View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/insme.org/insme_newsletter_issue194_2021?e=2d8317fc53) ** ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Issue n. 194 ------------------------------------------------------------ News from INSME Discover our new initiative: The Research and Learning Forum (https://www.insme.org/discover-our-new-initiative-the-research-and-learning-...) INSME is proud to present its new Research and Learning Forum: A unique SME related R&D capacity platform for Universities and Research Centres, gathering entrepreneurial institutions worldwide. The R&L Forum will contribute to the development of relevant and effective SMEs policies, the exchange of key findings, and the implementation of state-of-the-art methodologies. Italian INSME members discuss the best support policies for the post-Covid era (https://www.insme.org/italian-insme-members-discuss-the-best-policies-to-ide...) Italian INSME members, together with representatives from other prominent organisations, discussed “How to save ‘good’ SMEs from the crisis?” in a discussion based on the report published by the Group of Thirty “Reviving and Restructuring the Corporate Sector Post-Covid”. Read more! INSME (https://www.insme.org/insme-welcomes-a-new-member-on-board-enterprise-greece...) welcomes a new member on board: En (https://www.insme.org/insme-welcomes-a-new-member-on-board-enterprise-greece...) terprise Greece (https://www.insme.org/insme-welcomes-a-new-member-on-board-enterprise-greece...) INSME is pleased to welcome a new member to enlarge the Network outreach: Enterprise Greece. The agency's mission is to promote and support Greece’s investment opportunities and to engage the global business community with high end export products—goods and services made in Greece. The Next Society 2021 Action Plan (https://www.insme.org/the-next-society-2021-action-plan/) During the Next Society’s Annual Meeting, INSME presented to the audience its Policy Labs: dialogues to analyse best practices and present replicable regional policies which improve the innovation ecosystems. Read more! INSME Secretary General on Networks for Innovation (https://www.insme.org/insme-secretary-general-about-networks-for-innovation/) INSME Secretary General Giovanni Zazzerini has been invited by H&D Partners to take part in the first online training course for managers of Innovation Support Organisations. Zazzerini offered a detailed analysis of the innovation process and a breakdown of the different types of networks and their characteristics. Updates and contributions from INSME Members The Bulgarian Development Bank has approved loans worth over BGN 268 million under two anti-crisis programs (https://www.insme.org/the-bulgarian-development-bank-has-approved-loans-wort...) The funds from the interest-free loan programme have supported 26,221 individuals and provided funding for more than 1,200 companies, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total funding available. New European Investment Fund’s initiative for Greek Companies: a €500 million fund (https://www.insme.org/new-european-investment-funds-initiative-for-greek-com...) The European Investment Fund (EIF) has launched a new €500 million initiative across Greece, in a plan to improve access to finance and accelerate investment, to be managed by five leading local banks. ============================================================ EU Project Spotlight ** The EIC Accelerator: SMEs as key players of the innovation processes (https://www.insme.org/the-eic-accelerator-smes-as-key-players-of-the-innovat...) Under Horizon Europe a pivotal role on the road to the market has been dedicated to SMEs as innovation players so as to make research results used and to generate impact. The flagship programme for SMEs will be the EIC (European Innovation Council) Accelerator. Contents of the month ** IPRs and SME performance in the EU: higher revenues and wages for enterprises owing IPRs (https://www.insme.org/iprs-and-sme-performance-in-the-eu-higher-revenues-and...) A new Intellectual Property contribution Report has been issued in the early months of 2021 and results from a joint effort by the EPO and the EUIPO. Read more! ** DavosAgenda Helping small businesses build financial resilience (https://www.insme.org/davosagenda-helping-small-businesses-build-financial-r...) Enterprises of the least developed countriesare the “left behind” in the outbreak crises due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign aid and financial support could soon be cut due to national and global lockdowns coupled with the cutting aid budgets. ** OECD Report: The Digital Transformation of SMEs (https://www.insme.org/oecd-report-the-digital-transformation-of-smes/) Digitalisation is one of the big trends of the last decades, and not all firms are adopting innovations at the same pace. The new report published by the OECD highlights the differences in the digitalization phase according to firm’s dimension, geographical area and industry. Read more! 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 Innovation Fund for Small Scale Projects Open until 10 March 2021 at 17:00 CET, Brussels. The first call will fund innovative clean energy and clean industry projects to contribute to the green recovery of Europe’s economy and maintain the momentum in its transition to climate neutrality. Key elements of the first call for proposals for small-scale projects: Size: EUR 100 million + project development assistance (PDA) Publication: 1 December 2020 Open to small-scale projects from all eligible sectors: energy-intensive industries, including CCUS, renewable energy, energy storage, substitute products and cross-cutting projects Beneficiaries: single applicants (companies) or consortia Form of support: grant, maximum size per project of up to 60% of the capital costs. Capital costs: between EUR 2.5 and 7.5 million Click ** here (https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/innovation-fund) to know more. EUIPO SME Fund: 50% off trademarks and designs, 75% off the cost of IP Scan in 2021 for SMEs, apply from March 1^st to 31th The Ideas Powered for Business SME fund offers financial support in the form of reimbursements for new trademark and design applications’ fees and for IP pre-diagnostic services (IP Scan), up to a maximum amount of EUR 1 500 per business. The second call is open from 1 to 31 March 2021. The scheme is run through the Ideas Powered for Business programme at the EUIPO and is part of the European Commission’s IP Action Plan. The requirements, timing, and other information relevant to the scheme can be consulted ** here (https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/online-services/ideas-powered-for-busi...) . The Next Society Soft landing service Soft Landing is a customized service to boost MENA region start-ups supervised by The Next Society and their partner EBN. The next society annual programme for entrepreneurs aims to support start-ups and favour their access into to the International and European market. This programme offers a wide spectrum of services. In a three-day full-immersion with European experts – incubators, accelerators, entrepreneurship centres – the participants will be able to gather expertise and knowledge on marketing strategies and investments as well as engage with potential partners. The eligibility criteria comprehend being an innovative early-stage start-up with impact-driven solution established in one of the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia. The deadline for this programme is 31 August 2021. Click ** here (https://www.thenextsociety.co/soft-landing) to know more, ** here for the registration page (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JPC7zC-MzkOG7L37gU1znmXIcUjQLvlEkLfed2vy34VUNlBRVFMxQUc3MTExSURSNzE5UDZDSkE1MCQlQCN0PWcu&wdLOR=c936FB726-9174-446F-BD47-56B58A1420A6) . Applications open to join the Qatar Fintech Hub programs for start-ups Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH) is a global FinTech hub, created with the purpose to support FinTechs succeed in Qatar and globally. Qatar FinTech Hub is chaired by Qatar Development Bank under the aegis of Qatar Central Bank and supported by local and global financial institutions, technology partners and FinTech hubs. Accessing to the hub is possible also if you are not a Qatar-based organisation, the Hub can take an equity share from 1% to 10% and funds are up to $ 100K per founder. Discover more ** here (https://www.f6s.com/qatarfintechhub) . Upcoming events Given the current situation, events' dates may vary. We invite you to check the dedicated websites. Upcoming events 4 March 2021 – Online Event Forum Europe - ** 2nd Digital Services Act Conference (https://dsaconference.com/) 4 March 2021 – Online Event Eurochambers - ** Women Eentrepreneurship and the Pandemic: Challanges and Solutions 1 Year On (https://www.eurochambres.eu/event/women-entrepreneurship-and-the-pandemic-ch...) 9 March 2021 – Online Event WIPO - ** Why and How to use the new Lisbon System (Geneva Act) to Protect your GI abroad? (http:// https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4039381831398552336) 11 March – Online Event Centre for International Governance Innovation - ** 4th Annual IP Data & Research Conference (https://www.cigionline.org/events/4th-annual-ip-data-research-conference-4e-...) 12 March 2021 – Online Event European Association of Research and Technology Organisations - ** EARTO Annual (https://www.earto-annual-conference.eu/) ** Conference 2021 (https://www.earto-annual-conference.eu/) 18 March 2021 – Online Event ANIMA Webinar - ** Relocation of value chains: what opportunities for Mediterranean countries? (https://anima.coop/en/anima-webinar-relocation-of-value-chains-what-opportun...) 25 March 2021 – Online Event EURADA - ** Brokerage Event for Innovation Agencies (https://www.flexmail.eu/dyn/tpl_attributes/user_documents/user_1242_document...) 21 April 2021 - Global Awareness Day UN - ** World Creativity and Innovation Day (https://www.un.org/en/observances/creativity-and-innovation-day) 26th April - 5th May 2021 – Online Event World Intellectual Property Forum - ** Intellectual Property 2021: New Risks, New Challenges & Emerging Solutions (https://www.worldipforum.com/index.php) 16-18 June 2021 – São Paulo, Brazil Triple Helix - ** The XIX International Triple Helix Conference 2021 (https://thc.scibizconference.com/) 15-17 September, 2021 – Kazan, Republic of Tararstan, Russia TCI Network - ** 24th TCI Global Conference (https://www.tci-network.org/events/kazan-to-host-the-24th-tci-global-confere...) ** 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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