Connect Research 2008, organised jointly by the British Embassy in Rome, the Italian Embassy in London, and Italians in Cranfield Association (ItaCA), will provide a European-level forum to compare business models, best practices, and stimulate the creation of new contacts.

The conference will focus on four main themes:

• innovation through networks: discussion of successful business models; effective links between research institutes, private companies and public sector organisations; examples of access to public research for small and medium enterprises (SMEs);
• intellectual property rights (IPR) management: exploiting technology and marketing innovation
• research and business perspectives on how to protect innovation and successfully exploit it: case studies of intellectual property management;
• funding innovation: how to identify appropriate sources at different stages of development of an innovative technology; examples of public and private streams of funding;
• EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7): how SMEs can benefit from FP7; what type of assistance SMEs need to participate; ways in which bureaucratic processes could be simplified.

For further information:
http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/italy

Source:
http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.document&EV_RCN=29373