WESTERN BUSINESS AND INNOVATION CENTRE (IE)
Westbic - the Business and Innovation Centre for the West
and North of Ireland - was founded in 1987 as a specialist
provider of support in the areas of business planning, product
development, marketing information, seed capital and brokering
on seven sites throughout the West and Northwest of Ireland.
Recently Westbic has established an IT Business Incubator
in Galway and is therefore interested in adopting an informed
best practice approach to incubator management and the delivery
of incubation services. Westbic also works closely with local
education establishments.
The organisation has a multidisciplinary team of eleven
staff and is accredited to ISO 9002 standards. It has been
involved in a number of transnational projects and is a full
member of EBN (see below).
For further information, contact: u.faherty@westbic.ie
EUROPEAN BUSINESS AND INNOVATION CENTRE NETWORK
- EBN (European)
Founded in 1984, EBN is an international
non-profit making
association (registered in Belgium) created to help Business
and Innovation Centres increase individual and collective
efficiency and performance, and to ensure the full exploitation
of the benefits of the network by pooling experience and
know-how.
EBN is supported in its activities by the European Commission,
and by almost 100 Associate Members (financial institutions,
public authorities or agencies, universities and technology
centres, industrial associations and chambers of commerce).
In excess of 160 BIC’s from over 20 EU countries are at
present active within the network. EBN’s recent projects
included:
Both of these projects focus directly on SMEs and business
support organisations. EBN views i³ as an ideal opportunity
to address training and capacity building at the level
of BIC & incubator personnel. The i³ Training area will
be linked to EBN’s website, providing a strong dissemination
medium.
For further information, contact: smq@ebn.be
EUROPEAN BUSINESS ANGELS NETWORK (European)
EBAN was created as a not-for-profit organisation in June
1999 at the initiative of a number of national Business
Angel Networks including the National Business Angels Network
(UK), BusinessAngels.com (France), and Business Angels
Netzwerk Deutschland with the aim of promoting a favourable
environment for Business Angel Activities throughout the
EU. The Board of EBAN is made up of representatives of
such national networks, and includes a privileged observer
representing DG Enterprise.
It is widely recognised that Business Angels can play
a key role in removing the financial, managerial and developmental
problems encountered by new and recently founded businesses,
particularly technology-based firms. However, EBAN recognises
that care must be taken to ensure that Business Angel services
do not exist in isolation and form part of a menu of support.
It is for this reason that EBAN is committed to i³, which
offers them a opportunity to form effective working relationships
with BICs and Business Incubators throughout Europe.
As the hub of a network of national associations of Business
Angels, EBAN is well placed to adopt a dissemination role
(in association with EBN) within the project, and to contribute
to maximising the effectiveness of services to high growth
businesses.
For further information, contact: info@eban.org
INSTITUTO DE EMPRESA (ES)
The Instituto de Empresa is an independent non-profit
making institution founded in 1973. It is one of Europe's
leading business schools specialising in business administration,
management development and executive education and training.
Through its College of Information Technology the Instituto
de Empresa aims to serve the business community by disseminating
knowledge, developing competencies and promoting the use
of virtual links in order to make education and training
as readily and as widely available as possible. The Instituto
de Empresa also hosts the International Centre for Entrepreneurship
and Ventures Development (ICEVED) whose aim is, in collaboration
with over 15 other business schools, to promote the development
of entrepreneurs through training, networking, access to
finance and business plan development. Since 1983, over
3,500 new businesses have been set up with support from
the Instituto de Empresa's Business Creation Department.
At the beginning of last year, the Instituto de Empresa
established the Najeti Chair on Entrepreneurship and Family
Business. The Chair is sponsored by the company NAJETI
which was set up to represent the interests of a group
of companies specialising in risk capital. The aim of the
Chair is to undertake research and develop innovative training
programmes in the field of entrepreneurship and family
businesses.
The Instituto views i³ as a welcome opportunity to
exchange information and best practice experience in the
provision
of effective support to businesses with high growth potential.
The Instituto has obvious credentials in the development
of training materials, and it is this task that it will
co-ordinate within the i³ Project.
For further information, contact: Beth.Rayney@ie.edu
ATLANTIS CONSULTING (GR)
ATLANTIS is a business consulting company established
in 1992. It is located in northern Greece and spans its
activities throughout the country as well as in Cyprus.
ATLANTIS holds several years' experience in EU projects
or studies, as it has actively participated as a partner
or co-ordinator in several of these.
Major past and current projects include the SMART2EAM,
the INSTENSE, the VIP-NET, the INFOPLANET, and the MED-TECH
projects (funded under the Fifth Framework Programme),
the CRUISING project (Fourth Framework Programme), two
Leonardo projects (INNOMAT about the training of SME managers
on Innovation Management Tools and TN-BIC about the training
of Business Incubator Managers), the Questionnaire Survey
for the impact assessment of the 3rd and 4th Framework
Programmes, the action EUROMANAGEMENT I and II, etc.
Furthermore, ATLANTIS' European experience is complemented
by the participation in a number of European networks such
as the TII Association, the European Science Technology
Observatory (ESTO) as Core Group Members since 2001, the
European Technology Assessment Network (ETAN), and more
than fifteen expert shortlists within the European Commission.
The company’s extensive evaluation experience underlines
its capacity to effectively co-ordinate the monitoring
and evaluation elements of i³.
For further information, contact damvakeraki@atlantisresearch.gr
KAUNO TECHNOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETO INOVACIJr CENTRAS (LT)
Kaunas Technological University is the largest technical
university in Lithuania and in the Baltic States, operating
for more than 50 years. The University has more than 15000
students and more than 1000 members of academic and research
personnel. As a whole, the university has been or is currently
involved in more than 80 projects supported by Leonardo
da Vinci, TEMPUS, INCO-COPERNICUS, Framework 4 and Framework
5, ESPRIT, COST and other EU programmes.
The University established a Business and Innovation Centre
(IDC) in 1994 with the aim of becoming an intermediary
between science and industry. The main fields of activities
are technology transfer, innovation management and support
to SMEs. One of the most successful projects of Innovation
Centre is Kaunas Business Incubator, established as independent
public company in 1998.
The IDC (BIC) is a member of several international associations,
including BASTIC (Baltic Association of Science and Technology
Parks and Innovation Centres) and ICECE (Innovation Centres
in Eastern and Central Europe).
The Centre has already benefited from transnational exposure
to best practice through the TN-IBC Leonardo Project, and
is keen to continue and enhance such activities. i³, within
which the Centre will co-ordinate the Training Needs Analysis,
offers an ideal vehicle for that purpose.
For further information, contact: ctomas@ktc.It
INITIATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (UK)
Initiative Economic Development Ltd is a business training
and consultancy provider operating in the areas of local,
regional, enterprise and employment development throughout
the European Union and further afield. IED staff have extensive
experience working in a wide range of Leonardo programmes
and, having particular expertise in the development of
multimedia vocational training tools, will take responsibility
for Phase 3 of this project.
Previous projects include:
At a regional level IED has an extensive network amongst
SME support organisations and have worked with over 300
SMEs in training and development during the last five years.
For further information, contact lorna@initiative.ie
OMAGH ENTERPRISE COMPANY LTD (UK)
OMAGH ENTERPRISE COMPANY LIMITED (OECL) was founded in
1985 with the specific intention of increasing the prosperity
and employment opportunities available to the people of
Omagh and District by creating a favourable environment
for business development. The company is a non-profit business
development agency offering quality workspace, entrepreneurial
training, business support services, and seed funding to
start-up. There are currently fifty-five start-up companies
occupying units at the Company's Business Park, many of
which avail of business training and support.
OECL is currently seeking to intensify and upgrade the
degree of support it can offer to tenant companies with
particularly high growth potential and is therefore preparing
the establishment of a business incubator for the west
of Northern Ireland. i³ will offer Omagh Enterprise Company
a timely opportunity to develop the capacity of its own
staff and of incubator/business support personnel throughout
Europe in general.
The company has been involved in the management and delivery
of a range of European Programmes, and is currently the
lead partner of ASTUTE, a Leonardo project aimed at assisting
sole traders expand their business.
For further information, contact nicholas.oshiel@oecl.co.uk
