How to Apply
Interested companies may apply online until 31 December 2010 at the Seal website.

Awarded Annually Since 2003
The Seal has been awarded annually since 2003 by the European Multimedia Forum (EMF) and its Partner Associations at an Award Ceremony at CeBIT, the European trade show for the ICT industry. Winners of the Seal of e-Excellence are entitled to:
• Publicly display the “Seal of e-Excellence” logo in their own marketing programmes
• Free membership in the European Multimedia Forum
• Receive preferential rates for all e-Accelerator services
• Other advantages in kind from various Seal Partners and Sponsors

For more information please visit http://www.seal-of-excellence.org/

Even though there are not too many new call for proposals published recently, the September issue of our Project Development Newsletter is worth a look. A lot of exciting events are coming up the next months – like the international conference “Creativity, the Energy of Success” in Košice, Slovakia or Europe’s forum for ICT research and innovation “ICT 2010: Digitally Driven” in Brussels, Belgium.

Download our Project Development Newsletter here and enjoy the read!

The European Cluster Managers’ Club will be established in the framework of Cluster-Excellence.eu. It will be open for individuals only – every Cluster Manager in Europe is free to join.

During the launch-event the idea behind the club will be presented. Several topics will be discussed, among them: practices and tools for cluster management excellence and sustaibable cluster financing.

To take part to the event you have to register for the European Cluster Conference 2010, an unique event that addresses the role of world-class clusters in renewing European industry in light of the Europe 2020 strategy. The conference will gather key policy-makers from the European Commission, European Parliament, Member States, regional authorities and high-level speakers from academia and industry to discuss how better policies can be formulated to make full use of the economic potential of excellent clusters.

The registration to the conference is free of charge.

Promoting creative industry in the Eastern part of Central Europe: this is the aim of the international conference “Shaping the future – Creativity and Innovation as an engine for growth in the cities and region of eastern Slovakia” that will be held in Košice on the 9^th and 10^th September 2010.

The conference wishes to introduce examples of projects and strategies in creative industries being developed throughout Europe, showing their impact on those cities and regions. This in order to demonstrate that there is a clear link between a creative economy and the development of a territory.

One of the main issues concerning the development of creative industry in Košice and, at the same time, the crucial investment made within the project Košice INTERFACE 2013, is the creation of a special space that will help enhance the building of innovative start-ups in this sector.

You can find the whole programme in this brochure. For further information on the conference as well as on Košice 2013, please visit http://www.kosice2013.sk/en

The entrepreneurs, researchers and young talent that are introduced here act as representatives for all of MFG’s customers and partners. Projects and custom-tailored offers are well described as well as all the actions to promote talent and support the transfer of technology – showing the overall aim to strengthen the competitiveness of ICT, media and the creative industries in Baden-Württemberg.

Plus: Figure out the augmented reality application on the title page! You can win a ticket for this year’s DMMK and Create10 international conference: Just discover four animal sounds, which can be heard by turning the title page clockwise in front of your webcam (speakers switched on)!

You can either download the MFG Annual Report (pdf) or view it online on issuu.

Enjoy and good luck!

Picture from www.andreassobing.de

In order to understand how the usage of web 2.0 could effect adult learning, the European project SVEA* run an analysis in five European regions involving 60 private and public training institutions. Through personal interviews and regional round tables, the analysis explored the current use of web 2.0 applications in VET delivery, the potential for its use in the future and the training needed by institutional staff to use web 2.0 tools effectively.

The results show that most of the training institutions are familiar with web 2.0, nonetheless its concrete adoption still encounters many institutional and cultural barriers. One of the biggest is the lack of acceptance as well from the trainers’ and the learners’ side: the low level of digital literacy and the resistance to use new techniques hinder the effective use of these tools for learning purposes.

Currently most of the interviewed training institutions use web 2.0 tools such Podcasts, Twitter and Social Networking Systems mainly for marketing reasons. Only few exploit social media applications within closed learning platforms. This is mainly due to the lack of knowledge and good practices on how to adopt and effectively use social media for learning purpose. Most of these institutions have no policy regarding the use of internet in teaching delivery and they often lack time and money to gain competences and infrastructures.

Even if most of the training institutions in Europe still have difficulties in the adoption of web 2.0, the analysis shows that managers and trainers are fully aware of the importance of social media in learning and are willing to broaden their adoption in the future. Among the benefits often associated with use of web 2.0 are the possibility to make lessons more interactive and an higher personalization in learning able to better respond to learners’ needs.

The report, which contains all the five regional analysis as well as the common trends connected to the use of web 2.0 in adult learning on an European level, can be download for free from the SVEA’s website.

*SVEA is a project co-financied by the European Commission

.

.

It’s august, time to go on the beach or breathe some fresh air up in the mountain. Or, maybe, time to develop a new project for the next European calls of proposal! If  your plan for the summer is the last one, than you will for sure enjoy our August Project Development Newsletter. Here you will find all the latest published calls as well as some tipps on conferences and fundings coming in the next months.

And in case you have a good idea and you are looking for partners or suggestion, than you can contact us at any time. Even on August we don’t mind working on some new projects

Every month you can download the Project Development newsletter for free from this blog

MFG Review of 2009 got awarded Bronze in the category “Summary Annual Report“.

League of American Communications Professionals LLC (LACP) was established in order to create a forum within the PR industry that facilitates discussion of best-in-class practices within the profession while also recognizing those who demonstrate exemplary communications capabilities.

The signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focuses on:
- Development of technology transfer opportunities
- Creation of an IT, Communication and Media Institute
- Creation of an international centre for the creative industries
- Support of start-ups
- Building up of further education for IT experts

The MoU has been signed by MFG Baden-Württemberg – Public Innovation Agency for ICT and Media and Steinbeis Transfer Centre East-West Joint-Ventures on the one hand, and Bucharest Innovation & Creative Industries Alliance, Romanian Association for Electronic and Software Industries and World Trade Institute Bucharest Foundation on the other hand.

At Römerkastell, Stuttgart’s exciting creative centre, the creative scene will be linked to the digital economy.

Advertisers, designers, programmers, communication professionals and marketing experts will be get together with thought leaders in the European digital industry and forge direct contacts with industry representatives.

“By uniting DMMK 2010 with Create10, MFG will make an important contribution towards strengthening the international competitiveness of the region as a creative centre”, explains MFG CEO Klaus Haasis.

For more information read press release (pdf).

Before going on holiday have a look at our June Project Development Newsletter!  Here you can find the last calls published by the European Commission, further funding opportunities as well as a list of conferences taking place in Europe during this month.

You can download our newsletter for free here: Newsletter June 2010

And if you are thinking of developing a new project and you are looking for partners or tipps feel free to contact us.

Media pioneers, creative thought leaders and IT experts from all over Europe are expected to attend Create10 in Stuttgart, Germany.

The conference will be divided into three parts. The CReATE Forum will introduce the five most promising research fields that will play a leading role the European creative industries in the next ten years (CReATE is an EU research project led by MFG). Various interactive workshops will present outstanding trends in the digital creative industries and collaboratively develop new ideas.

Read more in MFG’s press release (pdf).

The European Interest Group on Creativity and Innovation is a pan-European initiative of more than 30 regional and local development agencies, research institutions, companies and support organisations that foster the relationships between creativity, culture, technology and innovation in order to make Europe more competitive and sustainable. Active since 2008 under the coordination of MFG Baden-Württemberg, EICI acts as a platform linking local, regional, national and European initiatives that promote the cause of the creative industries and innovation. The new association will keep on provide advice to European and local policy makers and foster the development of creative industries in Europe.

To discover more about EICI visit the website.

The Agenda outlines seven priority areas for action:

1. Create a digital Single Market
2. Improve ICT standard-setting and interoperability
3. Enhance internet trust and security
4. Increase Europeans’ access to fast and ultra fast internet
5. More investment in research and development
6. Enhance digital literacy skills and inclusion
7. Apply information and communications technologies to address challenges facing society like climate change and the ageing population.

But what this all means? And who will take advantage of the Digital Agenda?

The European Commission strongly believe that the digital world should be at people’s finger tips. But at the moment too many people in Europe find themselves stuck in the internet slow-lane, consumers still cannot take full advantage of competitive prices and it is often easier to buy something online from a business based in the United States than in another EU country. The European Digital Agenda aims to tackle these problems so as to give people access to all the potential advantages of the digital society.

According to this statement, in few years most of Europeans should have access to fast internet, so that they can shop, create, learn, socialise and interact online without problems.

But also older and sick people could take advantage of the Agenda. Just image the advantage that eHealth could mean for everybody: new telemedicine services such as online medical consultation and portable devices that monitor the health condition of people suffering from chronic disease and disabilities have the potential to offer a freedom of movement that patients have never enjoyed. The Digital Agenda aims to provide Europeans by 2015 with secure access to their online medical health records not just at home but also when they are travelling anywhere in the EU.

But the Digital Agenda promise to offer advantages also for SMEs: eGovernment’s improvement would ensure that SMEs can spend less time on administrative procedures and gain new business opportunities. In particular, fully implementing EU legislation on eProcurement, practical eIdentification and eAuthentication for cross-border services would open up numerous new business opportunities across borders.

You can find the full text of the Digital Agenda here

MFG Baden-Württemberg is a partner of NRC-IIT and therefore happy to support you in taking part in New Brunswick Innovation Forum. If you’re interested in presenting your business idea and/or R&D results in front of Canadian investors, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Call for Proposal is open until 25th June 2010.

Aim of the European Project SVEA is to promote the use of web 2.0 in VET and adult training. One of the first step of the project is therefore an accurate analysis on the need of trainers and learners that will then take to the development of a training. That’s why in these days the four partners of the project are running round tables with experts in their region.

On the 5^th of May a workshop with 10 experts from 10 different training institutions (5 private training institutions, 5 public training institutions) took place in Stuttgart at MFG Baden-Württemberg. After a brief presentation of the SVEA project and of the results of the telephonic interview (that you can find here), the participants have been splitted in two groups to discuss what are the barriers, chances and risks in the adoption of web 2.0 in training institutions.

During the second discussion the participants has been asked to develop a scenario, trying to understand how to integrate different Web 2.0 tools within the different course phases (preparation phase, course, follow-up). The participants has to decide:

a) which Web 2.0 applications they would use?

b) for what they would use those applications?

All the results of the four regional round tables will be collected in a final report that will be published online and downloadable for free. The next steps will be then the development of the training material.

Follow the next steps of the project on SVEA website and on our blog. We’ll keep you up-to-date!

UPDATE: The Regional Need Analysis Report for Baden-Württemberg is now available online. You can find it here

Providing a collection of instruments, the FITT Toolbox offers practical help for technology transfer officers. It focuses on five core topics of technology transfer and includes an overview on each topic which is enriched by best-practices, case studies, instruments, external sources and articles:

   – Opportunity Identification
   – IP Management
   – Human Resources Management
   – Value Creation
   – Networking & Clustering

The FITT Toolbox is available at fitt-for-innovation.eu.
Read more in FITT’s press release (pdf).

Another month is passed by and it’s again time to look for new ideas and funds! In May there are still a lot of calls which are claiming for brilliant, innovative projects in Europe. We have choosen the most interesting for you:  if you are an ICT expert or a young entrepreneur there are some opportunities waiting for you!

Beyond calls, funds and awards in our Project Development Newsletter you can find, as usual, a selection of conferences happening around Europe which deal with European Grants, ICT as well as with many other topics.

If  you want to have a quick overview of all these opportunities, download our May newsletter now! It’s free and useful: Newsletter May 2010

And in case you have some questions or suggestions, you can contact us anytime

The bwcon award for best international business idea went to Dr. Dileep Agnihotri for his energy storage solution based on double-layer capacitors with a high energy density, which are less bulky and costly than current versions.

To support the winners in their efforts to bring their products to market, their prize is personal business coaching as part of bwcon’s “Coach & Connect+” programme. The aim of this programme is to provide targeted, industry-specific advice and assistance to new and expanding high-tech companies and founders throughout the various start-up phases – from establishing the company to expansion.

Read more (pdf)

FMX visitors will have the opportunity to learn how these technologies can be integrated into computer games and virtual training worlds, for example at the “MFG Games Track” on May 5 or at the demonstration of the “MFG Visual Experience Lab” on May 6.

Read more in MFG’s press release (pdf)