MFG European Reporter -

The INCA (Innovative and Creative Applications) Award is a European competition for developers, encouraging them to build applications that are cool and useful to society.

The scope is unlimited: widgets, web services, APIs mashups, mobile or stand-alone apps.The contest is open to anyone and there’s 25 000 euro of total prize money and a place in the spotlight for the best submissions.

INCA 10 – Innovative and Creative Applications from IBBT on Vimeo.

Get ready!
Get your team ready, but don’t start developing yet, because the INCA10 edition will have a whole set of rules. Full guidelines to the INCA competition will be published on www.inca-award.eu on October 1^st, 2010 so keep watching INCA website or submit your e-mail address for early bird info!

After the submission phase, an external European jury will select the top 10 projects. The winner will receive the INCA Award at the iMinds conference (December16th, 2010 in Ghent , Belgium – www.iminds.be)  in the framework of the Future Internet Conference Week (www.fi-week.eu)

INCA initiators:

INCA10 is a joint initiative of IBBT, Réseau LIEU (Belgium), MFG Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Digiteo (France), i2BC (Spain) and Uusi Tehdas/New Factory (Finland) and is sponsored by Vacature.

About INCA09

The first edition of the INCA Award was held in Spring 2009 in Belgium. We received more than 40 applications.  The winner of the INCA Award 2009 was Twoddler, a Fisher-Price activity board turned into a wireless hardware device enabling toddlers to tweet messages and parents to communicate with their children via internet. Twoddler received a lot of media coverage the internet (Wired, Mashable, Engagdet, …) and was featured on Fox news in the US.

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.

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.

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).

Attended by some 100 researchers, businesses and investors, the 9th Heidelberg Innovation Forum concluded with an awards ceremony for the most compelling business ideas. Winner of the best business idea award from the Baden-Württemberg: Connected –bwcon – initiative was H2Hybrid, which was submitted by Dominik Lembke and his team from the Bavarian Elite Academy.

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)

MFG Baden-Württemberg will present the “MFG Visual Experience Lab” at FMX 2010, the internationally renowned platform for computer animation, visual effects, games and digital media.  MFG uses this new laboratory to test and research current visualisation trends and technologies together with universities, businesses and talented newcomers from South-West Germany, providing them with an open experimental forum in which to study current trends and projects and test new applications jointly with MFG.

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)

COO of Beyond A Strategy Mona Pearl gave the keynote at Heidelberg Innovation Forum 2010 live from Chicago. Actually she were supposed to travel to Heidelberg, but because of Iceland’s volcano caused the huge cloud of ash her flight was not possible. We streamed her speech live from Chicago. Thanks again, Mona, for getting-up that early to give your inspiring keynote!

In advance we had the chance to interview Mona Pearl on the phone. In this interview she gave some background info on her biography, her view on success and the three steps which are important to become a successful entrepreneur.

Read the full interview with Mona Pearl (pdf)

The KIS Mobile Convention on 18 May 2010 (13:00-18:00) deals with this question. Focussing on Knowledge Intensive Services and Applications for Mobile Devices regional stakeholder will be brought together in Stuttgart.

The event is organised by Ministry of Economics of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and MFG Baden-Württemberg – Innovation Agency for ICT and Media. Partners are FZI – Forschungszentrum Informatik and Forum SatNav MIT BW e.V.

Become member of the Linkedin-group “KIS Mobile Convention Stuttgart” and meet participants and presenting companies already before the event.

More information and registration…

Heidelberg Innovation Forum takes place on 22nd of April 2010. In two parallel panels 26 business ideas will be presented. Topics range from Green IT and ICT innovations, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energies and Sustainable Mobility.

Within 8 minutes each panellist will present his/her idea to investors and decision makers. In the breaks it is time to “Meet the Panellists” and engage in transfer business. Top industry representatives and researchers are expected to attend.

Register now and receive a 20% discount for two or more registrations by the same company or institution!

Heidelberg Innovation Forum is organised by MFG Baden-Württemberg mbH in collaboration with the European Media Laboratory, established by SAP co-founder Dr. h.c. Klaus Tschira.

The Call for Proposals for the ninth Heidelberg Innovation Forum is open right now. Until 8th of February 2010 you’re invited to submit your business ideas focussing on Cleantech and Green IT – to participate in the convention for funding of technology-based start-ups and financing of research projects.

The forum will cover a broad sprectrum in the field of cleantech industries. Topics may range from Green IT and ICT innovations, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, Renewable Energies and White Biotech over Sustainable Mobility to Product Recycling. But other ideas from your subject area are also possible.

At the forum each panellist has 8 minutes to present his idea to investors and decision makers. Then in the breaks it is time to "Meet the Panellists" and engage in transfer business. Top industry representatives and researchers are expected to attend.

The Heidelberg Innovation Forum, taking place on 22nd of April 2010, is organised by MFG Baden-Württemberg mbH in collaboration with the European Media Laboratory, established by SAP co-founder Dr. h.c. Klaus Tschira.

Find out more…