ATLANT-KIS conference

KIS AS DRIVERS OF EUROPEAN SMES COMPETITIVENESS

Oporto in Portugal was the destination for the final ATLANT-KIS conference held

on 27 March 2012.

The ATLANT-KIS Project

The ATLANT-KIS Project is a trans-national cooperation project co-financed by the

Atlantic Area Programme under Priority 1: Promotion of transnational entrepre-

neurial and innovation networks. The project commenced in June 2009 and its

goal was to contribute to the development of KIS (Knowledge Intensive Services).

This was achieved by promoting interaction and networking of KIS providers

across the Atlantic Area, contributing to the development of enabling policies,

transferring good practices between regions and bridging gaps between the

demand and the supply of KIS services in the 7 regions involved in the Consorti-

um.

Oporto

It is an ancient port steeped in history and tradition. This is the city that originat-

ed and named port wine. UNESCO has declared Oporto a

World Heritage Site, with highly decorative buildings and

churches an atmospheric medieval quarter with colourful

houses facing the river. And its picturesque boats, which

bring the port wine up river. Most of the world’s supply

of port is stored and aged here.

The Conference

Participants from Spain (Navarra and Galicia), UK (Devon and Cornwall), France

(Bretagne) and Ireland (Border Midland, Western, Southern and Eastern regions)

along with Portuguese delegates, nearly 80 people in total, gathered for the final

conference to discuss and debate how KIS could improve regional development

and better support SMEs.

The participants included; KIS providers, policy advisors from different govern-

mental agencies, R&D consultants and liaison officers, companies and develop-

ment agencies.

The morning presentations started with a

welcome speech from Dr. Lino Fernandes,

President of Agência de Inovaçãoroject in

Portugal, followed by project partners from

Gobierno de Navarra on the developments

and achievements of ATLANT-KIS, David

Kelly from Southern and Eastern Regional

Assembly presenting the web platform

www.kis4sme.com and Carlos Garea from Xunta de Galicia presented the Good

Practice Guide published by the partnership. This was followed by a practical case

study of a successful Good Practice transfer, from James Donlon of Westbic, who

adopted a Good Practice from Bretagne to create the Roscommon Innovation

House.

The morning session concluded with presentations from and Marta Candeaias.

Juan Correia and Alexandre Almeida. Marta the Portuguese National Contact Point

for FP7, presented “Opportunities for SMEs in the Framework Programme”,

informing participants about the R&D calls that will open in the summer.

The morning ended with a key note speech by Alexandre Almeida, advisor of Norte

Regional Authority CCDR-Norte in Portugal, who analysed the Norte Region

Innovation Policy in the context of the current economic crisis.

Discussion Group Session

The afternoon session kicked off with workshop groups, discussing the wants,

needs and challenges facing KIS and how their future growth can be assisted. This

session proved to be very

thought provoking and useful

for all participants.

The groups were formed into 3

groups, KIS, support organisa-

tions, and a mixed group, each discussing the issues from their own perspectives.

The topics covered in the workshop session were:

• External factors affecting growth

• Internal factors affecting growth

• Support Tools - Least Effective

• Support Tools - Most Effective

• What are the barriers to KIS growth?

• What future support is required?

Each group reported its findings back into the conference at the end of the

session. These findings were analysed by Akumen a consultancy company and

participants at the conference. In summary the analysis from the session shows

the main conclusions are:

A clear value proposition for a KIS is a key first step, crucial to the marketing communications material, the marketing strategy and subse-quent funding.

Quality networking events are of real value to KIS, facilitating meet-ings with potential customers, suppliers and partners and promoting aware-

ness of the value of KIS.

The analysis was depicted in graphical format and a sample is shown below:

Reproduced with permission of Akumen. For further information on Akumen, visit www.akumen.co.uk or email: info@akumen.co.uk

A copy of the full report is available from Carole Thurston, please email cthurston@sebic.ie

Brokerage Session

The final session of the day was a Brokerage event that bought together partici-

pants who wanted to discuss potential opportunities for KIS and SMEs in FP7

projects. Participants were able to review

each-others profiles and request meetings

with identified participants. A total of 95

requests were made, from which 59

bilateral meetings were scheduled and

held. These meetings were productive and

potential contacts for collaboration were

established.

Feedback

The feedback from the conference was that over 95% rated the conference as

Good/Excellent. The workshop/discussion groups and the brokerage event were

the most beneficial giving delegates an excellent opportunity to network and share

ideas with other regional delegates.

Copies of the presentations from the conference are available from

http://www.atlantkis.eu/images/uploads/Atlant-KIS%20Presentations%20Oporto%202012.zip