Improving EU support for SME innovation
The Council of the European Union is the European legislature's upper house, and consists of one national minister from each Member State. The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months, and Ireland held the office during the first half of 2013. Several EU-funded projects supported the Irish Presidency. These involved topic-specific conferences. The EUROSME2013 project involved a two-day conference, held in Dublin in June 2013. The theme was how to best promote innovation for facilitating SME growth, in addition to improving European support for innovative enterprises. The panel of invited speakers focused on three key questions, the recommendations from which provide input for Europe 2020 and the Cohesion Policy of 2014–2020. The first recommendation concerned the need to increase the visibility of successful innovation in SMEs. The proposal included forums where successful entrepreneurs can share their experiences, plus web-based dissemination. Developing an innovation culture requires SMEs to tolerate and learn from failure. The panel determined that education is critical for developing entrepreneurial spirit, and should be structured through childhood and university while also including graduate placements. Secondly, government support of SMEs in networked activities must consider the special needs of SMEs and be tailored accordingly. The delegates recommended actions that promote experimenting with partnerships and developing a partnership culture. Furthermore, governments should make publicly owned technologies available to SMEs. Additional programmes would support mobility of talent between SMEs and universities. SMEs must be provided with access to universities' research networks, and universities should become more aware of the SME potential of their research. Lastly, the conference recommended human resource development interventions to enhance SME leadership. Such programmes need to include structured mentoring. Such mentoring would help develop sales competencies, which is considered a skill that is currently lacking. To this end, universities should incorporate sales training in their technology courses. The delegates suggested public procurement to create stable markets, which would necessitate removal of impediments to procurement. The EUROSME2013 project consisted of a conference covering themes of supporting SME innovation. The recommendations resulting from the gathering will help Europe meet its innovation targets.
Keywords
SME innovation, networking, mentoring, SME growth, entrepreneurs, publicly owned technologies, human resource development
