N. 20, March - April 2005 
Editorial 

"INSME, a global network to support innovation for SMEs"
Ms. Simona Marzetti
Secretary General of the INSME Association
 
SMEs are undergoing a crucial phase in their positioning within the global economy. High market integration at world level and the internationalisation of production processes have created a highly competitive business environment, in which the strengthening of competitiveness factors has to be constantly supported. Given this scenario, innovation (whether defined as a process, product, technological or non technological innovation) represents the main lever for an enterprise's competitiveness.

However, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face many problems when trying to improve their innovation capacity: they often lack the culture and the competencies as well as the internal/external resources required to carry out R&D programmes, introduce new technologies and train their personnel.

So what are the best solutions to help SMEs willing to innovate in the global economy? The INSME Association (International Network for SMEs) illustrates one possible solution, based on the "Network" and "System" models.

Established in February 2004 as a non-profit international association (NGO), INSME is a global network of public and private organisations involved in promoting innovation and technology transfer to SMEs in different geographical areas. To date, 54 organisations from 28 countries are involved as Members.

The "network junctions" and direct targets of the Association's activities are not small and medium-sized enterprises themselves, but rather policy makers and "intermediaries", i.e., the providers of innovation services to SMEs (technology and science parks, incubators, research centres, universities, development agencies, chambers of commerce, business and entrepreneurs associations, etc.). The "network meshes" are made up of by interactions between these organisations. INSME's goal is to stimulate and increase these linkages so as to promote a better synergy between public policies and the activities of those central and local players who are closer to the needs of companies and play a growing role in helping them to innovate, including by creating a connection between research and industry.

In particular, INSME's activities build upon two strategic guidelines.

The first consists of stimulating cooperation among players in different geographical areas. Imbalances in access to information and innovation are no longer an issue affecting individual enterprises or certain categories of enterprises. Instead it is a structural issue, that discriminates between countries in different areas of the world. It is to be noted that INSME does not belong to European Union initiatives, but stems from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) dialogue on SMEs, an organisation that has granted INSME its moral sponsorship. Moreover, developing countries have shown an increased interest in joining INSME, as testified by recent applications to participate in the INSME Annual Conference, "International Cooperation to Seize Innovation Opportunities for SMEs" (Barcelona, 13-15 April 2005). This is an important event as it will be the Association's first formal meeting since it was set up in February 2004.

Secondly, INSME represents a permanent and open forum aimed at stimulating public-private dialogue and partnership for the diffusion of an innovation culture. From this point of view, INSME aims to facilitate interaction and mutual exchange between the different public and private organisations involved in the innovation process. In doing so, actions to support innovation in SMEs can be enhanced by involving and networking all the main players who are directly in contact with enterprises and their needs, and by having a better understanding of how to encourage matchmaking between the demand for and the supply of innovation services and technologies.

Shifting from a strategic to a more operational level, INSME pursues its goals through different types of concrete activities.

For instance, it is worth mentioning the INSME international training courses addressing organisations dealing with innovation and technology transfer and conceived as training for the trainers. Three courses are foreseen for 2005, the first of which, free of charge and co-organised with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation), will take place in Geneva from 11 to 13 May and will focuse on intellectual property and innovation management (for further information, visit www.insme.org/).

Moreover, INSME promotes, co-organises and participates in workshops, seminars and conferences at international and regional level in which issues related to innovation and technology transfer for SMEs are discussed, fostering the launch of pilot projects among its Members and Partners.

Finally, it is to be recalled that the INSME Award 2005 will be presented shortly. This prize is awarded to intermediaries or their networks in order to acknowledge the success or the importance of their activities and initiatives for innovation and technology transfer to SMEs undertaken at international, regional, national or sub-national level. The theme for the first edition of the INSME Award is "Innovation for success: Locally adopted, Globally replicable", which summarises the purpose behind supporting those initiatives that, although implemented on a reduced scale, have the possibility of being scaled up and/or reapplied in different and wider geographical contexts or industrial sectors. The prize consists of a trophy and a free 12-month INSME membership. The winners of this edition are the International Centre for New Media (ICNM, located in Austria) and the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research (located in Delhi, India).