addressing several critical issues on Innovation Management with more than 100 attendees on average coming from all over the world, through which we contributed to spreading a culture of innovation and helped to develop entrepreneurial competencies.
2. Together with the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce we have developed a methodology to identify and promote high-growth firms, and we have achieved an in-depth understanding on policy interventions to favour the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.
3. In the Mediterranean, with The Next Society project, we’ve carried out three online policy workshops to unveil the successful best practices promoted in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. We were able to involve an average of 50 participants among policymakers, innovators, and entrepreneurs per session.
4. For the project XPRESS, funded under the EU Horizon 2020 with the goal to facilitate the introduction of Renewable Energy Sources by promoting Green Public Procurement, we have organised two workshops and interviews with SMEs to explore the challenges they face when approaching the Green Public Procurement.
5. In 2020 we welcome remarkable new members which further strengthen our Network:
• ToJoy, China
• GenerationS, Russia
• SIMEST, Italy
• Small and Medium Business Development Agency, Azerbaijan
• The Ayzer Center for Entrepreneurship, Nigeria
• H&D Partners, Belgium
• Bulgaria Development Bank, Bulgaria
• Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Agency, Bulgaria
Bulgaria has also offered to host the 2021 INSME Annual Meeting in Sofia, as we hope the pandemic will allow us to return to physical gatherings soon.
6. Several new partnerships have been developed with:
• EMEA - Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Spain
• SME Finance Forum (part of the IFC - World Bank), USA
• The Montreal Group, Canada
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), Spain
• World SME Forum, Turkey
• Tor Vergata University of Rome Incubator, Italy
• AGI - The Italian Association of young innovators
7. Late in 2020, thanks to the inputs from our board member Prof. Jay Mitra, we launched a new initiative: - The Research and Learning Forum - which aims to strengthen the links between SMEs and Universities and Research Institutions.
Finally, this year we have celebrated with the OECD the 20th anniversary of the Bologna Charter, the declaration voted by 80 ministers who participated in the First OECD SME Ministerial Conference in June 2000 which laid the foundations of INSME. That was a high-level event attended by two former Prime Ministers among other prominent figures which addressed the challenges facing SMEs worldwide as we get out of the pandemic, a task in which we will be engaged with you all in 2021.
With my very best wishes for a great recovery in the New Year!
Giovanni
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