SME Technology Days - Austria

The annual SME Technology Days will be held in Vienna, Austria, on 3 and 4 December 1998, jointly organised by the European Commission, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Bureau for International Research and Technology (BIT). The conference will be opened by European Commissioner for research and innovation, Mrs. Edith Cresson, and will bring together European and national policy-makers dealing with SMEs in the context of EU RTD programmes, intermediaries involved in information and advice services for SMEs, industrial associations, venture capitalists and intellectual property specialists.

The conference will focus on future SME activities within the upcoming Fifth RTD Framework Programme, and will present results and experiences from SME involvement during the Fourth Framework Programme, in particular, the Technology Stimulation Measures. The aim is to stimulate collaborative learning between the main policy actors and operational intermediaries at national and EU level, and to exchange experience on different support and advisory services for SMEs.

The following topics will be covered in detail during the conference:

- Available instruments for SME participation in Community RTD activities;
- Results of recent Commission studies on the involvement of SMEs in the Fourth RTD Framework Programme;
- Results of national and regional studies on the experiences and impact of Community stimulation measures for SMEs;
- Stimulating SME participation in the Fifth Framework Programme: new structures, measures and rules for participation and intellectual property issues.
For further information, please contact:

Bureau for International Research and Technology Cooperation
Ms. Sabine Herlitschka
76 Wiedner Hauptstrasse
A-1040 Wien
Tel. +43-1-5811616103; Fax +43-1-581161616
E-mail: herlitschka@bit.ac.at