The present programme provides selective continuity to measures carried out under the Third Framework Programme and introduces a set of new measures taken over from activities which were outside the Framework Programme, mainly the Sprint Programme but also some actions of the Thermie Programme.
The horizon of innovation policy has been considerably widened during the last years, reflecting the experience gained and the political agenda clearly expressed in the Maastricht Treaty and in the Commission's White Paper. Dissemination and exploitation of scientific know-how and technology is a priority of the Fourth Framework Programme, as was reiterated in the conclusions of the Edinburgh Summit.
Technical change is more and more understood as a complex, dynamic process involving many social and economic factors and a wide range of individuals, firms and institutions. Their ability to apply new knowledge through a cumulative process of learning is linked to the aggregate economy by the pattern of diffusion of information and knowledge and determines the capacity of an economy to derive competitive advantage from technical change. The ensuing new systems approach to the promotion of innovation identifies the need to pursue three interdependent objectives:
Supply of this area with appropriate technologies ("Objective III");
Operational methods and procedures in line with the above philosophy and goals will guide the implementation of the necessary actions.
The first principle is a strong direct involvement of and focus on the main players for each of the prime objectives: enterprises, innovation supporting structures, technology providers and programme managers.
Secondly, the programme has to have a catalytic role in providing synergies amongst initiatives set up with the same purpose not only within the Framework Programme but also in the framework of other Community policies or by Member States, making best use of the Community-wide diversity of approaches and stimulating a common learning process.
Finally, the efforts at Community level concentrate on the phase of demonstration and on the design and experimentation of appropriate technology diffusion processes. They are to provide visibility and to stimulate and support initiatives at programme level, and at national or regional level in the Member States.
In the following, the activities are grouped according to their main relevance for one of the three objectives outlined above. As these objectives are interdependent, a given activity can nevertheless be associated with more than one objective.
The environment within which businesses develop significantly influences their capacity to innovate and absorb new technologies, and the Member States and the Community must take care to ensure that the conditions needed for the creation of an environment favourable to innovation and the absorption of technologies are met.
Various types of parameters are involved, such as:
the level of training and education, and social and cultural factors;
the regulatory, fiscal and financial environment and the specific measures taken to promote businesses and innovation;
the network of authorities, structures and bodies which, at local or regional level, contribute to the optimization of the innovation system and to the definition and implementation of policies to promote innovation and technological development.
As ultimate beneficiaries, businesses and indeed public sector organisations, particularly at a local level are the target for the measures taken to improve the environment for innovation and the absorption of technologies. However, in view of their large number and their extremely varied nature, they can as a rule most effectively be reached through intermediaries at local or regional level.
This activity will address the following issues:
monitoring of innovation and diffusion;
development of a conceptual framework;
exchange of innovation policy experience.
The monitoring of innovation and diffusion, will be conducted through surveys and studies on themes such as the innovation capabilities and performance of firms, the scale, scope, usage and performance of innovation infrastructures and innovation supporting services, the identification of obstacles and impediments to the spread of technologies, as well as the effects of public action supporting innovation infrastructures and innovating firms. This work encompasses both innovation studies using available data which will provide a "state-of-the-art" empirical overview, as well as the collection and processing of new data on innovation in Europe, in close collaboration with EUROSTAT.
As for the conceptual framework of the innovation process, work will focus on models and theories of innovation processes and of the acquisition of technological competence from external sources, on conceptualizing innovation infrastructures and the diffusion of new technologies, with the objective of formulating concepts which can be used to guide empirical research and point the way to future advance. This should lead on to the development of methodologies and codes of best practice.
Drawing on conclusions derived from the work referred to above, the innovation policy experience exchange will aim at improving the synergy and the global efficiency of policies implemented at regional, national and European levels by the exchange of good practice, the assessment of the role of regions, Member States and the Community in formulating and executing innovation policy, the assessment of existing as well as future Community actions and the scope for concerted actions.
These measures aim at improving transnational communications between financial circles and SMEs and at mobilizing private funds for investment in the exploitation of Community and other RTD projects. The envisaged actions include:
the promotion of various forms of cooperation between sources of finance, universities and/or research centres and enterprises - such as investment fora or the technology performance financing (TPF) scheme - in order to facilitate the establishment, expansion and transnational development of high-tech firms. This cooperation will involve the screening of technological projects, identification of their strengths and weaknesses and search for possible industrial and financial partners;
the analysis and possible implementation of infrastructures and schemes best suited for mobilizing private funds as sources of finance for RTD and other innovation projects (e.g. R&D Limited Partnerships, European Securities Dealers Association, etc.);
the launch of a pilot scheme for supporting the provision of technical and managerial assistance to public and private financial intermediaries who co-invest with SMEs in the exploitation of Community and other transnational RTD results.
These actions will be closely coordinated with other relevant Community activities such as Eurotech Capital, the European Investment Fund, EIB instruments, business policy and the activities of the Member States.
Four main action lines are planned to implement this activity in order to help the regions in the Union to develop coherent and effective technology strategies, policies and projects, to assist the innovation and technology transfer services and infrastructures in the regions and to provide technical support to the Directorate General responsible for Regional Policies (DG XVI):
the Regional Technology Plans (RTPs), which prepare the eligible regions to make efficient use of the structural funds in domains affected by new technologies and which encourage regional SMEs to participate in European funded cooperative research programmes. The RTP scheme, which was initiated by DG XVI and will receive technical support from the specific programme for dissemination and exploitation, is addressed to less developed regions (Objective 1) or areas affected by industrial re-conversion (Objective 2).
the Regional Innovation and Technology Transfer Strategies and Infrastructures (RITTS) have as their object the support of local and regional government and/or development organisations in the analysis and development of the innovation and technology transfer infrastructure of the region concerned. This scheme is not restricted to any specific type of region.
pilot actions (including the ones referred to in section III.c) destined to encourage technology transfer and know-how in particular in the regions covered by objectives 1, 2 and 6.
support actions for science parks destined to strengthen the professionalism of their operators, to create a body of knowledge in this field (e.g. by providing direct assistance to park promotors) and to facilitate networking in order to encourage the exchange of know-how and to develop international relationships.
Actions proposed under this activity aim at increasing the uptake of modern innovation and technology management methods by firms but also, wherever appropriate, by research centres and the other public or private actors of the innovation system. These include, inter alia, strategic planning, technology-watch, quality management, action on intellectual property, value-analysis and innovation design and marketing. These actions facilitate the spread of good practice, building on activities initiated under the SPRINT programme such as the MINT Scheme (Managing the Integration of New Technologies) and under the THERMIE programme for the OPET activities and bring into operation new activities of an experimental nature. Networks would furthermore be encouraged to link national, regional or sectoral promotion organisations in order to increase their European orientation and to enable them to develop joint initiatives.
The aim of this activity is to raise public awareness of the key role that research and technology play in modern society and to promote the present programme in order to make its objectives and activities more well-known, as well as contributing, on a more general level, to an open dialogue on science and technology.
Tasks under this activity will include:
developing specialized services for communicating RTD information to the media in view of stimulating RTD coverage;
the organization of promotional events in order to publicize Community activities in the diffusion and exploitation of results obtained (conferences, fairs, seminars, etc.).
The competitiveness of businesses depends also on their capacity to innovate and adopt technologies which will allow them to gain a competitive advantage in the market.
This is particularly the case with SMEs, most of which, because of a lack of internal R&D capacity, have to acquire from outside the technologies which they need.
Experience over recent decades shows that it is not sufficient to rely solely on the market to ensure sufficient dissemination of technologies into the industrial fabric. Other factors have to be acted upon, like the form and quality of the information transmitted and its relevance to the applications and needs of the industrial fabric, and the infrastructure supporting its collection and accessibility.
The network of relay centres will become one of the cornerstones of a European infrastructure for the dissemination of scientific and technological know-how, the aim of which will be to promote the transfer and exploitation of research results and technologies in accordance with the needs expressed by the local industrial fabric. Priority, but not exclusivity, will be given to Community results.
The network will be composed of individual relay centres, placed where possible in existing organizations with experience in exploitation of research and technology transfer. They will be selected in such a way as to assure optimum geographical coverage and will be coordinated by a central unit, managed by the Commission, and where appropriate by national coordinators at national level.
The tasks of the relay centres will include:
promotion of awareness of exploitation of R&D and technology transfer;
examination of the scientific and technological needs of local industry;
active diffusion of information and promotion of the exploitation of R&D results and technology transfer corresponding to needs expressed at local level;
assistance to local R&D players for the promotion of their results and technologies at transnational level;
provision of information on relevant regional, national and Community financial support schemes for exploitation, technology transfer and innovation;
training activities on the exploitation of research and technology transfer;
the organization of actions aimed at facilitating a better appreciation of technology availability and demand (technology transfer days, VACRO days, etc.).
The relay centres will continue, in coordination with national organizations competent in this field, to provide services for the specific programmes of RTD, as regards information on the programmes and assistance in drawing up research projects (i.e. taking care to ensure in particular that the dissemination/exploitation aspects are taken into account from the outset).
Furthermore, measures will be taken to allow an exchange of good practice and technologies through the network, to provide the network with information on Community RTD programmes and results and to provide an interface between the Relay Centres and specific programmes. These measures will provide another avenue for the exploitation of R&D results facilitating interalia, the search for partners and the eventual signing of licensing agreements.
The purpose of this activity is the setting up of networks of existing organizations which, in the Member States, contribute to the diffusion of technologies and the promotion of innovation in order to encourage these bodies to integrate the European dimension of their strategy building wherever possible on existing activities.
These networks will be of an experimental nature and their possible continuation will have to be ensured by other means. Such networks could interlink, e.g. common activities, and on the basis of experience acquired under the SPRINT programme, technology advisory centres, university-industry liaison services, technology-watch bodies and liaison services which exist between SMEs and large companies.
The OPET network (Organization for the Promotion of Energy Technologies) is one of the constituents of the THERMIE Programme. It is currently composed of 49 organizations and concerns dissemination and exploitation of RTD and demonstration results in the energy field as well as the diffusion of energy technologies towards industry (target sectors: energy, environment, transport, manufacturing industries).
In line with its mission of ensuring the dissemination, optimization and exploitation of the results of RTD and demonstration activities carried out under the First Activity, the specific programme for dissemination and exploitation will also provide support to actions which, during the Fourth Framework Programme, will be in keeping with the extension of OPET network activities, notably concerning databases, services for the diffusion of technologies, documentation, organization of promotional events and the coordination of the network.
Technology transfer projects are intended to promote the diffusion of technologies within the Union and, in particular, to provide technological solutions to the needs perceived by industry and to overcome the obstacles to the circulation of technologies. They should promote efficient cross border transfer mechanisms (sector to sector, region to region), complementing initiatives laid down in the Member States, of facilitating technology propagation via demonstration and of fostering a general understanding of the transfer process.
These projects will be selected through common calls for proposals with those aimed at supporting Technology Validation Projects (see point III) and will, like the latter, comprise two phases:
a definition phase funded by a technology transfer award
a demonstration phase covering the implementation of the transfer and the adoption of the technologies by new users funded on a shared cost basis.
TTPs will be selected, implemented and monitored in a way to ensure that relevant experiences and practices are observed. A strong accent will be placed on demonstrating the best ways of conducting technology transfer processes and disseminating these through "lessons learned". Thus, upon completion of the projects, the causes of success or failure and the conditions under which the transfer has been achieved will be studied in order to draw conclusions in terms of methodology.
The innovation system "feeds on" R&D results, technologies and scientific, technical and management skills, and its optimization depends on the activation of the demand side as well as the supply side in new technologies.
The starting point for achieving this objective lies with the creators or holders of research results or technologies, regardless of whether these results or technologies emanate from research programmes in the Community, the Member States or third countries. They have to provide adequate information on the results and technologies which can be transferred; these must in consequence be rendered available and accessible in a form suited to the needs of different groups.
The activities, accompanying measures and possible interactions with other Community policies or programmes and with national measures must, in particular, facilitate the dissemination and subsequent exploitation of the results of the specific programmes under the framework programme.
The object of this activity is to offer information service on European research with the aim of:
encouraging participation in European RTD programmes;
promoting the utilization of the results of European RTD programmes;
generating an awareness of the European dimension of research and innovation;
encouraging European cooperation in research exploitation and technology transfer.
Actions carried out under this activity will fall into three areas:
collection and dissemination of information, centred on the databases of the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS), initiated under the preceding VALUE Programmes drawing on SESAME databases as appropriate for results from energy "demonstration projects";
a portfolio of dissemination measures directed at critical groups (intermediaries at local or regional level);
access to national scientific and technical information services.
As far as the first area is concerned, CORDIS will be improved in accordance with the feedback received from users in the first 3 years of operation; improvements will notably relate to:
the information content (improved descriptions of results and projects, introduction of further languages);
services offered (on-line registration, electronic file transfer, electronic messaging and conferencing, bulletin board, gateways to other pan European research initiatives, national information services or other Community databases);
the user interface (development of existing graphical user interface, multi-media features);
the possibility of accessing CORDIS through Internet and a series of other networks;
the user support (decentralized first-line user support through local organisations such as Relay Centres, EICs, etc.);
cooperation with specific research programmes (common data input format, on-demand preparation of tailored products such as project synopsis, monographs, multimedia subsets etc., rapid dissemination of programme information such as briefing packages, project reports, etc.).
The second area, i.e. diffusion directed at critical target groups, concerns the provision of targeted information to groups of intermediaries and multipliers, including the Relay Centres, transnational sectoral networks and scientific and technical information services. This concerns in particular, intermediaries and multipliers which encourage the involvement of SMEs in research and innovation and contribute to the development of the potential of less favoured regions.
The third area's objective is to facilitate access to national scientific and technical information services. Its main goals are:
to identify the main existing information sources and to evaluate access possibilities and the potential for the utilization of these sources at European level;
to develop the network bridges and instruments permitting access, on an harmonised basis, to these sources from other countries in the Community.
The object of this action is to place at the disposal of specific programmes and the Joint Reseach Centre (JRC) specialized skills, notably taking account of existing patents in a given technological field, protection of knowledge, methodology of exploitation, evaluation of potential exploitation of RTD results and demonstration in other fields of application, analysis of potential markets with the promotion of results among target groups, as well as the organization of accompanying activities in these fields of specialization (e.g. PATINNOVA).
Joint or co-ordinated activities could also be undertaken with the specific programmes which have at their disposal 1% of the total amount of the Fourth Framework Programme for their activities of diffusion and exploitation.
The aim of this activity is the promotion of projects whose objective is the validation of the application of RTD results in other fields of activity than those in which they were initially obtained. This is in order to increase the technical potential placed at the disposal of enterprises and in particular SMEs. They should promote efficient mechanisms entailing cross border exchange of knowledge and/or technologies (sector to sector, region to region) and as such complementing the activities of the research programmes , as well as those of the Member States by their trans-national character.
These projects, like technology transfer projects (see IId), respond to user needs. However they arise from different stages of the innovation process, and being based on RTD results rather than existing technologies, they necessitate further exploitation, adaptation and validation in order to meet their full potential in new applications.
Due to their strong similarities, projects will be selected by way of a common call for proposals covering both technology validation and technology transfer projects.
They will, as for the technology transfer projects consist of 2 phases:
a definition phase funded through validation awards;
a demonstration phase concerning the validation of the technology funded on a shared-cost basis.
The definition phase is concerned with data gathering necessary for the drawing up of an action plan: examination of the IPR situation, market potential, techno-economic feasibility, eventual social or environmental impact, etc.
At the end of the definition phase, projects will be oriented either towards obtaining Community financing for the demonstration phase or towards other means (financing via EUREKA, at national level, etc.).
A pilot action organized in collaboration with the Directorate General responsible for Regional Policies will enable Community support to be given to projects demonstrating good technology exploitation practices and the transfer of know-how to regions covered by objectives 1, 2 and 6.
Projects benefiting from a Community contribution will be in key technological fields for the competitiveness of European industry and will have a marked focus on SMEs. They will be selected and monitored in a way which ensures that exploitation mechanisms in a multi-national and multisectoral environment are observed.
The programme will be implemented in conformance with Annex III of the Council Decision. The Commission will, in particular, issue calls for proposals for projects on the basis of the work programme.
Taking into account the content of the present document, accompanying measures as outlined in the above-mentioned Annex III, will also have significant importance.
The activities of the present programme are closely coordinated with dissemination and optimization activities carried out under the specific programmes of the first activity (see Annex 1). By its nature and content, the present programme is also the interface between RTD activities and Community policies schemes or programmes in other areas. Therefore, activities to be carried out under this programme will be coordinated with, in particular, the structural policy, the business policy, the regional policy, the credit and investment policy and the information policy of the European Communities.
Cooperation and synergies will be sought with all national and transnational schemes and programmes existing in the fields covered under part B of the present document.
OBJECTIVES TIMING (1)
MAIN ACTIVITIES (1) Launching Deadline Selection of Expected
proposals start of
work (date
of contract)
Objective I
EIMS 1st quarter - - 1st quarter
95* - - 95
Financial June 95 December 95
Environment
Regional actions CFP**:15.06.95 15.09.95 October 95 December 95
and 15.06.96 15.09.96 October 96 December 96
support of
science parks
Innovation 1st quarter June 95
management 95*
techniques
Objective II :
Relay centre
network
- main action CFP 15.12.94 15.03.95 May/June 95 01.09.95
- complementary CFP: end 96 1997 1997 1997
- action(3) / begin. 97
European networks 1st quarter June 95
and services 95*
(including
the network for
the
promotion of
energy
technologies)
Technology CFP 15.03.95 15.06.95 July/Sept.95 (2) November 95
transfer CFP: 1996 1996 1997 1997
projects CFP: 1997 (2) 1997 (2) 1997 (2) 1997/1998
Objective III
CORDIS CFT***: June 1995 July 1995 October 1995
1st quarter 95
Technology CFP: 15.03.95 15.06.95 July/Sept 95 November 1995
validation CFP: 1996 1996 1997 1997
projects CFP: 1997(2) 1997(2) 1997(2) 1997/98 (2)
(1) In addition to the main activities mentioned in this table, complementary and supporting activities may be lauched as required and invitations to tender will be issued with a view to establish a list of consultants and experts for dissemination and exploitation tasks and for the selection of external technical support in the context of certain technical assistance tasks to be subcontracted.
(2) Depending on the budget available
(3) Depending on the performance of RC network and the need of revising its membership
(*) More precise calendar indications will be provided as appropriate, at the same dates as the calls for proposals (i.e. 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December).
(**) CFP: Call for proposals
(***) CFT: Call for tenders
An internal mechanism for coordination is to be implemented. It is based on the appointment of a correspondent within each specific programme to be the programme's representative in the coordination group for dissemination and exploitation. The group holds periodic meetings and the chairmanship and secretariat are assured by the specific programme for dissemination and exploitation (third activity).
One of the main objectives of the group is to define and monitor the implementation of a common work programme, to be drawn-up on an annual basis, in collaboration with the research programmes.
The programme concerns, inter alia, the following:
the specific programmes of activity 1 ensure that the factors likely to facilitate the exploitation of the results obtained by the consortia are taken into account during the various stages of the project (i.e. examination of the proposals, negotiation of the contracts, development of the project, assessment of the relevance of the results);
the specific programmes assess during the evaluation phase of the proposals, the potential impact that the projects may have outside the members of the project consortium;
the specific programmes ensure that management procedures and instruments adopted by the projects are conducive to the documentation, wherever necessary or desirable, of the transfer of the results obtained within the consortium to third parties, while respecting the legitimate commercial interests of the contractors;
the organisation of information flow from the specific programme to the third activity, is such that the information and dissemination service is able to provide the information available to the service users in a form which is easily accessible, userfriendly and easily adaptable to their needs;
the dissemination and promotion of the results of the RTD activities is carried out by the third activity, to the competent national and regional structures and other players in technology transfer, particularly through the network of relay centres;
the support given by the third activity to a restricted number of projects is aimed at demonstrating the "transferability" from one sector to another and the integration of technologies or research results which may or may not come from Community programmes.
Domain A dissemination and exploitation 142
of the results of research
Domain B dissemination of technologies 136
to enterprises
Domain C financial environment for the 15
dissemination of technology _______________
293 MECU
Staff Expenditure 11.7 MECU
4%
Administrative 10.9 MECU 3.7%
Expenditure
Operating Expenditure 270.4 MECU 92.3%
TOTAL 293.0 MECU
Indicative Breakdown
I An Environment favouring innovation and the 73
absorption of technologies
II Circulation of Technologies 121
III The Supply of technologies 75
International Cooperation 1.4
TOTAL 270.4