View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/insme.org/insme_newsletter_issue193_2021?e=2d8317fc53) ** ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Issue n. 193 ------------------------------------------------------------ News from INSME OECD: SME digitalisation and responses to COVID-19 (http://www.insme.org/2nd-d4sme-roundtable-sme-digitalisation-and-responses-t...) All INSME members are invited to participate to the roundtable of the OECD Global Initiative “Digital for SMEs”, a multi-stakeholder dialogue among governments, businesses, industry experts and associations on how to enable all SMEs to seize the benefits of digitalisation. INSME President Sergio Arzeni takes part to the G20, by participating to the B20 and T20 engagement groups (http://www.insme.org/insme-president-takes-part-to-the-g20-by-participating-...) Italy holds the Presidency of the G20, the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies. The Business20 (B20) and Think20 (T20) are the most important engagement groups. Read more! INSME (http://www.insme.org/insme-supports-reestart-project-on-renewable-energy-inv...) supports REESTART project on Renewable Energy Investments in Lebanon (http://www.insme.org/insme-supports-reestart-project-on-renewable-energy-inv...) In the framework of the EU program aimed at promoting Lebanon’s clean energy transition, INSME enjoyed the live session “Opportunities to scale up and the role of flexible financing instruments”. Updates and contributions from INSME Members High Growth Firms in the Iranian entrepreneurship environment (http://www.insme.org/high-growth-firms-in-the-iranian-entrepreneurship-envir...) Professor Jay Mitra, INSME board member, has published his latest experimental research on High-Growth Firms, focused on workforce agility and the mediation role of innovation. Maximizing the exploitation of scientific results: EoCoE and META Group webinar (http://www.insme.org/maximizing-the-exploitation-of-scientific-results-eocoe...) META Group is now supporting EoCoE. Join the webinar on February 2^nd to know more about the exploitation and dissemination of EU funded projects. ICSB: The Top 10 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Trends for 2021 (http://www.insme.org/icsb-the-top-10-micro-small-and-medium-enterprises-tren...) The International Council for Small Business (Member of INSME) presents the “Top 10 Trends for SMEs and Entrepreneurship for 2021”, written and presented by Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy. Calls and opportunities PDMA’s Outstanding Corporate Innovator Awards call is now open! The U.S. Product Development Management Association (PDMA (https://www.pdma.org/) ) has now opened its 34^th OCI Award, a premier honour for industry innovators. Every year, winners are recognized globally and participants can benefit from evaluation, feedback, and consultation from the OCI Team, so that the innovation can reach the next level of maturity. It is a global award, meaning that companies from all around the world are eligible. You can nominate the Company you run or a Company you admire: the absolute must is that the Organisation has been able to create and capture long-term value through product or service innovation. Qualification, award criteria, and selection process information is available here (http://pdma.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=c52f1bd66cc19d05628bd8bf27af3ad6.278&s=3a1044fdacbf823d7ffe78e8dadfb5b4) . If you would like to deepen your knowledge on new product development best practices and on findings of PDMA’s research, you can find here (http://www.insme.org/insights-to-improve-product-innovation-practice-in-smes...) an interesting article Mr. Hamsa Thota, INSME Board Member and President of Innovation Business Development INC, U.S.A. has shared on the INSMEblog. Interested members can contact PDMA at this email address: pdma@pdma.org The deadline to submit is March 8, 2021 Registration Open for the First GALACTICA Hackathon with 50K€ in Prizes EBAN has just launched an open-innovation challenge aimed to find new early-stage ideas that combine advanced manufacturing with aerospace and/or textile, GALACTICA project. Its objective is to foster the creation of new industrial value chains around textile and aerospace sectors based on advanced manufacturing across EU. The competition will run in February and March 2021. It is open to teams from SMEs, Start-Ups and Students within the European Union. The project has received funding from the EU’s Horizion 2020 research and innovation programme. 4 teams will be awarded a total amount of € 50,000 to develop their ideas and will have the chance to access other GALACTICA support tools. If you are interested, find out more and register here (https://www.eban.org/first-galactica-hackathon-registration/) . Rising Up in Spain 2020: Call for Startups “Rising Up in Spain” is a program created by ICEX (https://www.icex.es/icex/es/index.html) to attract foreign talents, co-founded by the EU Funds for Regional Development. They support foreign startups setting up in Spain and make all phases of the process of entrepreneurial projects development in the country easy. The program is aimed at foreign and Spanish non-resident entrepreneurs who have an innovative project that has already received positive feedback in the market. The company must already be formed, or in the process of being formed, when aid is awarded. If the company has already been established in Spain, it must be less than one year old. If you are interested, apply here (https://www.investinspain.org/en/we-help-you/rising-up-in-spain) . InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants The call targets Innovation in low-carbon technologies and processes, products substituting the carbon intensive ones, environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2, and innovative renewable energy and energy storage technologies. The available budget is for € 1 billion for grants, that will be provided as lump sums. This call aims to support small-scale projects demonstrating highly innovative technologies, process or products that are sufficiently mature and have a significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by offering financial support tailored to market need and risk profiles. The projects are expected to contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy and to achieve the policy objectives as set out in the European Commission. You can find more information here (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opport...) . The deadline for this application is 10th March 2021, 17:00 Brussels’ time. ============================================================ Contents of the month ** European Innovation Council Fund - €178 million to European start-ups and SMEs set to shape the future (http://www.insme.org/european-innovation-council-fund-e178-million-to-europe...) The pilot phase of the European Innovation Council Accelerator has ended. It is the first time the Commission has made equity and quasi equity investments in startup companies, with ownership stakes up to 25%. ** OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2021: Times of Crisis and Opportunity (http://www.insme.org/oecd-science-technology-and-innovation-outlook-2021-tim...) The report reviews key trends in science, technology, and innovation and analyses how STI systems responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and what governments can do to be prepared for future. ** 2020 EU Industrial Research and Development Scoreboard: EU companies and global competition (http://www.insme.org/2020-eu-industrial-research-and-development-scoreboard-...) Companies in the EU27 have increased their investments in R&D for the 10th consecutive year: In 2019, they invested 5.6% more in R&D, compared to 4.7% in 2018. Read the full article to learn more. ** WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2020 – Competitiveness Factors and Future Priorities (http://www.insme.org/wef-global-competitiveness-report-2020-competitiveness-...) The World Economic Forum has published a special edition of the GCR. This edition focuses on competitiveness factors and future priorities given the current pandemic. Upcoming events Given the current situation, events' dates may vary. We invite you to check the dedicated websites. Upcoming events 27 - 29 January, 2021 – Online Event European Commission - ** What future for European Robotics? A Science for Policy Conference (https://what-future-for-european-robotics.ec.europa.eu/index_en) 28 January, 2021 – Online Event EURADA - ** Shaping a globally secure Industrie 4.0 Ecosystem Enabling international interoperable security policies (http://www.eurada.org/upcoming-events/shaping-a-globally-secure-industrie-4-...) 1-5 February, 2021 – Online event OECD - ** OECD International Conference: AI in Work, Innovation, Productivity and Skills (https://oecd-events.org/ai-wips) 2 February, 2021 – Online Event META Group - ** Maximizng the exploitation of scientific results: EoCoE and META Group webinar (https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/592915356219963405) 3 - 4 February, 2021 – Online Event OECD - ** SME Digitalisation and responses to COVID-19 (http://www.oecd.org/going-digital/sme/) 9 February, 2021 – Online Event African European Entrepreneurs - ** Showcasing Sustainable Business Practices in Uganda: A Networking Event with OVO on African European Entrepreneurs (https://www.african-european-entrepreneurs.com/agenda?session=74848) 10 February, 2021 – Online Event ISBE - ** Female entrepreneurship, innovative technologies and the shift in customer requirements in the era of COVID-19 (https://isbe.org.uk/female_entrepreneurship/) 18 February, 2021 – Online Event European Entrepreneurs CEA - PME, Shared Value Africa Initiative - ** African Entrepreneurship Forum (https://evolve.eventoptions.co.za/register/svaiforum/details) 22 - 23 February, 2021 – Online Event The Science Business Annual Network Conference - ** R&I in recovery: What can Horizon Europe deliver? (https://sciencebusiness.eventsair.com/ri-in-recovery/ri-in-recovery/Site/Reg...) 25 February, 2021 – Online Event EPO & LESI - ** High-Growth Technology Business Forum (https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/conferences/high-growth-technology-bu...) 26 April, 2021 – Online Event WIPO – ** World Intellectual Property Day IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market (https://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/) 14 - 16 April, 2021 – Cork, Ireland European Business Angels Network - ** EBAN Congress Cork 2021 (https://www.eban.org/event/eban-cork-2020/) 27 - 28 May 2021 – Online Event ASTP- ** Zooming in on Knowledge Transfer (https://www.astp4kt.eu/events) 20 - 23 June 2021 – Berlin, Germany International Society for Professional Innovation Management - ** 32nd ISPIM Innovation Conference (https://www.ispim-innovation-conference.com/) 13 - 17 September 2021 – Santa Clara, Silicon Valley International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation** - 38th World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (https://www.iasp.ws/activities/events/events-overview---old/38th-iasp-world-...) ** Website (http://www.insme.org) ** Twitter (https://twitter.com/INSME_) ** Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/INSME-The-International-Network-for-Small-and-Mediu...) ** LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/insme---the-international-network-for-small...) 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