MFG European Reporter -

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!

Motivating top talent, initiating cooperation and promoting successful entrepreneurship: MFG’s bilingual Annual Report 09/10 once again shows the well-rounded work of the Public Innovation Agency for ICT and Media.

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!

This year’s German Multimedia Congress DMMK (Deutscher Multimedia Kongress) will share the stage with Create10 on November 10 and 11, 2010.

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).

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).

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.

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)

As you probably realised we didn’t post that much on our blog recently. We’ve been quite busy writing project proposals for Lifelong Learning Calls 2010.
We met the deadline, but weren’t doing much else. We’d like to apologise for that. But now, here is our proposal news:

We submitted SESAM. The project develops a Serious Game supporting students and young entrepreneurs to learn how to organise and manage an event within the creative industries. Also SMeLE has been submitted, focussing on the Usage of Social Media Tools in Learning Environments of the Knowledge Intensive Sector.

Plus, we join the projects
- BRAIN (Blu Ray Apprentissage Industriel Numerique) – as you can imagine this one is lead by our French partner afpa.
- EU-ISN (European Innovation Skills Network) – this network proposal is led by our Belgium partner MENON.
- VETWORK (Bottom-up Consensus Building and Stakeholders Networking for Innovation in VET), led by Belgium partner European Association of Institutions in Higher Education and
- Web2.SME (Inter-Organisational Social Network for Innovation and Internationalisation of SMEs), led by our Spanish partner Camara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Navegación.

Keep your fingers crossed for one or another successful proposal…
And if you have any good ideas for other calls or you’re generally looking for a new partner, please feel free to contact us any time! More information on current calls can be found in our Project Development Newsletter (pdf).

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…

Applications for the European Seal of e-Excellence 2010 are now open to award ICT and digital media companies worldwide. The European Seal of e-Excellence is known for promoting ICT digital companies with an excellent track record in the marketing of innovation, i.e.:
- innovative products and services
- excellent marketing practices to promote them.

How to apply
The period to apply for the European Seal of e-Excellence is officially open till 31st of December 2009. Interested companies may now apply online through the Seal of e-Excellence website.

A jury composed of representatives of the Partner Associations selects the winners on the basis of an open application process. The Seal Award Ceremony will take place at CeBIT, the European trade show for the ICT industry on 2nd of March 2010.

What to win
By focusing on the marketing aspects of digital products and services, the European Seal of e-Excellence helps winners promote themselves in the global market place. Winners 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.

The European Seal of e-Excelence has been awarded annually since 2003. It is organised by the partners of the European Multimedia Forum (EMF) and Digital Tender and supported by a network of digital media associations from Europe.

Today at 2 p.m. in the fascinating Turin the International Conference “CReATE: CONNECTING ICT RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ENTERPRISES” will start. For two days (4th-5th November) the conference will be the meeting point for experts, coming from several countries and different background, to discuss the state of the art of ICT innovation in creative industries and cluster development.

Experts, entrepreneurs, public decision makers, academics will share their experience during thematic workshops addressed to discuss the CReATE research priorities. A round table about IT research policy for creative industry will provide a multiple approach on public actions to innovate and make competitive the creative sector and will give inputs to the upcoming CReATE Joint Research Agenda.

Many ispiring speakers are attended, here the full program. If you are not in Turin, you can follow the conference for free in streaming on WIPIE TV.