May 26, 2010
Create10, the European Future Conference for Digital Trends in the Creative Industries, will be staged for the first time on November 10 and 11, 2010.
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).
May 20, 2010
On 17th May 2010 the European Interest Group on Creativity and Innovation (EICI) gathered at MFG Baden-Württemberg Head Office in Stuttgart to formalize the initiative on Creative Industries and Innovation. Founding members from across Europe signed EICI’s statute to constitute the initiative in an association.
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.
On the 19th of May the European Commission has unveiled the Digital Agenda for Europe, the first of seven flagship initiatives under the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The Agenda outlines seven priority areas for action:
- Create a digital Single Market
- Improve ICT standard-setting and interoperability
- Enhance internet trust and security
- Increase Europeans’ access to fast and ultra fast internet
- More investment in research and development
- Enhance digital literacy skills and inclusion
- 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
In the meantime a lot of people are already complaining about the lack of open standard in the text of the Digital Agenda. Just have a look at what people are saying about it in Twitter (#DigitalAgenda). Do you agree with them? Let us now!
Source: European Commission
May 12, 2010
Following the example set by Heidelberg Innovation Forum, the National Research Council Canada (NRC-IIT) organises the matchmaking event for the third time. This year they are working together with New Brunswick Information Technology Council (NBITC) and the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN).
The overarching theme of New Brunswick Innovation Forum 2010, taking place on 5th and 6th October 2010 in Saint John/Canada, is the Digital Economy. A selection committee will review the submissions and choose eight panelists in each of the following streams:
• Looking for technology transfer opportunities
• Offering collaboration opportunities
• Looking for funding
• International opportunities – this category is reserved for International researchers and companies that are offering business opportunities to Canadian companies.
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.
May 6, 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 5th 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
May 5, 2010
The European project FITT (Fostering Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer) has developed a unique package of tools and services in order to improve technology transfer between research and economy and to support the commercialisation of Europe’s ICT research results. In the FITT Toolbox seven European transfer experts have codified their practices and condensed their experience.
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).
May 3, 2010
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
Christine Heinrich • 
3:46 pm • 
