7th Annual Seminar
Board and General Meeting
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7th Annual Taftie Seminar Board and General Meeting
STIMULATING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN SMEs
ABOUT THE SEMINAR

In to-day's world company competitiveness is critically dependent on the capability of its management to respond to rapid changes in technology and systems, customisation of products, shorter product life cycles and the increasing use of additional technology within products and systems. This means that companies must be prepared to continuously innovate both their products and systems and to ensure that innovation is an integraI part ofthe business strategy.
SEMINAR OBJECTIVES

This Seminar has been designed to enable TAFTIE members to critically assess and exchange experiences on the range of initiatives currently available to assist SMEs in the design and implementation of technological innovation..

PROGRAMME
DAY ONE - 2nd DECEMBER 1998
1.30 p.m. Registration
SESSION l STRATEGIES FOR INNOVATION

Chairperson Brendan Finucane
Director, Enterprise Ireland
2.00 p.m. Welcome by Chairperson
2.05 p.m KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Innovation in Enterprises
Sean McCarthy, Hyperion Ltd., Cork

The European Community 5th Framework Programme
Christos Angelopoulos, DGXII, European Commission, Brussels

Innovation and SMEs - European Commission's Horizontal Programme
Jose Tiscar, DGXIII D, European Cornmission, Luxembourg
3.30 p.m. Questions and Answers
4.00 p.m. COFFEE/TEA
SESSION 2 DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL LINKS FOR SMEs

Chairperson: Christine Claus, IWT, Brussels
Discussants: Staffan Hakansson, The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK); Laszlo Dvorszki, 0MFB, Hungary
4.30 p.m. Internationalisation of SMEs in France
Pierre Michaud, ANVAR, France
  • Establishing international partrnerships for SMEs in France
  • Linking French and US companies through structured visits
  • Links via EUREKA
4.50 p.m. Linking Irish SMEs with Overseas Companies
Michael Maguire, Enterprise Ireland
  • The role of the Enterprise Ireland's Technology Transfer and Partnership Programme in establishing international links for Irish companies.
  • Company selection criteria, structured visits and follow-up.
5.10 p.m. Discussants Comments and Panel Discussion
6.00 p.m. Close of Day One
8.00 p.m. Cocktail Reception and Dinner hosted by Enterprise Ireland at the Portmarnock Hotel
DAY TWO - 3rd DECEMBER 1998
SESSION 3 INNOVATION CAPABILITY

Chairperson: Owen McBreen, Enterprise Ireland
9.00a.m KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Developing Innovation Capability
John Bessant, University of Brighton, UK
  • The key components of an innovative capacity within an organisation and how it can be developed and ehanced.
  • The importance of innovation in the company business strategy

SME Innovation Policy in Norway
Erik Skaug, Research Council of Norway (RCN), Norway
  • Recent initiatives
  • Regional innovation centres
9.50a.m. Questions and Answers
10.15a.m. COFFEE/TEA
SESSION 4 INITIATIVES THAT ASSIST SMEs TO ABSORB TECHNOLOGY

Chairperson: Jose R. Pellon, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial (CDTI),spain
DISCUSSANTS: Thomas Heimer, VDI,VDE-Technologiezentrum Informationstechnik Gmbh, Gerrnany; Peter Heringa, Senter for Technology, Energy and Environment (SENTER), Netherlands
10.40 a.m. Technology Clinics Initiative
Jari Romanainen
Technology Development Centre TEKES, Finland
  • Clustering companies to improve efficiency
  • How to work with groups of companies
  • Evaluation results
11.05 a.m. Establishing the Needs of SMEs, the ENEA Approach
Luigi Lesca, Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, I'Energia e I'Ambiente (ENEA), Italy
  • Activities
  • Linking demands to suppliers to technology
  • Case studies
11. 30 a.m. Facilitating Groups of Companies to Implement R&D Development Projects
Declan Lyons, Enterprise lreland and Paul Stack, Ventilux Limited
  • Planning, design, management and implementation
  • Success factors
12.00 p.m. Discussants Comments & Panel Discussion
12.45 p.m. Lunch
SESSION 5 CREATING ARARENESS OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

Chairperson: Torleif Hauge,
Research Council of Norway (RCN), Norway
Discussants: Serge Gregory, ANVAR, France
Breda McMillan, Scottish Enterprise, Scotland
2.15 p.m. The Research and Development Management Initiative
Jim Cuddy, Enterprise Ireland
  • Improving effectiveness of R & D spend
  • Planning, management and exploitation of R & D activity
2.40 p.m. Collaborative Research Projects, Evaluation of their Results
Goran Reitberger, Reginova Goan Reitberger, AB
  • Creation of clusters, consortia, networks
  • Consortia evaluation
  • Review results
3.05 p.m. Initiatives to assist Austrian Companies Innovate
Gerhard Krainz, Economic Promotion Institute of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WIFI-österreich)
3.30 p.m. Discussants Comments and Panel Discussion
3.55 p.m. COFFEE/TEA
SESSION 6 BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR SMEs

Chairperson: Staffan Hakansson, The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK)
Discussants: Herbert Wotke, Austrian Industrial Research Promotion Fund (FFF); Ugur Yuce, Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV)
4.20 p.m. Technology Strategy for SMEs
Jukka Makitalo, Technology Development Centre TEKES, Finland
  • Integrating technology into the business strategy
4.40 p.m. Strategies for Business Development
Jean Claude Poree, ANVAR, France
  • Introduction to the Stock Market
  • Venture Capital and Investment Fora
5.00 p.m. Discussants Comments and Panel Discussion
SESSION 7 CLOSING SESSION
Chairperson: Brendan Finucane, Enterprise Ireland
5.20-6.00 p.m. Report on Seminar and Open Forum with Chairpersons, Discussants and Guests.
8.00 p.m COCKTAILS and BANQUET - HOSTED BY ENTERPRISE IRELAND at the PORTMARNOCK HOTEL
DAY THREE - 4th DECEMBER 1998
9.00 a.m. TAFTIE Board Meeting
11.45 a.m. TAFTIE General Meeting