Innovation Relay Centres (IRCs), the best European network of technology transfer
Innovation thrives in simple things. Take an every-day-companion, like the pencil and you can still develop new concepts around a product that is 400 years old and writes in space. This was the message addressed by the Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, who hosted this years IRC Award Ceremony at the Faber-Castell castle, in Stein. This years peer recognition went to the Athens-based organisation Help-Forward awarded best IRC, staffed with a young, dynamic and inspired team. The Award was bestowed in the framework of the IRC 7th Assembly General Meeting, which was held on 21-22 November 2002 in Nuremberg and hosted by Bayern Innovativ. The basis for a European innovation system will need to encompass cooperation, break down barriers, encourage transnational learning and network the players, announced Heinz Zourek, Deputy Director-General for Enterprise DG. These are the objectives set for the theme Research and Innovation, within the 6th Framework Programme for Research and Development; objectives that the Innovation Relay Centres related to and discussed at the conference. Participants to the conference, which brought regional innovation service providers together with representatives from regional governments, from the European Union and Associated Candidate Countries, debated the future of the IRC network around the theme of Excellence. The network has set itself an ambitious goal: to become the best European network of technology transfer. Far from a declaration of goodwill, members are actively contributing with concrete proposals to establish a common code of conduct, to implement quality management systems and to monitor outcomes through performance indicators. The IRC model is raising a strong interest amongst equivalent networks, and could be a springboard for further cooperation to bring European technology transfer onto a more global scene,IRCs promote the transnational transfer of technologies and knowledge, in accordance with the needs of the local industrial, economic and social fabric. They are supported by the European Commission.