 |
|
Issue 02| |
January
2008 | |
Greetings
The second issue of this
newsletter informs you on the progress that the
COMPERA project has made towards further
implementation of its activities. These
activities range from offering support to
managers of Competence
Research Centres (CRCs) in the management of
their centres to activities focused on
improvement of the support measures of the
funding agencies/ministries. In this context
COMPERA aims also to stimulate the international
cooperation both on the level of funding
agencies/ministries as well as the CRCs that are
funded by these agencies/ministries. In
addition, this newsletter brings you information
on the pilot call of the INNET project, which
focuses on the internationalisation of clusters.
It also presents you the results of several
studies related to CRCs. In Germany, two studies
were published on the internationalisation of
clusters and networks. Ireland and Northern
Ireland performed a mapping study of
RTD-centres. This study resulted in several
recommendations towards the cross-border
cooperation on the island, which are also very
applicable for cross-border cooperation in the
rest of the world. A new report of VINNOVA will
learn you more about the impact measurements and
analysis methods in Sweden. We hope that the
information in this newsletter is of interest to
you. We are looking forward to meet you through
our e-tools or in person at one of our events.
Please contact
us if you have any comments or questions or
if you would like to have your news listed in
our next issue or website. And of course we wish
you a very innovative and successful
2008! | |
|
|
01 Further implementation
of joint activities for CRCs
The joint activities
selected this summer by the Board of COMPERA
have now entered a new phase. The activities
that had already started before summer, like the
developed website www.competence-research-centres.eu
and the workshops for CRCs, have been further
tested and professionalised. Due to our first
newsletter, we received many new requests from
centres to be listed on this CRC-website.
Consequently, this site has been updated with
other CRCs in Europe and further improved. A new
workshop for CRC-managers is
planned for 5 March 2008, to discuss the topic
of continuity of CRC-activities and the related
long-term strategies. The first version of the
toolbox for CRCs, an online
guide on best practices concerning the setup and
running of CRCs, is expected to be published
early next year. This toolbox will provide the
CRCs with information related to legal aspects
(including contractual matters, IPR, …),
governance & research management and
financial models & public private
partnerships. More specific information on the
status of these and the other joint activities
going on in COMPERA are now available in the
published progress report. | |
|
|
02 Workshop for centre
managers : long term strategies for durability
of CRCs
Are you the manager
of a Competence Research Centre? If yes, block
5 March 2008 in your agenda. On
this day, COMPERA organises a workshop in
Brussels which is dedicated to the issue of
continuity and long-term strategies for
Competence Research Centres (CRCs). Most CRCs in
Europe receive their funding by programmes of
limited duration. What happens after this
initial funding period? How do CRCs make sure
that their achievements are not lost? How to
ensure that the results are taken up and further
used by companies, research institutes, etc? Is
long-term continuation desired? Which strategies
are possible for long-term continuation? What
are the differences in Europe towards the
long-term strategies of CRCs? What is the role
of developed research agenda's, impact
measurements? These questions will be discussed
during the workshop.
| |
|
|
03 COMPERA website
further raises awareness for the competitiveness
of European CRCs
Sometimes it is
numbers that illustrate the attractiveness of an
internet tool: in October 2007 alone, the web
portrait of the Spanish CRC IBV has been viewed
325 times, of the Belgian VITO 286 times and of
the Dutch DSTI 216 times. These figures
illustrate: visitors of the COMPERA website
search for qualified information on selected
CRCs and they find the information they are
looking for. This enhances the visibility of the
CRCs and contributes to the building up of an
international profile of these CRCs. Are you
already listed? Do you already use this website
to publish your success stories, news, events,
etc.?
| |
|
|
04 A trans-European call
for proposals focussing on internationalisation
for technology clusters and SMEs
In January 2008 the
INNET project will launch its first pilot call
"Innovation Express". This call aims to foster
the support for innovation activities between
European clusters and/or between SMEs belonging
to these clusters. The activities of the
proposals should focus on identifying,
initiating, or developing a trans-European
cooperation in view of increasing the clusters
future joint innovation support or research,
development and innovation activity. The call
will be open for about six months. Currently,
the INNET-consortium is finalising the calls
procedures. The final call documents will be
published on the INNET-website.
| |
|
|
05 New studies related to
CRCs
- Internationalisation of clusters and
networks centres around human capital issues
(Germany)
The international
embeddedness of successful R&D locations is
no self runner. Rather, international R&D
clusters increasingly develop strategies and
activities to meet the challenges that, among
others, result from the rise of new R&D
locations and a growing international division
of labour in R&D. This is the core result of
an international comparative analysis on
internationalisation activities of
R&D-oriented clusters and networks.
Read
more...
- Internationalisation of Networks –
Barriers and Enablers (Germany).
For this empirical study altogether 91
networks from 10 European countries have been
interviewed to improve the understanding of
needs, strategies, enablers and barriers of
networks concerning their actual or intended
paths towards globalization. The results of the
survey show that persistent great demand to
adjust to an international orientation. But it
will also become clear that conventional
supporting instruments of grant policy cannot
meet the real needs of networks because the
specific problems, requirements and measures
applied are not taken into account. Customized
supporting measures and tools have to be
realized to provide support both more effective
and more efficient for networks and their
members on their paths towards
internationalization.
Read
more...
- Mapping Study Summary for COMPERA
(Northern Ireland/Ireland).
In
February 2006, the British Irish
Intergovernmental Conference instituted a review
of areas for potential North/South economic
cooperation. The importance of innovation for
future international competitiveness was
recognised and the resulting report,
“Comprehensive Study on the All-Island Economy”,
called for an all-island mapping study with a
view to facilitating the development of greater
collaboration. This study is designed to
contribute to the North/South policy debate on
science, technology and innovation by profiling
the research and technological development (RTD)
centres on the island, exploring the nature and
extent of cross-border collaboration, exploring
opportunities for collaboration and making
recommendations to address those opportunities.
Read
more...
- VINNOVA’s Focus on Impact: A Joint
Approach for Impact Logic Assessment,
Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Analysis
(Sweden)
This report describes the
VINNOVA ambitions and activities that aim to
understanding and increasing the effects of the
VINNOVA commitment to research, innovation and
sustainable growth in Sweden. The report briefly
describes the different processes used by
VINNOVA to secure the quality in the alignment
and implementation from an impact perspective.
However, the report focuses on the descriptions
of and conclusions from the impact analysis made
by VINNOVA since the start in 2001. From an
international perspective, certain aspects are
unique. The report will be available in end of
January 2008 at http://www.vinnova.se/In-English/Publications/VINNOVA-Analysis/
Two
preliminary figures : impact measurement scheme and
time-based evolution of impact
logic assessment. | |
|
|
| |
| |
