The Programme offers financial and logistical support, strategic preparation and a tailored search for business contacts. With support provided at every step of the way, EU companies are coached by a team of professionals in the business etiquette of these dynamic markets.

To find out more and apply, follow this link http://www.eu-gateway.eu/go.php?nID=22&page=Home

Since the beginning of this Programme, the European Commission has helped many companies reap the rewards of entry into the Japanese market. Since 1994 more than 2,500 companies from the EU Member States have participated in an EU Gateway Business Mission in order to:

• Expand market share in a cost-effective and efficient way
• Make new contacts and strengthen existing relationships
• Identify potential suppliers, subcontractors, representatives, importers and distributors
• Discover current and future trends in the Japanese and Korean markets
• Research and compare the characteristics of local and competitive products
• Get immediate feedback when introducing your products and technologies face-to-face
• Discuss challenges and trends with other industry professionals
• Raise the profile of their company with an official European Union mission

The export certificates were agreed at a meeting between the European Commission and the Russian veterinary service in Moscow on April 27-28. They were initialled by the two sides in late May/ early June and entered into force on 15 August.

Seven certificates, opening trade opportunities for bovine semen, horse meat and cattle for breeding, were agreed in January and in April agreement was reached for five of them that have now entered into force. Negotiations are expected to continue in order to update existing certificates and possibly conclude new ones.

Exports of animals and products of animal origin from the EU to Russia have to comply with requirements agreed between the European Commission and the Russian veterinary service for a number of commodities. These requirements apply to exports from all EU Member States, which must agree with specific certificates guaranteeing that the exported commodities comply with the veterinary and sanitary standards of the Russian Federation.

The first veterinary export certificates between the Commission and the Russian services were agreed in 2004. In 2006 18 new model certificates were agreed. The position of the Commission in these negotiations was agreed with the Member State authorities in the Council of the EU.

Since 2004, this negotiating process has continued in order to update existing certificates and take into account the evolution of animal health and sanitary conditions. Another goal of these negotiations is to conclude new veterinary certificates for other commodities.

In 2009 the value of exports of animals, meat and animal products from the EU to the Russian Federation was € 1.3 billion.

For more information, please visit:

http://ec.europa.eu/food/international/trade/eu-russia_spsissues_en.htm

European Commission

Portugal offers excellent opportunities to Northern Ireland companies looking to expand and find new partners and the seminar will offer a platform to embrace the opportunities and learn more about the advantages of this stimulating and innovative country.
 
Attendance at this event is free of charge however prior registration is required at www.investni.com/register. The closing date for registrations is Wednesday 8th September 2010.

The coming years offer a number of challenges and opportunities that need a concerted approach at a European level, while respecting the different features present in Member States at all levels. European destinations face increasing competition from other global destinations. On the other hand Europe can also attract tourists from emerging markets willing to spend their holidays here. The current demographic trend will mean that in a few years time there will be more elderly tourists therefore tourism products and infrastructure has to be well-catered for that.

Tourism products also need to be more sustainable, taking into account commitments related to climate change and dependence on water and energy for example. The ever-developing information and communication technologies also offer new opportunities that need to be tapped.

To keep Europe the world's top tourist destination, the Commission communication proposes 21 actions including the following:

1. Improve the competitiveness of the tourist sector in Europe.

• Innovation needs to be boosted so that the sector and its enterprises can adapt to new trends in consumer behaviour and overcome fixed patterns in the sector. In this context, the European Commission supports the idea of a joint "ICT tourism platform" among major tourism stakeholders (travel agencies, hotels, etc…)

• Extension of the tourism season. Facilitate a form of exchange programme for the young, elderly, families with economic difficulties and disabled people to travel during the low season. Secondly, an information exchange mechanism at European level could help to better coordinate school holidays among the Member States.

• Improving the tourism socio-economic knowledge is needed to develop better coordination of ongoing research activities in the field of tourism. A virtual European Tourism Observatory could provide, in the medium term, a network for the coordination and analysis of tourism research, which could also act as a repository of EU-wide information on developments in the tourism industry.

2. Promote the development of sustainable, responsible and quality-oriented tourism

• Facilitate best practice exchanges among the networks of regional and sustainable destinations with a view to develop sustainable management indicators.

• Develop a "Quality Tourism" label, to reward achievements in raising the quality of the services provided by European businesses and destinations.

• Elaborate a label on the basis of sustainable management indicators to promote tourist destinations respecting environmental, social and economic criteria.

• Propose a Charter establishing criteria for a sustainable and responsible tourism on the basis of which a European price will be awarded to tourist companies and destinations.

3. Consolidate the image and the visibility of Europe as a set of sustainable and high quality destinations

• The creation and promotion of a "European brand", in close cooperation with the Member States, will help to better stand out from other international destinations.

• Improved cooperation with national organisations and the European tourist industry to promote European tourism products via the portal visiteurope.com.

4. Bolster the integration of tourism in the EU policies and financial instruments

Tourism is inevitably interlinked with other policies. For this reason, the Commission will improve integration and coordination of policies impacting on tourism, such as passengers' rights, consumer protection and the internal market.

Further information can be sourced at the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/index_en.htm

 Morning Event - A UK ERC Information and Proposal Writing Event will start at 09:00 promptly (registration from 08:30), finishing at 12:00. The session, aimed primarily at academic researchers, will provide an overview of the ERC and will focus on the application process for the ERC Starting Grants

Afternoon Event - A Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) Scheme and Initial Training Networks (ITN) Scheme - General Information and Proposal Writing Event, aimed at companies and academic researchers - will start at 12:45 and finish at 15:30. The IAPP and ITN schemes can give companies access to research resource, capability and academic infrastructure at minimal or zero financial cost.

Further information and registration is available at: http://www.ukro.ac.uk/mariecurie/events/index.htm or contact Robert Bunn at robert.bunn@investni.com (028 9069 8602) or Lisa O’Reilly at lisa.oreilly@investni.com (028 9069 8594)
 

The European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) acted extremely quickly and to date has committed to funding €70 million to assist the victims of the floods. The most recent funding announcement for €30 million on 18 August added to the €30 million announced on 31 July and the €10 million on 11 August .

In addition to the €70 million the European Commission is providing, EU Member States have also acted quickly with humanitarian funding worth more than €130 million so far (see table below).

EU-funded humanitarian projects are implemented by non-governmental organisations, specialised UN agencies and the Red Cross / Red Crescent movement. The Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, ECHO, already had a support office in Islamabad, providing humanitarian assistance for conflict-affected people in the northern areas of Pakistan through partner organisations, so experts were quickly deployed to the flood-affected areas.

EU funding is already being used on the ground to provide emergency shelter to millions of people who have been displaced and whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. Flood waters are also posing a severe health threat for an already vulnerable population due to water-borne diseases, so the provision of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities is crucial. Food assistance is also vital as all crops and food stocks have been lost in certain areas.

Priority Needs:

• Shelter: The overall need for emergency shelter has intensified rapidly, compounded by the evacuation and migration of the flood-affected populations. Large volumes of plastic sheeting are necessary as stocks of locally available tents will not meet the need. Assessments are ongoing to establish how much will be required.

• Food assistance: The UN and relief agencies estimate that around six million people will need food assistance over the next three months as crops and food stocks have been destroyed by the floods. This number will probably rise. There are urgent needs for fodder for livestock and the winter crop “rabi” needs to be planted by late September.

• Access to health services: In some locations, health facilities and medicines stocks have been damaged or destroyed by the floods. Flood-related health problems are on the rise; with reports of increased incidence of watery diarrhoea, scabies (skin diseases), acute respiratory tract infections, malaria, dengue fever, and cholera. It is essential that health services are extended to all flood-affected areas. Cholera and diarrhoea centres are being established.

• Water and sanitation facilities: Floods have contaminated and damaged water sources (springs and tube wells), depriving the population of clean drinking water. The affected population is in need of hygiene kits. Needs are particularly acute in Punjab and Sindh. There is still an urgent need to provide clean drinking water to the affected population and repair water sources as well as the provision of sanitation facilities.

The funding provided by the EU will cover all these needs, as well as providing non-food items (blankets, hygiene sets, etc), psychological support, emergency communication, livelihood support and protection.

Europa

· Enhanced Situational Awareness (ESA) - the ability of tools and techniques that allow computer network defense operators to dynamically query a distributed information repository and visualise the results in support of agile risk based decision-making.

· Countering Sophisticated Attacks (CSA) - the ability to detect and report previously unreported computer network attacks in real-time.

· Decision Support for Network Defence (DSCD) - innovative ways of exploring the impact that a computer network attack can have at the business process level.

· Co-operative working for Network Defence (CWCD) - novel information sharing and interaction paradigms that facilitate agile risk based decision-making.

The competition will open at the seminar on September 9th. Companies are strongly advised to attend the seminar to hear firsthand the challenges faced in these areas and the process for participating in this competition. A competition brief will be produced for the seminar and will be available on the website after this date.

For more detail on the challenge and how to register for the event please see the Technology Strategy Board website: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/sbri/cyber-defence-next-generation-analytical-tools.ashx?uts=634178192830594045

In 2009, 510 meetings took place with 160 participants from 21 countries.

Registration

Go to the event website for more information and for online registration: www.brokerage-events.eu/Medica2010

Compiling profiles and planning meetings You can submit technology and/or business profiles online prior to the event. The EEN partners are happy to assist you ( http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.h...

• An online catalogue with all the profiles submitted will be available for viewing for the selection of discussion partners • You can select profiles and thus express your interest in meeting the potential partners behind them
• Your own profile can be seen by other participants and chosen for meetings
• Once a choice of partners has been made, you will get a meeting schedule • During the event itself, we are on hand to help you

The event will take place in Hall 6 (Gallery) on 18/19 November.

The registration fee (of €200) will be covered by Enterprise Europe NI/ Invest NI with the proviso that participants will be invoiced if they miss appointments.

Deadlines

• Deadline for registration and submission of profiles is 3 October
• Deadline for selecting profiles is 24 October
• Deadline for accepting meeting requests is 5 November

The EMA position had long been that in order to protect patient confidentiality, a 2001 EU transparency law did not apply to "adverse reaction reports."

In April this year, the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, warned the agency that it was not adhering to EU regulations and "must react to requests for access to documents."

The agency has since decided to put out side-effect reports once personal data has been removed and will do so voluntarily without the need for citizens to make requests.

Drug companies will be watching the development closely as it potentially could make it easier for citizens to launch lawsuits against them.

In 1997, the 19-year-old son of Liam Grant, an Irishman, killed himself. The father holds Roaccutane, a powerful anti-acne remedy, responsible for the tragedy and is involved in legal action against Roche.

He had sought access to the adverse reaction reports for the drug in order to help his case against the firm.

EU Observer

"This escalating trend, whereby unjustifiably high mackerel fishing quotas had been set firstly by Iceland and now by Faeroe Islands for 2010, is in clear contradiction with the avowed objective of sustainable fisheries," she said in a statement.

"Such actions risk causing the collapse of the northeast Atlantic mackerel stock, which would be to the detriment of all the fleets and industries concerned."

If the two countries do not row back on their stance, Ms Damanaki warned they could lose access to EU waters.

"We will put all our efforts into ending this untenable situation by trying to come to an agreement with all states fishing on the north eastern mackerel stock," she continued.

"Should our efforts not be fruitful, however, I cannot guarantee that we will continue to exchange fishing possibilities with Iceland and the Faroe Islands in 2011."

For their part, the Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners Association (LIU) has hit back, attacking the EU and Norway for excluding Reykjavik from mackerel negotiations over the last decade.

"There is no comprehensive agreement for the integrated management of the mackerel fishery. Norway and the EU have seriously undermined the credibility of their own management scheme for more than a decade by unlawfully blocking the participation of Iceland in mackerel negotiations," the group said in a statement.

"The current lack of an agreement for the integrated management of mackerel is a direct consequence of this regrettable behaviour by Norway and the EU."

As a result of Iceland not being admitted to negotiations for the industry for 2010, Icelandic fishermen unilaterally boosted its mackerel quota, they said.

EU membership talks with Iceland began on 27 July with fisheries expected to be one of the thorniest issues on the table.

EU Observer

The service has now announced publication online of information about technologies that are currently available for licensing. The first non-confidential summaries are now available at http://hscinnovations.technologypublisher.com, including a novel diagnostic for meningitis and a gel for treating wounds. More propositions will be added as further technologies become available. In each case contact details are provided so that further information can be obtained. Details can be browsed or searched and an RSS feed is available.

The Communication on "Reaffirming free movement of workers: rights and major developments" offers an overall picture of the rights of EU migrant workers, updating the Commission’s 2002 Communication, taking on board legislative and case-law developments. It aims to raise awareness and promote the rights of migrant workers.

The existing body of EU law in this area (the acquis) gives European citizens the fundamental right to move freely within the EU for work purposes and protects the social rights of workers and of their family members. In this dynamic area, where change is driven by labour market policy, family structure and the process of European integration, free movement law contributes both to achieving the single market and fostering the social, economic and cultural inclusion of EU migrant workers within the host Member States.

For further information http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/322&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
 

26% of internationally active SMEs introduced products or services that were new for their sector in their country; for other small businesses this is only 8%. However, international activities are mostly geared towards other countries inside the internal market and only about 13% of EU SMEs are active in markets outside the EU. European firms are more internationally active, compared with US and Japanese SMEs. These are some of the findings of the study “Internationalisation of European SMEs”. It maps the level of internationalisation of European SMEs and identifies the main barriers and advantages of internationalisation.

Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Entrepreneurship and Industry said: “European SMEs still depend largely on their domestic markets despite the opportunities brought by the enlarged single market and by globalisation at large. It's important for our smaller businesses to improve their performance in cross-border and international trade transactions in order to reinforce growth, enhance competitiveness and support the long term sustainability of companies."

This study analysed 26 separate sectors. The highest percentage of internationalised SMEs is found in wholesale trade, mining, manufacturing and sale of motor vehicles. Within services, the sector 'research' scores very highly. Sectors of activity with the highest share of exporting SMEs are mining (58%), manufacturing (56%), wholesale trade (54%), research (54%), sales of motor vehicles (53%), renting (39%) and transport and communication (39%).

There is a direct link between internationalisation and increased SMEs performance.
1. The most relevant findings of the Survey:

• 25% of EU 27 SMEs export or have exported at some point during the last 3 years
• Partner countries are mostly other EU countries - 76% of all exporting SMEs are oriented towards the internal market.
• There is a direct link between the level of internationalisation and the size of the company. The larger the SME, the more internationalised it is.
• There is a negative correlation between the population size of the SME's home country and its level of international activity.

2.  Better results for internationally active SMEs

• International SMEs create more jobs: Internationally active SMEs report an employment growth of 7% versus only 1% for SMEs without any international activities.
• International SMEs are more innovative: 26% of internationally active SMEs introduced products or services that were new for their sector in their country; for other SMEs this is only 8%.
• Import is a stepping stone to export: SMEs that both import and export, started with import twice as often (39%) than with exports (18%).
• Public support goes largely un-noticed: Only 16% of SMEs are aware of public support programmes for internationalisation and only a small number of SMEs use public support.
• European SMEs are more internationally active than US and Japanese SMEs. Overall, European firms are more active than their counterparts in Japan or the US. Even if only extra EU exports are considered they still perform better.

3. Recommendations for SME Policy Support

• Awareness and use of public support programmes need to be promoted.
• Easier access to support measures for micro firms: they are the ones that need and would benefit more from support programmes.
• Innovation and internationalisation are closely related. This strongly suggests the co-ordination of policy measures aimed at stimulating innovation and internationalisation or even merge the agencies that implement these two types of policies.
• Import is a stepping stone to export. Public support programmes should take this fact into account.

Background:
The goal of this study was to provide an updated and comprehensive overview of the level of internationalisation of European SMEs. The data and conclusions of this study are based on a survey of 9,480 SMEs in 33 European countries. The survey was carried out during spring 2009. The study analysed all activities that put SMEs into any meaningful business relationship with a foreign partner: exports, imports, foreign direct investment, international subcontracting and international technical co-operation. The results allow an in-depth overview of the situation by Country, SME size (micro, small, medium) and sector (26 separate sectoral groupings were analysed).

More information
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/market-access/internationalisation/index_en.htm
 

• the right to receive information from airlines (e.g. on your rights, on the situation as it evolves, cancellations and length of delays)
• the right to care (refreshments, meals, accommodation as appropriate)
• the right to chose between reimbursement of fares or be re-routed to final destination

However, in an exceptional circumstance such as this, passengers are not entitled to additional financial compensation as would be the case where delays or cancellations are the fault of the airline.

The Commission acted swiftly in April to remind air passengers of their rights and will continue to do so in future exceptional circumstances.

Passengers are always advised to first contact their airlines and in case of problems the national enforcement bodies. An up-to-date list of national enforcement bodies is available on:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/air/doc/2004_261_national_enforcement_bodies.pdf

If my flight is cancelled, does the airline have to offer me a choice between reimbursement and re-routing?

Yes. You as the consumer decide.

It is important to bear in mind that if you chose reimbursement (i.e. to get the money for your ticket back) then your rights cease at that point. The air company is no longer required to provide you with refreshment, accommodation from that point on.

If I chose reimbursement does that mean I get the full price of my ticket back – including taxes and any charges?

Yes, you should get back the money you paid for the ticket.

If you chose re-routing

The airline can re-route you through other modes of transport – train, rail etc. or by other air carrier. While you wait for re-routing, the airline has a duty of care – to provide refreshment as appropriate, depending on the length of the delay, to provide accommodation of one or more nights if necessary, or to provide you with transportation to the place of accommodation.

Where do I apply for re-imbursement?

You apply to the airline company that you booked a ticket with.

What if they tell me I have no rights in these "exceptional circumstances"?

Under EU law your EU passenger rights do apply even in these exceptional circumstances. The only part that does not apply is the additional financial compensation (extra money to compensate you for your inconvenience).

What if airlines do not accept this, or if they will not apply the rights I have?

Complain. If you have problems claiming your passenger rights you need to complain – firstly to the air carrier and if you are still dissatisfied with its answer, then to the competent national authority. They are best placed to help you and they are legally responsible under EU law to enforce the law.

Further information:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/air/doc/2004_261_national_enforcement_bodies.pdf

How can the EU Package Travel Directive protect consumers who are stranded because of cancelled flights?

If the cancelled flight has been purchased as part of a package holiday, consumers have more extended rights, including the right to obtain a refund for the entire package (including e.g. the flight and the hotel) and assistance on the spot if they are stranded.

Further information:

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/citizen/my_holidays/index_en.htm

If you need more information on your EU rights and how to access them?

Travellers affected by the situation are advised to contact their airlines or travel agents first.

If you have problems or need more information or support to claim your rights can contact a European Consumer Centre in any country, a national consumer organisation or the competent enforcement body.

A European Consumer Centre (ECC) supported by the European Commission exists in every EU country as well as in Iceland and Norway. The centres are there to help travellers who have been affected by the crisis and who are having difficulties in having their rights respected, such as the right to be reimbursed or re-routed to the final destination and right to obtain meals and accommodation. The network of ECCs is working together to ensure a coordinated response to the crisis. Full contact details for ECCs for all countries and links to national websites can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/index_en.htm

There is also a Europe Direct phone line, advertised on posters in many airports throughout Europe where you can also get more information on 00800 6 7 8 9 10 11

For more information on your rights see:

apr.europa.eu

 Nokia Users

Is your inbox overloaded? Like to browse through the many commercial, technical and R&D partnership opportunities on your Nokia mobile phone?

Well now you can!. We have created a free application which is available from the Ovi store.

Simply click on the banner to the left and you will be browsing offers on your phone in minutes.

Android or iPhone?

We plan to also develop apps for Android and Apple phones - so watch out for more news soon.

Blackberry

 A simple way to get our profiles on your Blackberry is as follows.

• Download (free) Blackberry App World. http://www.blackberry.com/appworld/download
• Go to the Blackberry App Store http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/
• There are several RSS readers you can download for a small fee (usually less than $5). For example http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/email/7518
• Once you have installed the reader you can then pick an RSS feed from this site, or contact us to set up your own personal RSS feed using a free text filetr to ensure you get only the orfiles that interest you!

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is way to get an extract of the latest items from a website you want to follow. It saves you having to go back to the website and search for new items.

Enterprise Europe Collaboration Opportunities

The network publishes around 50 new Collaboraton Opportunities each week.  They cover a wide range of sectors and they can be commercial, technical or R&D opportunities.

Up to now it’s been possible to subscribe to our website and create a keyword based profile. If you do this you get email alerts according to the sectoral keywords you have ticked. This is good, but the sectors are fairly broad and you may prefer not to get alerts by email. Everyone’s inbox is increasingly overloaded.

As an alternative we can set up a tailored RSS feed for you, based around a free text filter rather than sectoral keywords. So for example if you were interested in developing a new type of wind turbine, we can create a feed that sends you only opportunities with the words “wind turbine” in it, rather than everything from the Renewable Energy sector.

First  you need to identify the feed you want. On our website, wherever you see the RSS logo  it means you can use that feed in the reader of your choice (more below). However if you want a feed of New Collaboration Opportunities you need to contact us so that we can can set it up for you. We will then email you the RSS URL (like a website address).

Contact Andrew Millar 028 9069 8824 andrew.millar@investni.com to set this up

Once you have the URL of the feed, you can do a lot of different things with it. That’s the beauty of RSS – it gives you the flexibility to read it when and where you want.

Here’s some of the different ways to use it.

• Some RSS feeds can be read by pasting the link in your browser, but it depends on what version of what browser you have. A better way is to use an RSS reader
• RSS readers – there’s lots of these about to use or download for free. One of the easiest to access is Google’s web based www.google.com/reader. If you want it to run on your desktop you can download one like Feed Demon
• If you prefer to stick to email you can use a service like Google Alerts to send you an email when something new is there to read. Alternatively some email clients scan read RSS Feeds. For example  Outlook 2007: for instructions check here
• You can download free software to get a desktop alert when some something new appears in your feed. Just google "RSS Desktop Alert" to see a selection.
• If you want to get the feed on your mobile phone you can get RSS Readers for iPhone, Symbian or Android phones. Here is a good review of RSS readers for the iphone
  If you’re lucky enough you have a new iPad, again you can download apps to read or alert you based on our feed. Read this review

If you need help with your RSS feeds, just let us know.

If you want to read RSS feeds on your Blackberry Mobile see our news item here http://www.enterpriseeuropeni.com/inx/news/index.asp?newsid=155

Technology and design support to the materials community

- Direct advice to companies and researchers
- Signposting to technology, science or training providers
- Signposting and support to gain funding for development

Promoting innovation and development

- Design support and access to materials library
- Project definition (industrial development and industrially relevant research)
- Supporting SPARK Awards for SMEs
- Consortium building for EU Framework and Technology Programmes
- Project management where appropriate

Knowledge exchange

- Co-ordination of interest groups
- Analysis of strategic technology areas and emerging markets
- Overseas missions
- Organising technical meetings
- Dissemination of information from KTN state-of-art reviews
- Promotion of KTPs
- Promoting standard work

Support for R&D funding

- Assistance in building consortia
- Assistance with project management were appropriate
- Promoting the work of established funders relevant to materials
- Working closely with technology platforms to provide strategic input into the National and EU Commission’s work on Calls

 European Opportunities - The Northern Ireland Perspective

https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/materialsktn/articles/-/blogs/european-opportunities-the-northern-ireland-perspective-1?ns_33_redirect=/web/materialsktn/articles%3Fp_p_id%3Dactivitylist_WAR_profilesWeb_INSTANCE_AQr2%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-2%26p_p_col_pos%3D1%26p_p_col_count%3D3%26ns_activitylist_WAR_profilesWeb_INSTANCE_AQr2_rss%3D1

Enterprise Europe network (EEN) brokerage events are typically held at trade fairs. They are always planned many months in advance.  Each will usually be organised by a host partner together with the help of partners from particpating regions. The logistics behind runing an event like this are complex. Several hundred registrations, each with multiple profiles, have to be catalogued prior to the event on a website. Participants then get the chance to request and accept meetings with each other. The meetings then all have to be scheduled in advanceand managed on the day. EEN Partners use sophisticated web application technology to help with this process. Furthermore, EEN consultants will work with companies months before the event to focus and refine ideas, and create succinct, descriptive profiles (in English), which communicate their request or offer. During the event live updates on meetings (such as rescheduling or late arrivals), are viewable on screens.

Events almost always will be sectorally focussed and usually will present a range of profiles:

• Technology opportunities (such as licensing, or joint development)
• Commercial opportunities (such as searches for distributors)
• R&D collaboration possibliities

Heathcare Sector Brokerage Event at MEDICA

MEDICA is one of the biggest fairs in the healthcare sector. It is held every November in Dusseldorf.  Every year the EEN Healthcare Sector Group (of which Invest NI is a member) organise a brokerage event there. Half of a large mezzanine area in one of the halls was utilised.

Our event in Novemeber 2009 had excellent attendance figures, with 161 partcipants, and 502  meetings. 322 individual profiles were registered by counrties from all around Europe and beyond. Particpants were present from Russia and the USA as well.

Northern Ireland was very well represented, with 6 organisations taking part, posting 20 profiles between them. This resulted in over 40 meetings for our local clients and as of January 2010 negotiations have started concerning 4 of those.

One of the local organisations represented was the University of Ulster. Tim Brundle and Jennifer Cook from the Office of Innovation (left)

Another local company represented was Orthodocs  Ltd, who are suppliers of Products for drug free lower back pain relief, elderly & infirm care and  dementia care. - see www. orthodocs.co.uk

Brian Anderson, the MD, had  5 meetings with German, Belgian and UK companiesand is currently continuing negotiations with 2 of them.. 

Future Events

Every months several EEN  brokerage events are happening around Europe. A full list is always maintained on the central EEN website and key events are also published here on the N.Ireland EEN site.