In order to establish contacts between all participants a three-days kick-off meeting takes place in Bergen/ Norway. During the first part of the conference the consortium partners are informed on the project objectives and potential, the implementation schedule and organisational requirements. The structure of the website and the internal communication and knowledge management system will be discussed.
The second part of the meeting gives an overview over current trends in RTDT policies and support programmes for research and innovation in SMEs in Europe. Special regard is paid to Policies on Private Sector Development, Promotion of small and medium enterprises, National and Regional Innovation Systems and the role of public and private institutions in the field of RTDT policies. Besides the consortium partners selected external experts contribute to the presentation of the current state-of-the-art regarding specific topics such as “Enabling Business Environment”, “Measuring and Benchmarking of Innovation policies”, “International Technology Transfer and Foreign Direct Investment”, “Access to finance for SME”.
In a third part the project partners are informed on the first draft of a common terminology and will get a common understanding on what innovations are all about and what exactly promotes the technological and innovative capabilities of SMEs. To better understand innovative and technological capabilities and the underlying driving forces related to their promotion, a 4 pillar model of innovative and technological capabilities will be discussed.
Innovative and technological capability rests on the following pillars:
- the capacity of producers and firms for imitation and innovation,
- framework conditions conducive to innovation,
- technology-oriented institutions, and
- an effective system of education and training.
Based on this model a conceptual and methodological approach is presented to the partners. The partners will decide on the final topics of the approach (which includes questions about the evaluation of the programme, already established good practices and if they had already been adapted or shifted) which will then be used to present their programmes in the field of support programmes for research and innovation in SMEs
While holding the meeting a Steering Committee will be founded comprising the project co-ordinator, WPL and the project management. Furthermore the advisory board will officially be established.
