International Conference on stimulating entrepreneurship and support to spin-offs Astrid Severin DG Enterprise, European Commission Milano, 5 th October 2004

Stakeholders for Innovation Supportive public authorities Strong scientific base Active entrepreneurial class Innovation

European innovation policy High on the European political agenda Major tool for growth and competitiveness: –Improving the performance of businesses –Boosting the development of regions –Strengthening the link between research and economy

EU innovation activities No direct support to companies Addressing innovation actors from different professions and sectors –Policy makers (national, regional, local) –Incubators and development agencies –Associations, chambers of commerce –Finance bodies –Research community, etc.

Target audiences and objectives Strengthen strength: building on the experience of the most advanced players Transferring knowledge: creating platforms facilitate exchange of experiences Shaping and developing innovation policy in Europe

Conclusion Excellence can be learned: –Peer review –External expertise and advice –One-to-one transfer is not possible : modular approach –Promising results – a lot of practical material

PAXIS – Transfer of excellence SPRING: –Transfer of concept for creation of Business Angel Forum - Cambridge > Stuttgart; currently to Madrid ESTER: –Set-up of Venture Capital industry in Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia PANEL: –cooperation with Sofia, Bulgaria, creation of association modeled after GründerRegio M after visiting scheme

PAXIS – Transfer of excellence HIGHEST: –Initiation of the Euro-Office initiative –Networking incubators and business angels KREO: –Investment Forum in Emilia-Romagna designed after 4i in Grenoble and Venturefest in Oxfordshire –Technology platform Model Rhone-Alpes transferred biotechnology/genomics to Emilia-Romagna; diagnostics to Oxford –‘Spinner’ incubation model (Emilia-Romagna) integrated into Karlsruhe ‘Engage’ model

PAXIS – Transfer of excellence BIOLINK: –Co-incubation of start-ups in biotechnology incubators, i.e. GVT Oxfordshire & Genopole Paris PROMOTOR+: –Method promoting entrepreneurship in less developed regions due to which 38 entrepreneurs in Poland, Latvia, Bulgaria and Slovenia are in process of setting up their firms

Innovation in clusters and sectors Objective: –To support networking, collaboration and transfer of knowledge among innovation actors –To identify and analyse success factors and barriers to innovation in a sector and raise awareness of key actors Activities: –Entrepreneurial innovation and clusters (established and new clusters) - focussing on collaboration with the most advanced actors –Networking innovation actors by sector focussing financing, patenting, innovation management, etc. Timing – October 2004

Self Assessment Tool (SAT) Objective: –To assist enterprises to innovate –To improve existing innovation management techniques Activities: –Assess existing SATs for innovation management –Develop a prototype European Innovation SAT –Interview 2,500-3,000 European companies –Establish European-wide database on innovation management performance Timing – February 2005

Stuttgart Innovation Conference Joint effort European Commission & Stuttgart/ Karlsruhe Regions 600 participants expected 25 speakers in 6 parallel sessions + plenary session Registration open on

For more information PAXIS – The Pilot Action of Excellence on Innovative Start- ups Gate2Growth European Innovation Portal -