Eureka aims to be bigger and better
Ministers from Eureka's 26 members announced the launch of 156 new projects at their 17th conference in Istanbul on 29 June 1999, as part of a bid to revitalise and build on the strengths of the Eureka initiative. On the basis of the recent strategic review, ministers chose the spring scenario under which Eureka will be relaunched and revitalised. A total of 310 million euro will be available for the new projects, assuaging recent ministerial concern that the level of funding for Eureka projects was insufficient. Three new cluster projects, two in information and communications technology (ITEA and PIDEA), and one in agro-technology (EUROFOREST), will bring an additional estimated 3,600 million euro. Government representatives also voiced concern about the recent decline in the size of Eureka's project portfolio, while reaffirming their commitment to the future of the initiative. 'There is still a role to play for Eureka in the European R&D scene,' said Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs, Annemarie Jorritsma, 'but Eureka has to move on. It has to move towards cooperation projects where it pre-eminently has an added value no other programme can match.' Ministers mandated the incoming German chair to oversee the beginning of what was billed as a 'new start' for Eureka. German State Secretary Dr Uwe Thomas said: 'The German chair will develop this instrument especially in the interest of the growing industries in Central and European countries and in the interest of small and medium-sized companies.' Under the spring scenario, as well as promoting the initiative in general, the German chair will work to increase industrial involvement in managing Eureka, encourage the testing and introduction of new project management concepts, and promote assistance for SMEs in the commercialisation of research results. The attraction of Eureka collaboration for smaller enterprises was underlined by the announcement that 48% of Eureka participants are now SMEs, a development welcomed by ministers. Eureka's 1999 annual impact report, which was presented at the conference, showed companies initiating a EUREKA project have been successful in developing new products and bringing them to market, with 93% of project initiators qualifying their achievements as 'excellent' or 'good'. In addition, the report makes several recommendations. These include focusing on knowledge management and strategic alliances, and bridging the gap to commercialisation in the post R&D phase, especially for SMEs. The conference ended on a positive note, with the announcement of Lithuania's inclusion as a full Eureka member, having participated in the initiative since 1992. This brings the membership to 27 including the European Union. The 1999 Lillehammer Award (for a successful Eureka project with outstanding environmental benefits) was also declared as going to CLEF - Clean Foundry, a cooperative project on waste treatment for metalworking and mineral treatment industries.