EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

BICs, a Knowledge Transfer tool for smart Innovation-based regions

Joe Greaney EBN President, Brussels

CEO of WestBIC, Galway (Ireland)

TT & innovation-based economy conference, KRAKOW (PL), 4th March 2011

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Let’s talk about

EBN

Networks

Incubation

Entrepreneurship

Ecosystems

Innovation

Management

Services & Apps

Impact & performance

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

• The European Network of BICs, incubators, innovation and

entrepreneurship & start-up Centres >>> « Innovation-based incubators » >>> Business & Innovation Centres (BICs)

• An organised Network of 200+ Business & Innovation Support

Centres covering most regions of EU 27 + neighbouring as well as partnering countries

• An initiative taken 25 years ago by the EC (DG Regio), public authorities, industry leaders, and Universities >>> A pioneer in PPP, a connector between knowledge and business

• A dynamic cluster of clusters with 25.000+ entrepreneurs within the active portfolio >> > with Village Tronic, Exilica, Vivalis, Lipotec, Codasystem, Semiotix, Biofly, BioAzul, Kandor Graphics, Leica Geosystems, Jamendo, etc inside

• A community of qualified & committed intermediaries, with St-

John Innovation Centre, Cap Alpha, Innostart, Promotech, Innotek, Knowledge Dock, Solvay Entrepreneurs, Technoport, Innovatum, Berytech, Technowest, and KRAKOW technology park inside !

The EBN Network a community sharing values, goals & brands

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

o

A network of course ! Standing alone is not an option

• A network is a non-linear process, a fractal subject, with fuzzy logic,

playing expert systems, semi-chaotic, with its own open source language, inter-operable and plugable, coopetitive,

• A true new profession to be inserted in academic (pragmatic) education, a community with its own « entrepreneurship-driven » language and C(C for Community)RM software !

• A strange business object with a passion for services and for Knowledge

Transfer: - collective reputation builder & roadmapping - internal quality insurance & external branding - total benchmarking & resources centre - intra-community networking & thematic groupings - idea-lab, toolkit, projects factory - hub & spoke connecting platform

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Networking but why Networking ?

• Learning : knowledge, know-how, tools • Finding Models: business, role, leadership, admiration • Being inspired by method & benchmarks • Being proud of exposing robust results & impact • Sharing efforts: work, investment, risk, reward • Help taking decisions: right or wrong • Sharing values: ethics, integrity, reputation • Buena Vista social-club: trust, affectivity, emotion ! • Exploring the world: trends, idea & opportunity spotting • Teaming-up talents: teams, core competences, collaborative

management, know-who & outsourcing • Enhancing ICT skills: connected, pervasive

• Making business & money: of course !

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The language of Innovation Networks is changing! do you speak entrepreneurship ?

« leadership, collaborative, open-minded, multi-disciplined,

teaming, unique individuals, BD lovers, passion, work, rigor, conviction, talents, emotion, challenge-driven, customer-oriented, curiosity, courage, audace, tenacity, fighting spirit, solutions-driven, vision, risk, social engagement, adaptability, agility, mobility, ethics, integrity, simplicity, sense, communicator, focus, conscience, substance, excellence, invasive, pervasive, inclusive, visual, research, knowledge, duration, compliant but not too much, solidarity, exchanges, sharing, nomad, IT-addict, cash-fan, investment-ready, fast networker »…What else?

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The EBN geography Back to physical delivery

Over 160 accredited BICs, Full Members of EBN, including KRAKOW TP Over 80 Associated Members… looking forward for accreditation & collaborative networking A real Pan-European Network (including North Africa, Middle East, Russia & Western Balkans) Ad-hoc strategic connections worldwide (US, Russia, Chile, Canada, Israel,, China, Singapore and Brazil)

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

1984

First BIC created in Liege, Belgium

EBN Created

1991

First non-EU BICs created in the Czech & Slovak Republics

1999

Positive independent evaluation of the BIC instrument

BICs integrated into mainstream Structural Funds

2002

Outsourcing of the EC-BIC Label to EBN by the EC

2010

Over 250 Members (EC-BICs and Associate)

Deployment of the ESA-BIC label in partnership with ESA

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2000 – 2002 Re-engineering of the EBN Association

The Story Line the 25 first years

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

250.000 Existing SMEs supported

175.000 Business Plans developed

65.000 Start-up companies created

275.000 Jobs created

What impact? Cumulative figures for the entire network

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

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Start-ups SMEs Jobs Business Plans

Which trends? Varying but growing over the years

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

• incubator of new business ideas/models

• creator of new innovative start-ups

• generator of spin-offs

• developer of innovative SME projects

• accelerator of growth

• animator of clusters

• proximity connector local/global

• multiplier of public policy

• networking hub to experts, agents, players, investors…

• Opportunity spotter, « hands-on » business developper

• Coach & mentor, strategic advisor

BICs’ core business/competences a standards for Innovation-based Incubators

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The portrait of a BIC (part 1)

• A light and flexible structure (8 to 12 staff + outsourced experts) • Predominantly a public body, but highly representative of the private sector as well! (Legal status: 51% public, 14% mixed private-public, 35 % private)

• A regional and international “networker” : • Universities, Science Parks and R&D institutions • Chambers of Commerce & Regional Development Agencies • Large Companies and Investors • Public Institutions

• Highly focused on innovative entrepreneurship, increasingly in: • ICT, Telecom and Mobile Apps • Energy, Environment and Cleantech • Life Sciences and Biotech • Mecatronics and Software Apps

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The portrait of a BIC (part 2)

• Providing added-value services to entrepreneurs:

• Business planning and modeling • Scenario building and financial simulation • SME Financing, Seed capital and venture capital, growth financing • International cooperation, soft landing and partner search •Innovation projects engineering • Hands-on customized support to high-growth gazelle (post-incubation) • Legal business advice, commercial contracts, Intellectual Property Rights • Stimulating the eco-system •Experiencing new approaches (Open innovation with LE, Living labs,…)

• Offering “incubation facilities” (average of 30 companies, creating 155 Jobs,

living together in 3000 m2)

•Animating clusters and helping collaborative projects to succeed (poles of

competitiveness, local clusters, etc.)

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Number of start-up or other enterprise projects

during the year 7.739

Selected prior to feasibility study 20.943

Number of business plans produced during the year 8.285

Number of start-ups created during the year 6.297

Enterprise Survival Rate 89%

Number of tenants in incubator 3.893

Total employment by tenants in 2008 23.242

Number of jobs created in SMEs 6.376

The Performance of the Network Key Performance Indicators in 2008

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Value For Money Cost-benefit ratios 2005 - 2008

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Maximizing the virtues of Benchmarking

Towards web-based solutions

Together with the best, learning from the top performers

Bringing the end-customers at the heart of the action: building a network of smart champion entrepreneurs

Networking BICs through international projects, with EC, ESA, GSA, WB, EPO,…

And deploying a down-to-earth soft-landing platform for innovative start-ups

Boosting collaboration, sharing knowledge and tools through B2B, B2F, B2K events

And through N2N protocols (IASP, EEN, EBAN, EURADA, ENOLL, INFODEV and ANPROTEC) + N2BSchools partnerships (IESE, ESCP, IE, SKEMA, SOLVAY, IAG, …)

Where is EBN going? The next 25 years

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

...powered by dream teams, guided by visionaries, endorsed by leading stakeholders, totally

credible to the private sector, mandated by the public sector, sustainable and politically

independent, making impact on the civil society, stimulating the entrepreneurship

culture, embedding innovation by all means and with all (from academic sources or not) ,

serving a multi sectors entrepreneurs communities, open to external partnerships,

interacting with other instruments in an open & smart mode, a connectors of small

businesses to the global landscape, acting as an idea-lab and development centre for

growing firms, providing knowledge and creativity centres facilities, finally an interactive

cross-road for people, projects, know-how, technologies, IP, Investment, researchers and

entrepreneurs.

…in search of … the Perfect BIC/Incubator

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The business support ecosystem clear focus & easy access !

• Efficient territorial innovation ecosystems require a well-characterized road-map of support services providers

• Vital for individual performances and for enabling cooperation between players

• Simply vital for the emergence of competences, efficency of support, and open innovation

• Plug your BIC, your STP, your IBI adequately into the ecosystem and collaborate openly arounfd your core knowledge/competence

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Let’s talk about innovation Do you recognize these multinationals ?

Open Innovation & Knowledge sourcing count for them! ! • Connect & develop

• Sense & simplicity

• Ecomagination

• Think different

• Invent

• Think

• Connecting people

• Sponsors of tomorrow

• Efficient dynamics

• Motion & emotion

19 Innovation - Sept. 2010 - Philippe

VANRIE

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Connecting ideas, markets & people: this is KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER Today

Market & customers

• Develop I Succeed

• Move I Motion I Dynamics

• Simplicity

• Sense

• Tomorrow

• Progress I Power

• …

• People !

Ideas & networking

• Thinking

• Inventing

• Connecting

• Collaborating

• Imagination

• Passion

• …

• People !

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Why innovation matters ? environment + competition + new needs + obsolescence +

opportunities + new methods

• Changes in the environment forces companies to find new ways to serve their customer profitably (ex: automotive industry)

• Increasing competitive pressures

threaten existing businesses (ex: National Posts)

• New customer needs emerge that

requires new answers (ex: non letal weapons)

• Disruptive technologies make existing businesses obsolescent (ex: the rise of digital photography)

• Emerging technologies provide

opportunities for value creation (ex: mini-cyclotrons)

• Traditional innovation management methods based on perfect information and rational decision making need to be adjusted, in an age of change & uncertainty

Innovation - Sept. 2010 - Philippe

VANRIE 21

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

What is innovation ? An ocean of vocabulary

• Upstream R&D, yes of course (new IP above all) • Technology & Engineering (a passion for optimizing processes) • Blue ocean (inventing new market, ex: i-pad) • Red ocean (intensifying frontal competition) • Radical (Re-inventing your company!, ex: Keytrade bank) • Disruptive (« innovation perturbatrice », ex: RyanAir) • Incremental (Optimizing the processes) • Micro-innovations (constituents of a corp. system for innovation) • Quality management & continuous improvement • Strategic innovation (ex: Dacia) • Unintentionnal innovation • Survival innovation (La Redoute « on-line » shop) • Downstream applications (end users-oriented)

22 Innovation - Sept. 2010 - Philippe

VANRIE

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Types of innovation another classification!

• Product innovation (ex: Dyson bagless vaccuum cleaner)

• Services innovation (ex: Rolls Royce Total Care« power by the hour »)

• Process innovation (ex: the Toyota Production System-TPS)

• Management innovation (ex: Siemens, SAP)

• Marketing innovation (ex: Apple, Shell shops)

• Business model innovation (ex: Amazon, Dell)

• Collaborative innovation (ex: Nespresso)

• Digital innovation (ex: Google)

• Social (& CSR) innovation (ex: nokia-siemens networks)

• Open innovation (open source of course, otherwise a buzz ?)

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Benefits of innovation ? Only advantages !?

• Improving quality

• Improved production processes

• Improving profitability and growing revenue

• Defending core business and expression of market leadership

• Extension of product/services ranges

• Creation of new markets

• Reduced labour costs & promoting lean manufacturing

• Reduced energy & materials consumption

• Reduced R&D costs

• Promoting intra-preneurship & market-oriented attitudes

• Attracting strategic industrial partners

• Upgrading customers & prospects’ perception

• Improving the diffusion of a positive company culture & image

• Increasing shareholders value

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

How does innovation works ? with sociology, psychology & realism

• First of all, integrate innovation at the core of the strategy, as a pivotal & visible corporate value

• Moving from/balancing optimizing business to/and creating business

• Develop innovation teams (with R&D of course but not only) • Stimulate participative management, a high degree of delegation

& responsibility, collaborative & team works, and employee engagement (an innovative HRM style)

• It’s an « inside-out » open process interacting with customers, prospects, suppliers, partners, competitors, staff

• Balance supply-pushed (new technologies) with demand-led (based on market requirements)

• Design systems for ideas assesment and prioritization of detected/selected opportunities

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The innovators’ dna Does it require specific skills ?

• Creative intelligence, not only cognitive skills • Courage to take + ability

to manage risks • Courage to start + stop • Emotion + realism • Collective leadership • Customer intelligence • Opportunity spotters • KM/EI integrators

• Associating skills

(connecting disciplines)

• Questionning skills

(why, why not, what if,…)

• Observing skills

(observing others, being anthropologist/sociologist)

• Experimenting skills

(prototyping + overseas exp.)

• Networking skills

(going out, ideas festivals,…)

26 Innovation - Sept. 2010 - Philippe

VANRIE

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

The innovation tool-box is there a difference between innovation and management ?

• Human capital & HR management

• Techno push/market pull

• Benchmarking

• Trendcharts & roadmaps

• Pipeline management

• Projects management

• Balance score cards

• Business model simulation

• PLM & virtual reality

• Serious games

• Focus groups

• Creativity techniques

• Quality tools (Kaizen, Six Sigma,…)

• TRIZ method (problem solving)

• Lean management

• Design thinking

• Awards & challenges

• Corporate incubators & venturing

• …

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

How to encourage innovation ? You can decide, you have an influence !

• Fix innovation as a management (ambitious?) goal

• Allow staff to spend time on ideas development

• Create a process to pick-up ideas & reward idea producers

• Provide incentive to people for moving ideas forward

• Design a decision-making mechanism for investing in new ideas

• Define a common metrics to measure innovation & impact

• Establish an innovation culture (staff diversity, boost creativity, accelerate external contacts, promote a customer-centric attitude, mobilize teams of champions)

• Promote collaborative schemes (internal + outsourced)

• Do not forget to support two key enabling factors for innovation: entrepreneurship + networking capacities

• Avoid « locked-in » to existing technologies & business models syndroma , for established firms/mature industry

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Back2interacting connect yourself with your environment

• Stimulate creativity at the periphery (on emerging or niches aspects of the business) of the core business units

• Take an active part in your ecosystem’s life (ex: poles of competitiveness, clusters, corporate incubators, corporate venturing fund, technoparks, FP7 joint research projects,...)

• Develop an acute sense of advanced services amongst your innovation team (Oracle selling associated services & consultancy)

• Capture capabilities held by small firms (M&A or others), such as in Biotech (GSK ‘s Centres for excellence in drug discovery)

• Open your non core-business IP, and deploy a licensing strategy • Let others develop your non strategic initiatives (Lucent, H-P) • Sponsor communities of young talents (engineering schools, business

schools) and of application developers (Ex: Intel, Oracle) • Invest in innovation-based educational program, for valorizing the

multi-cultural character of the company, and for picking talents • An innovating company is forced to consistently innovate in its

communication (annual report, web-sites,...)

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

Back2downstream the Apps era !

The Changing Technology landscape is not only affected by disruption, but more by the rise of applications, with/without IP @ a hunger for applications, @ the emergence of niches, @ an extreme diversity in applications, @ serial “opportunity spotting”, fast movers and integrators of

market intelligence, @ by customer-lead innovation routes, @ by pervasive solutions approaches >>> output: hard, soft &

data downstream applications for usable products & services

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

B2territories the place-based theory, the proximity factor

• Serious Gaming at Coventry (entrepreneurial) University, Dublin & Galway • Birmingham (real SMEs) Photonics Clusters • Chem2biz basf spin-off incubator in Ludwigshafen • KIS Biotherapies clustering in Nantes • Knowledge Dock regeneration in the Docklands • Creative computer graphics in Darmstadt • Cleantech platform in Lahti • Software development centre for start-ups in Cork • SatNav Galilleo applications incubated in Liège & Lux • An IT community of 100+ start ups in Barcelona • An integrated TT-Incubation-VC-cluster animation system on micro/nano-

electronics at Imec in Leuven • Creativity and design crash courses in Sunderland • Mechatronics in Haute-Savoie, Photovoltaics in Savoie, • Creative industries in Trolhattan as a response to automotive

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

B2projects we are in a « project-lead economy »

• Networks = an ideal collaborative platform for European projects

• European projects = communities of BICs, Companies and other players co-developing, and sharing opportunities

• Projects = a networking place with institutions (EC, ESA, GSA, WB, …), a way to connect with them

• Projects = a platform where hundreds of clustered innovative small businesses meet big players

• Int’l Project management= A living micro-management school!

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

All these new ways to consider Innovation are actually

contributing to create an appropriate environmement for « the fifth freedom » : the free

movement of ideas and know-how, to create transactions between any knowledge-based players,

and to transform our territories into smart open collaborative and attractive places smart & open

entreprenrurs & innovators!

EBN – European BIC Network Avenue de Tervuren, 168. B – 1150 Bruxelles Phone: + 32 2 772 89 00 - Fax: +32 2 772 95 74 E-mail: ebn@ebn.eu – Internet : www.ebn.eu

European BICs Network (EBN)

Joe GREANEY

Avenue de Tervuren, 168, B-1150 Brussels

Tel. +32 (0)2 772 89 00 Fax +32 (0)2 772 95 74

pva@ebn.be www.ebn.eu