The CEI Award for Innovative SMEs represents a significant contribution to the promotion of industrial development of CEI Member Countries

ANNOUNCEMENT

In 2004 the CEI launched and implemented the spin-off Project “From Research to Enterprise”. The aim of the Project was to provide support to those scientists and researchers who come forward with the idea of commercialising research results. On the basis of the success obtained (about 60 applications were submitted by 13 CEI Countries), a new initiative, to be considered as a logic follow-on has been envisaged.

The CEI Award for Innovative SMEs represents a significant contribution to the promotion of industrial development of CEI Member Countries, of those still facing the transition phase towards a proper, marked-oriented economy in particular. The CEI attention will focus on SMEs committed to the development of innovative technologies and operating in higher technology and research sectors, with the aim of increasing their innovation capability and reinforcing the presence in the national, regional and European market.

A call for proposals addressed to SMEs of the CEI region aiming at developing  innovative business ideas is announced. Special attention will be given to applicants from non-EU CEI Member States (Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Ukraine).

Four innovative sectors are indicated as a first reference, namely:

o        Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

o        Applied Bio-technologies

o        Nanotechnologies

o        New materials

The winning SMEs shall be granted seed money as a contribution to finance their business ideas and related activities amounting to ? 20.000. A total number of 5 winning innovative SMEs will be selected according to the following criteria:

o        the innovativeness of the SME

o        the innovativeness of the business idea

o        the feasibility of the business idea in terms of practical application

o        the вЂ�bankability’ (chances of finding investors) of the business idea

Deadlines:

В·   “Terms and Condition” and “Application Form” of the CEI Award for Innovative SMEs available on www.ceinet.org/InnovativeSMEs from 1 October 2005.

В·   Application Form submission open from 1 October 2005 until 15 December 2005.

В·   Publication of the winning innovative SMEs on http://www.ceinet.org/ on 30 January 2006.

В·   Awarding Ceremony in Trieste (first semester 2006)

For detailed information please refer to the “Terms and Conditions”  of the call for proposals.

For any questions please contact:

Ms. Elisabetta Dovier, Central European Initiative

tel. +39 040 77 86 738/777; fax +39 040 77 86 766; email: dovier@cei-es.org

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1.     Introductory Remarks

The Central European Initiative (CEI) since 1989 has represented the most important co-operation established among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Founded in 1989, the CEI currently counts 17 member countries; among them, seven belong to the European Union and ten are not yet members of the Union. The CEI mandate, while fully committed to encourage dialogue and co-operation in the region, is addressed to assist in  the political, economic and cultural development, thus favouring the further enlargement of the Union.

The CEI is an intergovernmental organisation, which operates within a political frame established by the annual Meeting of the Heads of Government (Summit) and of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The Committee of National Co-ordinators (CNC) is responsible for the definition and implementation of its activities. At Expert level 17 thematic Working Groups have been established, covering the main programmatic lines of the organisation. Their proposals are submitted to the CNC, for both programmatic and financial approval. Among the various WGs, a Science and Technology Working Group (WG on S&T) and a Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Working Group (WG on SMEs) deserve mentioning.

According to the decisions adopted within the Meeting of the WG on S&T, held in Ljublijana on 31 May 2004, the CEI launched the spin-off Project “From Research to Enterprise”. The aim of the Project, in coherence with similar experiences positively carried out in the USA and Western Europe, was to provide support to those scientists and researchers who come forward with the idea of commercialising research results. On the basis of the clear success obtained (about 60 applications were submitted by 13 CEI Countries), a new initiative has been envisaged, to be considered as a logic follow-on of the previous one. The CEI will focus its attention on the SMEs which are committed to the development of innovative technologies in order to offer the market both better processes and products.

This new CEI initiative can be considered as a clear inter-disciplinary activity, where the scientific and technological aspects are identified as important elements helping the SME system competition in the global market. More specifically, the Project “Innovative SMEs” represents a significant CEI contribution to the promotion of industrial development of CEI Member Countries, of those still facing the transition phase towards a proper, marked-oriented economy in particular. As a general rule SMEs, while showing a high degree of operative flexibility and, as a consequence, a unique capability of adapting themselves to market requirements, cannot devote the necessary resources to innovation and technological-transfer-related activities. Therefore, there is a concrete risk of a loss of competitiveness for the SME system as a whole.

Bearing this in mind, the CEI intends to offer a chance to SMEs operating in higher technology and research sectors, with the aim of increasing their innovation capability and reinforcing their presence in national, regional and European markets. However, specific attention will be paid to those high-tech market niches where SMEs could more properly count on their industrial trait and expertise.

2.   Subject of the Call and general Aim

The CEI Award for Innovative SMEs focuses on a few high-tech sectors where major efforts of R&D activities are actually recognised. Those sectors appear to be of clear interest to the innovative SME system as well, according to the market opportunities identified at both national/regional and European/global market level. The basic aim is to help the SME competitiveness in general terms. However, a clear consequence of this initiative, namely an increased possibility of the SMEs to join selected co-operative Programmes in advanced-technology-related fields promoted by both international Organisations and the European Union itself deserves mentioning. In addition, counting on the gained expertise levels, industrial agreements/joint Projects – either on a bilateral or multilateral basis - could  more favourably be established among innovative SMEs at national and international levels.

In order to properly direct applications, four innovative sectors are indicated as a first reference, namely:

o        Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

o        Applied Bio-technologies

o        Nanotechnologies

o        New materials

The above-mentioned sectors should be considered as those to which a priority figure will be recognised by the evaluation process. This does not mean, however,  that other sectors (e.g. those related to a rational use of energy and environmental protection) could not be taken into consideration, according to a good-quality proposal.

3. The CEI Grant

The winning SMEs shall be granted seed money as a contribution to finance their business ideas and related activities amounting to ? 20,000. A total number of five winning SMEs will be selected. However, this is to be considered as a preliminary figure, since the final result will depend on both the quality of the proposals and the possibility to identify additional contributions/sponsorships offered by selected CEI Partners.

Should an innovative business idea envisage consulting services, consultants are to belong to one or more CEI Member States. They may either be directly chosen by the winning companies themselves or – upon request – be recommended by the CEI Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES) in co-operation with the Selection Committee. Depending on individual circumstances and according to the contract between the winning company and the consultant(s), the CEI-ES shall transfer a part of the CEI Grant either to the winning company or the relevant consultant(s) directly.

The CEI Grant will be awarded in three instalments:

1.      the first part, amounting to 40% of the total sum, will be disbursed on the basis of a detailed outline of the winning business idea, to be submitted to the CEI Secretariat 3 months after the publications of the list of winning SMEs;

2.      the second part, amounting to 40% of the total sum, will be disbursed on the basis of a detailed report on the actual implementation of the winning business idea, to be submitted to the CEI Secretariat 6 months after the publications of the list of the winning SMEs;

3.      the third part, amounting to 20% of the total sum, will be disbursed on the basis of a final report after the completion of the implementation of the winning business idea, to be submitted to the CEI Secretariat 12 months after the publications of the list of the winning SMEs.

4.     Beneficiaries

Applicant companies founded in CEI Member States after December 2002 are not eligible for participation.

Preference will be given to applicants from non-EU CEI Member States (Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Ukraine). Submissions from Austria and Italy are not encouraged.

5.     Terms of Submission

A concrete innovative business idea should be the basis for a possibly successful proposal. Aiming to assure a proper evaluation process, the Application form, completed in all its parts, should be submitted to the CEI-ES by e-mail (dovier@cei-es.org) by 15 December 2005, to be considered by the Applicant companies as the deadline for sending applications.

Filling all the Application Form fields is a pre-requisite for valid participation in the Call for proposals. The following fields are particularly relevant:

-        Financing Requirements: submission of an estimate of the business idea with a well-structured cost break-down (according to Application Form – Section 2, Items 2.5.1-2-3).

-         Proposed use of the CEI Grant: indication of the items the grant is supposed to be focused on (according to Application Form – Section 2, Items 2.6).

6.     Selection Process

Project proposals submitted to the CEI Executive Secretariat by the indicated date will be examined by a Selection Committee, according to the following selection criteria and related ranking scale:

o        the innovativeness of the SME (ranked up to 10)

o        the innovativeness of the business idea (ranked up to 20)

o        the feasibility of the business idea in terms of practical application (ranked up to 15)

o        the вЂ�bankability’ (chances of finding investors) of the business idea (ranked up to 5)

Applicants should consider that the CEI gives specific importance to the selection Process itself. A qualified and responsible participation in the Project will represent for the CEI a unique moment of knowledge of the status of technological innovation within the CEI Region, thus a kind of relevant starting point for future initiatives. In this regard, the importance of both the Company self-evaluation and best-practice description deserves to be underlined as a major contribution of the Applicants to the evaluation process as a whole.

Project proposals will be evaluated by the Selection Committee and properly ranked in view of the final decisions. Once the winning projects have been selected, the list of award-winning projects will be published on the CEI website (www.ceinet.org) tentatively by 30 January 2006.

The Committee shall inform in writing the winning companies about the results of the selection. The legal representatives of the winners will eventually have to sign (immediately after the selection) an agreement confirming their willingness to abide by the Award Terms and conditions.

7.     Selection Committee

The selection Committee will be composed of representatives/experts from:

o        The Central European Initiative

o        Central European Chamber of Commerce Initiative (CECCI)

o        Sviluppo Italia Friuli Venezia Giulia

o        AREA Science Park

o        International Network for SMEs (INSME)

APPLICATION FORM

To be completed and submitted to the

Executive Secretariat of the Central European Initiative (dovier@cei-es.org)

by 15 December 2005

SECTION 1 – INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPLICANT

Company Profile

SECTION 2 – INFORMATION ON THE BUSINESS IDEA

Project Description

SECTION 3 – SELF-EVALUATION

Опубликовано на сайте: 2005-11-22