Conclusions of the Vienna Forum for Innovative Companies
The First European Forum for Innovative Companies, organised jointly by the European Commission and the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was held in Vienna, Austria on 12 and 13 November 1998. It was opened by Mrs Edith Cresson, European Commissioner responsible for research and innovation, and Mr Farnleitner, Austrian Minister for Economic Affairs, Of the 300 participants, about half were entrepreneurs. The Forum was the outcome of a wide consultation process, launched by Commissioner Cresson in Paris, in December 1997. Three working groups were set up following this initiative, who studied the three phases in the development of enterprises: gestation, start-up, and growth. Their proposals were presented and debated at the first conference held in Luxembourg in May and were largely ratified by the participants of the Vienna Forum. One of the proposals, for the setting-up of a European federation bringing together a number of national associations of high technology SMEs, has already taken shape. Articles of agreement setting up this federation were signed during the Forum. The debates which took place alongside the plenary sessions of the Forum addressed three topics: access to competence, access to financing, and access to markets. A number of points of consensus were identified during these sessions, as well as some precise recommendations, which were included in the conclusions drawn up by Mr Verrue, Director-General of the European Commission's DG XIII, and Mr Kögerler, Head of Department in the Austrian Ministry of Economic Affairs. There was consensus on the following aspects: - The innovation inventory in Europe, the method to be followed and the measures to be taken for the European Union; - Alongside and in addition to research policy, the need to define and implement policies for innovation in Member States and at Community level; - Innovation as an important factor in social progress and in the evolution of methods of work organisation. In addition, instruments and priorities for action were also agreed upon. These included the need for the identification, calibration and dissemination of good practices at the Community level, as well as the testing and promotion of new approaches, by means of pilot actions. Support for the creation and development of innovating enterprises as one of the major themes of innovation policy was also considered important. The main conclusions of the Forum underlined that innovation is a matter for business, but its effectiveness depends on the economic, legal and regulatory environment. Two concrete measures were proposed to improve this environment, the use of national fiscal measures favourable to "stock options", in order to facilitate the engagement of high-level research workers and managers by young, technological enterprises. The establishment, at European level, of mechanisms facilitating transfer of pension rights in order to encourage the mobility of researchers was also proposed. Other important conclusions related to improving the system for the protection of knowledge and in particular the patent system, as well as raising awareness of existing systems for protecting intellectual and industrial knowledge through specific measures such as "small entity fees". The educational and cultural dimension, as well as the training of entrepreneurs was also considered as an important aspect be developed. In particular, the setting up of a "virtual college of entrepreneurship" on the Internet was suggested. Universities and research centres must also equip themselves with effective structures for technology transfer, and the rules in place should facilitate transfers between research and industry. The key role of information was also stressed and proposals included allowing SMEs to have access to economic intelligence information and data on technologies developed by public laboratories. Suggestions in the context of financing innovation included, the promotion of systems of "mentoring" for entrepreneurs, the setting up a European register of "business angels", the development and facilitation of access to networks of expertise, and the compilation of an inventory of the methods of analysis and the "success stories" of European venture capital. The funds managed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) may also have a role to play to aid the support structures for the creation and development of enterprises. In addition, the allocation of a quota of the budgets of national research programmes to small, high-technology business and the setting up of appropriate means of management could also provide important financing. Support for regional level innovation and local support infrastructures available to young companies was underlined as important, as was the encouragement of spin-offs from major companies and universities. Plans to launch an initiative founded on the actions for the creation and development of innovative enterprises, set up by regions demonstrating a particular capacity and creativity in this area, were also announced during the Forum. This initiative would link, at the local level, the principal actors in the innovation system. The ensemble would constitute a "European showcase" of innovation, which could have a large impact and knock-on effect for all the regions of the Union. The participants considered that the impetus provided by the Forum should be maintained. They felt it was important for the EU and the Member States to discuss the conclusions reached during the Forum in order to take them into account in their policies and instruments in support of innovation. The most important of these being, at the Community level, the innovation action plan and the Fifth RTD Framework Programme.
Countries
Austria