A Kick-off meeting of the EASIER Project funded by EU Framework Programme 6 held in Grimstad, Norway on October 27-28 2005.
The EASIER project will increase the ICT research activity and strengthen the competitiveness of ICT SMEs in Europe. Working in sixteen European regions in Turkey, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, The Czech Republic,Poland, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, UK and Norway the project will catalyse EU R&D projects by drawing on the strengths of existing regional networks and building a new trans-national partnership to boost ICT SME participation in European research and programmes. The project will take the expertise and experience within the project and elsewhere on engaging SMEs and produce an integrated approach having tested all of the current methods. The main target of the project is to deliver new R&D collaborations for both FP6 and FP7, and other European-wide opportunities.
16 Partners from 12 different countries is cooperating for an EASIER participation of ICT SMEs to European research projects. Consortium of the Project is consisting of the following organisations:
Sorlandets Teknologisenter AS, Norway
- Agderforskning, Norway
- RR & CO. Podjetje za poslovne storitve, d.o.o., Slovenia
- National Documentation Centre (EKT/NHRF), Greece
- Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV), Turkey
- TAGES, Turkey
- TUBITAK, Turkey
- First Elements Ventures Ltd., Cyprus
- Euro Info Centre, Poland
- Aalborg, Denmark Municipality
- VIP, Czech Republic Park
- Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Croatia
- Coventry University Enterprises Ltd, United Kingdom
- SEPVE – Association of Information Technology Companies of Northern Greece
- Fundacion Insula Barataria, Spain
- COTEC, Portugal
EASIER Project aims;
- To engage SMEs within ICT through regional networks.
- To produce a database of potential ICT SME candidates for involvement in European research projects.
- To assess, develop and describe methods (tools) for engaging the SMEs through these regional networks.
- To provide new tools that is tested in two pilot regions.
- To identify opportunities for involvement of ICT SMEs in within FP6 and FP7, as well as the National R&D funding programmes of the partners’ countries and other non-FP R&D funding opportunities such as EUREKA/Celtic.
- To exploit the identified opportunities by coupling them with the SMEs in the project database, and by assisting the SMEs through the process from idea to engagement in European RTD activities.
