SME Activity

Activity brochure available here

Activity leader: Julián Seseña
ROSE Vision, Spain
E-mail: jsesena(at)rose(dot)es

Abstract

SMEs have become increasingly important in our society as providers of employment opportunities and as key players for the well-being of local and regional communities. Hence, European SMEs represent more than 90% of the overall European industrial entities. However, the visibility of SMEs in the specific field of R&D is really low, being in the order of 15% in the best cases.

Therefore, there is a need to specifically target the role of SMEs, motivate them, facilitate their involvement and ensure that their interests and capabilities are duly taken into account by NEM as an European Technology Platform. SMEs participation in NEM would mean an opportunity to establish tide contacts with main industry players in several research areas where NEM is active, being up-to-date with actual R&D targets defined by the industry, being able to find appropriate partners for creation of successful R&D projects and increasing chances to get funding for realisation of the projects where SMEs can launch specifically dedicated projects or become part of wider and more ambitious R&D projects in cooperation with large NEM participants.

Being European technology platforms, one of the main vehicles fostering R&D in Europe, it seems appropriate that NEM should also promote a specific Activity (as defined by NEM) where SME interests can be openly discussed, and views of SMEs can be channeled to the relevant bodies of NEM (GA, EB, EG, position papers groups, etc.).

Objectives

In order to enhance and promote SMEs competitiveness by means of R&D results, a new specific Activity within NEM is launched. The Activity targeting SMEs will cover several actions:

• Dissemination among SMEs and SMEs Associations of the benefits to participate in NEM activities.
• Specific action to promote a more active involvement of SMEs from the several technology fields within the scope of NEM (content producers, broadcasters, middleware developers, etc...).
• Orchestration of small scale workshops (e.g. besides General Assembly, NEM Community/Projects workshops, etc.), with emphasis on the participation of SMEs.
• Promotion of active participation of NEM representatives and NEM participants (SMEs among them) at international events.

Various reports will be produced from events and workshops organized as a result of this Activity, which will depend on the interests to be expressed by the interested SMEs. In many cases, contacts with SMEs Associations will constitute the main vehicle for channeling the relations with SMEs in the most effective and efficient manner.

NEM SME Activity Structure

The NEM SME Activity is based on a group of NEM participants interested to discuss how to enhance the SME participation in NEM actions, how to channel SMEs views and interest with more emphasis towards the NEM bodies and how to promote more involvement of SMEs in the Networked media projects. Consequently, several actions will be conducted: meetings, promotion of SMEs participation, dissemination, discussions of the SMEs research interests, etc…, organized and promoted by 4NEM/FUTURE NEM projects that will assume the early stages of the activity, depending on the general NEM participants’ interests and views. The NEM SME Activity group, made up of SMEs members, supported by 4NEM/FUTURE NEM, will set up its own priorities as result of its own deliberations.

The NEM SME Activity group will discuss the main priorities for SMEs within the current NEM Vision and NEM SRA, taking into consideration the interests and research proposals of the NEM SMEs.

One possible outcome of this effort will be a sort of subset of thematic priorities of high strategic interest for SMEs: a sort of NEM focused vision for SMEs and NEM focused Strategic Research Agenda for SMEs.

The following graph shows the NEM SME Activity group structure.