Funding and support in FP6 for SMEs

1. Funding and support in FP6 for SMEs Kalev Kaarna ESTIRC

2. Purpose of the presentation Help SMEs to see opportunities and get ideas • How SME plans fit into FP6 instruments • How to overcome potential problems • Who can help

3. Funds for SMEs 1,7 billion Euros

4. How SME plans fit into FP6

6. Encourage SME participation • Participation of SME groupings • Evaluation criteria related to SME • Targeting of calls in areas relevant for SME • Pre-allocation budget for take-up measures • Possibility to extend FP6 contracts to include new SME

7. Integrated project & problems • Multi-national corporations (MNC) are probably main players • MNC see SME roll in Integrated Projects as subcontractors and not partners. Because: • risks of including SME are high (long project) • MNC will be responsible for failure • SMEs want high level ownership but offer low level financial contribution • value from including SMEs is seen to be low

8. Risks of including SME Risk of including SME is high compared tovalue Risks are hard to decrease what about increasing value?

9. Percieved Benefits VALUE = (Cost + Harm) Valueof including SME

10. Benefitsof including SME Income Income Income Income Benefits SME can offer Benefits MNC can offer Benefits MNC canoffer CLIENT Costs Costs How many of SME skills and resources allow to“sellthrough”?

11. APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE IDEA TESTING IDEAS What if SME could constantly develop innovative improvement ideas? Fortunately there are methods to do it

12. APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE IDEA TESTING TRIZ: Based on more than 2 million patents • 40 main conflicts were found (like: speed increase vs loss of information) • 40 main solutions to these conflicts (like: speed vs loss of information problem solutions can be copying) • 35 trends in technology evolution (like: point-line-curve-3D surface or commodity-product-service-experience-transformation)

13. APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE IDEA TESTING Advantages: • Is in public domain • Makes innovation systematic • Allows derive knowledge from other fields • Allows to find markets to your solutions outside traditional fields • Is applicable in software development • Makes SMEs more willing to give up greater share of ownership of their idea • Allows long term partnership with MNC

14. APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE IDEA TESTING CLIENT NETWORK • Knowledge about clients • Readiness to modify product for a segment • Test-marketing • Clients who are ready to pay for R&D

15. APPLICABLE KNOWLEDGE IDEA TESTING FUTURE SUB-CONTRACTOR Testing and developing capabilites and skills for being a perfect sub-contractor for the new generation product

16. Relevance to MNC • Decision is that SMEs have to be included into Integrated Projects • Including SMEs as partners is strongly encouraged • Evaluators know that it is not easy and look for “just on paper” partnerships

17. Relevance to MNC Riskand include SMEs as dummies OR Develope a non-traditional co-operation model where SMEs are true value creators

18. Who can help? IRC network GOAL supportsharingandimplementationofinnovative solutionsin European SMEs

19. IRC network Support offered • Findingpartners with neededcapabilities, know-how, products or client network • Findingpartners who needyour capabilities, know-how, products or client network • Supportfor negotiations, contracts and IP • Know-howabout financial support opportunities

20. ESTIRC consultant contact Kalev Kaarna SA Archimedes Kompanii 2, Tartu Phone: +372 7 300 338 E-mail: kalev@irc.ee

21. Thank You!