Electronic map keeps rail freight on track Our baby is growing fast Investing in research for a knowledge-based economy
The quarterly magazine from EUREKA. Supporting your R&D business
Germany determined to show innovation key to battling economic crisis
86OCTOBER 2009
EUREKA is experiencing a renaissance
www.eurekanetwork.org EUREKA
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2 EUREKA News nr. 86
Table of contentsEUREKA is a European network for market-oriented R&D. Its aim is to strengthen European competitiveness by promoting
market-driven collaborative research and technological development. EUREKA enables industry, universities and research institutes from 38 member countries and the EU to collaborate in a ‘bottom-up’ approach to developing and exploiting innovative technologies.
EUREKA News is published four times a year in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. An online version is available on www.eurekanetwork.org
Publisher: Luuk Borg Editorial Coordinator: Eleni SeriatouContributions: Sarah Morris and Paul McCallum.Design: Crozz CommunicationTranslations: BerlitzPrinting: ArtoosPhotography: with thanks to EUREKA project participants, LUFTHANSA for any assistance and material provided in the production of this issue.
©2009 EUREKA Secretariat ISSN 1470-7489 Permission to reproduce individual articles from EUREKA News for non-commercial purposes is granted, provided that EUREKA News is credited as the source.
EUREKA Secretariat, Rue Neerveld 107,1200 Brussels, Belgium
Subscription enquiries:[email protected]
Opinions expressed within EUREKA Newsdo not necessarily reflect those of theorganisation.
www.eurekanetwork.org
2 – 3 EditorialGerman Chair off to a flying start
4 – 6 News in brief
6 The Eurostars programmeOur baby is growing up fast
11 Innovation DaysXXIV EUREKA Ministerial Conference Report
8 - 9 Country focusGermany determined to show innovation key to battling economic crisis
7 New ChairMinister Schavan launches German EUREKA Chairmanship year
12 - 13 Project showcasesElectronic map keeps rail freight on track – Variable compression ratio engine slashes car fuel consumption – Novel diet beats obesity and heart disease
14 - 15 ViewpointInvesting in research for a knowledge-based economy
3www.eurekanetwork.org
Improved cooperation between EUREKA >and ERA-NET to reinforce our mutual ca-pacity to support SMEs at regional level;
Implementation of the European charter >on intellectual property (IP) – making better use of IP as we are keen to pro-mote entrepreneurship, which involves working with IP rather than just defend-ing it; and
Involving EUREKA more closely in the >new era of open innovation.
There was also a very lively debate at the end of the confer-ence on cooperation between EUREKA and the European Investment Bank (EIB). It is vital dur-ing the current recession to en-courage the EIB to follow up on prom-ising projects from EUREKA that might
not otherwise receive money after the ini-tial research stage.
Germany also pointed to the successes of the preceding Portuguese Chair year — particularly Eurostars, which Portugal over-saw in its first year as a real programme. We know the quality of the projects, we know that industry likes the programme and we know the European Commission is happy with the cooperation. Our project portfolio has increased by 25% – not just Eurostars but also EUREKA projects are growing.
Another important facet of the Portuguese year was the support for im-proved exposure for the EUREKA network with the ‘I am EUREKA’ campaign, which has been getting good results. The Lisbon Innovation Days event in June used the theme to provide a professional presenta-tion of our project successes with a new, fresh look and feel. The result received a lot of positive feedback.
German Chair off to a flying start
Editorial
Our project portfolio has increased by 25% – not just Eurostars but also EUREKA projects are growing
Luuk BorgHead of the EUREKA Secretariat
The July ‘World-Class Innovation through International Cooperation’ conference hosted by Minister Annette Schavan and organised by the German EUREKA Chair in Dresden provided a good beginning to the German year. It is now difficult to imagine starting a chair year without such an event.
Dresden confirmed that EUREKA has an important role to play in the European Research Area (ERA) and that Germany is keen to reinforce this role for industrial research. We had interesting discus-sions in a series of workshops in-volving 300 repre-sentatives of the EUREKA network, government, in-dustry, academia and trade asso-ciations to advise Germany on how to achieve this.
Many of the workshop outcomes were in line with German priorities, which are focused on areas such as increased co-operation between EUREKA and the EU, and improved financing for research and devel-opment. The German Chair is keen to see where EUREKA and the EU can strengthen their joint approach and how we can work better together. Convergence is important – for example exploring synergies between EUREKA Clusters and EU Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) and how to develop more programmes like Eurostars.
South Korea attended Dresden for the first time as a EUREKA associate country. Germany is keen to develop such partner-ships but with good balance across the globe and not just in one region; EUREKA will need to monitor and evaluate closely the mutual benefits that can be derived.
Other points highlighted included:
The need for EUREKA to focus more on >innovation and not just on research;
It is vital during the current recession to encourage the EIB to follow up on promising projects from EUREKA that might not otherwise receive money after the initial research stage.
4 EUREKA News 86
News in brief
Innovation Days Award
The EUREKA 2009 Innovation Days Award for outstanding technological and com-mercial achievement went to Czech-led project E!3161 LOGCHAIN+ E-RAILMAP (electronic rail map of Europe). Software company JERID, the Czech SME, member of OLTIS Group, along with partners from Austria and Germany, developed a power-ful new computer software package for managing freight transport.
The project consists of an electronic map of railways in Europe, with static and dynamic objects, and allows greater efficiency in the organisation of logistical networks. The development was initiated in March 2004 and lasted until 2007. The company already has 200 customers across Europe and is al-ready expanding into the Chinese market. EUREKA projects E!3538 GOENGINE and E!3407 EUROAGRI+ OMS were also nomi-nated as finalists for this award for innova-tion. Around 19 of the 40 projects exhibit-ing at the EUREKA Innovation Days event in Lisbon were judged by the international, independent Eurostars jury on their socio-economic and market impact and level of technological innovation.
EUREKA Ministerial Conference – media impact EUREKA’s Innovation Days event and its results received some interest from specialised and EU media. Science Business, the independent news service bringing together buy-ers and sellers of emerging technologies through its online news coverage reported that following the Ministerial Conference in Lisbon, June 2009, it was reconfirmed that EUREKA continues to have an important role to play in the construction of the European Research Area (ERA), “as a facilitator and mediator across different programmes and projects, particularly in view of its experience in organising research cooperation among European countries in the field of industrial R&D,” the ministerial representatives con-cluded in a position statement. It is important that coordination between EUREKA and EU policies should lead to synergies that drive the ERA forward.
Euronews and EurActiv reported extensively on the Innovation Days event via their online and audiovisual services.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and South
Korea join EUREKAThe EUREKA XXIV Ministerial Conference in Lisbon, Portugal on 19 June 2009 con-firmed the affiliation of two new coun-tries to the network. They are Bosnia and Herzegovina, which joins EUREKA as a National Information Point (NIP) - a transi-tional status that should lead to full mem-bership in a few years - and South Korea, which joins as an Associate Country.
“I am EUREKA” campaign statisticsEUREKA’s first Airport campaign research, “I am EUREKA”, was aimed at identifying whether EUREKA’s project billboards at the gates of Brussels Airport were no-ticed, remembered and understood. A random sample of 303 travellers, mainly European, at the Brussels Airport par-ticipated in the trilingual survey. The travellers interviewed were high-profile respondents (90% with higher education and more than 20% holding a high execu-tive position). Despite being the first try at advertising at the airport, the billboards rated quite well, often leaving behind the bigger tunnel ads in the retention rate question. For the next campaign, there is a need to focus more on the message and its reach. One of the main conclu-sions is that although a good percentage of the respondents identify EUREKA with R&D and technological innovation, there is a clear need to continue the campaign
840 385registrations for the 3rd Eurostars cut-off (one month before the deadline) registrations as Project leader
The prize, worth 10,000 euro to be used to promote the winning product, was award-ed by José Mariano Gago, the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education.
Eurostars National Funding Agency
Day - Brussels, 01 October 2009The first two calls for Euro stars, the joint programme between EUREKA and the European
Community, have taken place with good results. Some 175 projects, with almost 500 partners of which 75% are SMEs, are undergoing contract negotiations with funding agencies in the respective Eurostars member countries. All contracts between the EUREKA Secretariat (ESE) and the national funding agencies within the framework of Eurostars are to be conclud-ed before the end of August 2009; the first payments between the ESE and the National Funding Bodies are expected to take place in autumn 2009. For this reason, the EUREKA Secretariat held a meeting in Brussels on 1 October 2009, specifically fo-cusing on the explanation of the legal as-pects of the Eurostars Programme and to discuss the cooperation of national fund-ing bodies and EUREKA in this context.
5www.eurekanetwork.org
to increase the overall visibility of the EUREKA network, its story and its main objectives. It’s important to mention that, in general, the interviewed public spon-taneously linked EUREKA to innovation and R&D. When aided, also characteristics such as European, industry & technology, and international and project support to EUREKA were attributed.
EUREKA’s World of Innovation Blog http://eureka-innovation.blogactiv.eu/
EUREKA’s World of Innovation Blog was launched recently in the EU Blog Platform, Blogactiv, to promote EUREKA’s work and position among relevant stakeholders. It is hoped that content and members’ and inter-ested parties’ feedback will make this blog a reference point for European Innovation, SMEs, and our successful R&D projects.
EU News
New European Parliament, President
and ITRE Chair elected
The June European elections are over and the EU’s only directly-elected institu-tion is getting ready for its new five-year term. Newly elected MEPs elected Jerzy Buzek to be the new European Parliament President with over 86% in favour. The 69-year-old Polish MEP will lead the EP until January 2012. President Buzek is the first President of the EP to come from Central and Eastern Europe following the EU’s enlargement in 2004. In a brief address to the EP in Strasbourg immedi-
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
1st European Innovation Summit
Knowledge4Innovation (K4I), a not-for-profit and independent platform, enabling multiple stakeholders meet and exchange their experiences with the common ob-jective of improving Europe’s innovation performance, is holding its first European Innovation Summit at the European Parliament, on 12-16 October 2009 EUREKA is a main partner of the event. The conference and exhibition will feature work-shops and special events involving students and innovation-oriented organisations. Sessions will be hosted by MEPs in an effort to exchange views on how to manage science and technology in Europe. Mr. Franco Cozzani, EUREKA Strategy Director, Mr. Rudolph Hagenmueller, ITEA2 Chairman and Mr. Enrico Villa, CATRENE Chairman, will all be panellists during different sessions of the Innovation Summit.
For more details visit http://www.knowledge4innovation.eu/k4i/default.aspx
ITEA 2 Symposium 2009The event along with the exhibition will focus on this year’s theme: ‘Business-oriented innovation that strengthens economy and benefits society’. The ITEA Community Day will include presentations on programme achievements, facts & figures and the future. A Co-summit will be held together with the ARTEMISIA Association with a programme on “Ecosystems driving open innovation in Embedded Intelligence and Software-intensive Systems and Services”. Presentations will include industrial and political viewpoints as well as parallel sessions for participants to join on concrete ICT-based approaches and examples.
For more information and registration: http://symposium2009.itea2.org/.
ately after the vote, Mr Buzek described his election as “an enormous challenge and a great honour”. The inaugural meet-ing of the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) parliamentary committee was completed mid-July with the election of German Herbert Reul (EPP) as ITRE chair-man, and Patrizia Toia (S&D, Italy); Jens Rohde (ALDE, Denmark); Anni Podimata (S&D, Greece) and Evzen Tosenovsky (ECR, Czech Republic) as vice-chairs.
Business Panel on future EU
innovation policyDG Enterprise established the Business Panel on future EU innovation policy
Bosnia and Herzegovina and South
Korea join EUREKAThe EUREKA XXIV Ministerial Conference in Lisbon, Portugal on 19 June 2009 con-firmed the affiliation of two new coun-tries to the network. They are Bosnia and Herzegovina, which joins EUREKA as a National Information Point (NIP) - a transi-tional status that should lead to full mem-bership in a few years - and South Korea, which joins as an Associate Country.
“I am EUREKA” campaign statisticsEUREKA’s first Airport campaign research, “I am EUREKA”, was aimed at identifying whether EUREKA’s project billboards at the gates of Brussels Airport were no-ticed, remembered and understood. A random sample of 303 travellers, mainly European, at the Brussels Airport par-ticipated in the trilingual survey. The travellers interviewed were high-profile respondents (90% with higher education and more than 20% holding a high execu-tive position). Despite being the first try at advertising at the airport, the billboards rated quite well, often leaving behind the bigger tunnel ads in the retention rate question. For the next campaign, there is a need to focus more on the message and its reach. One of the main conclu-sions is that although a good percentage of the respondents identify EUREKA with R&D and technological innovation, there is a clear need to continue the campaign
37 %France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain have the highest participant registration
of the registered leaders come from the ICT sector and 20% from Bio-tech
to provide inputs from a business per-spective on priorities for future EU in-novation policy. A final report in early autumn 2009 is expected to contribute to a new European Innovation Plan. The consultation debate had been open until 31 August 2009 and the results will feed into the Panel’s final report, which will also provide underpinning evidence and rationales for the panel’s ideas and rec-ommendations.
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/innovationun-limited/files/2009/07/business_panel_consultation.pdf
6 EUREKA News 86
The Eurostars programme
Eurostars has had a very good start. “The first two calls were particularly success-ful,” points out David Garlot of the EUREKA Secretariat. “Call 1 received 215 applica-tions, while Call 2 had 315 – already a 50% increase.” Call 3, closing on 24 September 2009, is expected to show further growth.
Some had reservations initially about the target of the initiative – research-performing SMEs. However, results show there is definitely a market: the first two calls involved 1,300 such SMEs in the 530 applications! So the good news is that the programme delivers to its clients.
Moreover, Eurostars has been very suc-cessful from the European institution point of view. The European Commission and member countries have designed a programme that is working and is ensur-ing synchronisation of funding – a major difficulty at European level is to synchro-nise funding by the different countries, as EUREKA has found for the last 25 years!
Coping with successThe challenge now is to cope with the success. While there is a clear need for the EUREKA members involved to put in more money, this is a difficult moment with the financial crisis. However, member coun-tries are already investing in relaunching their economies.
“We believe Eurostars offers an excellent programme for investing money in the fu-ture,” says Garlot. “The challenge is to con-vince the decision makers that we must put more money in a successful programme.”
While the current budget is low, countries are ready to cede sovereignty, but if fund-ing increases, this may become more diffi-cult as a key element is the central evalua-tion. Convincing ministers to put up more money while ceding control is a major challenge. However, it allows them to say that they are really European and, if their applicants are successful, that their SMEs are very competitive at European level.
Room for some improvementEurostars is still a baby and there is some
Our baby is growing up fastEurostars was high on the agenda at the June EUREKA Ministerial Conference in Lisbon. The final communiqué welcomed the successful launch of the programme, which provides an excellent tool for R&D-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become more competitive by fostering their international R&D cooperation strategies. It has added a new dimension to the synergy between EUREKA and EU policies, while boosting the number of EUREKA projects.
Active participationIt is the major EUREKA countries that have been the most active in Eurostars: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. The Scandinavian countries have also been amazingly successful, with great participation from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Norway is set to raise its budget to the level of the big countries to catch up, making it a major Eurostars country. Research sectors are similar to EUREKA itself: information and communications technology (ICT) and biotechnology are the two main areas. And 80% of participants are research-performing SMEs, while 20% are universities and research institutes.
room for improvements. “We need to con-clude contracts even faster to make the whole process more efficient,” explains Garlot. However there are inevitable legal teething problems to overcome to finalise agreements with individual national fund-ing agencies.
Nonetheless, the initial timetable is being retained. Call 2 closed in November 2008 with funding decisions in March 2009 and contract signing at national level continu-ing. There will be two calls a year from now on – closing in February and September each year.
We believe Eurostars offers an excellent programme for investing money in the future
7www.eurekanetwork.org
New ChairMinister Schavan launches German EUREKA Chairmanship yearFrom Lisbon to Berlin as Portugal hands over to Germany at XXIV Ministerial Conference
Annette Schavan, Minister at the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Re-search) officially launched the German EUREKA Chairmanship year at the ‘World-Class Innovation through International Co-operation’ Conference in Dresden on 7 July, attended by some 300 representatives of government, indus-try, academia and trade associations.
“In these times of economic crisis, now is the moment for researchers and innovators in Europe to exploit the inter-national coopera-tion promoted by EUREKA and streng-then cross-border ties,” she said. “Both the stability of the EU Seventh Framework Programme and the flexibility of EUREKA should be better utilised to mobilise Europe’s innovative potential.”
Schavan announced that, in preparation for its Chairmanship, the BMBF had commis-sioned a survey of businesses and research institutes involved in EUREKA, as well as the holding of numerous interviews with ex-perts belonging to the EUREKA community
and others concerned with transnational R&D cooperation. The findings of both were as expected, however they also strength-ened the resolve of the German Chairman-ship to reinforce EUREKA’s rightful place in the European Research Area through its intensive and ambitious work programme
this year.
Schavan was joined in Dresden by Germany’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Anneli Pauli, Deputy Direc -tor-General at the European Commis-sion’s Research Di-rectorate and Che-
Min Rim, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Republic of Korea.
The morning’s keynote speeches were fol-lowed by lively and well-attended workshops in the afternoon, on subjects as diverse as energy technologies, manufacturing, intel-lectual property and venture capital.
For further information: www.eureka-chair.de
Photos: © J. Männel
Both the stability of the EU Seventh Framework Programme and the flexibility of EUREKA should be better utilised to mobilise Europe’s innovative potential
Prof. Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research in Germany and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician.
Walter Mönig, EUREKA High Level Representative
8 EUREKA News 86
It is not hard to convince German com-
panies of the need to be innovative. The
country is Europe’s largest exporter of mer-
chandise, with its firms competing against
high-tech rivals in the United States and
Japan, among other countries, to sell prod-
ucts like computer chips, car components,
pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies.
However, with Germany’s Bundesbank
forecasting the country’s Gross Domestic
Product will contract by 6.2 percent this
Level Group. The global downturn means Germany is chairing EUREKA – which turns 25 next year - at one of the most challeng-ing moments in its history. There is serious pressure on the EU’s commitment to in-crease the percentage of its GDP it devotes to research and development to 3 percent. Nevertheless, Germany is determined to use its term - which runs until June 2010 – to consolidate EUREKA’s role in European R&D alongside other schemes like the EU’s Framework Programme. “We have limited resources but we have to be proactive,” says Mönig.
Germany picked Dresden to launch its Chairmanship in July, inviting almost 300 representatives from industry, trade asso-ciations, government and academia to dis-cuss the priorities for the year ahead. The city, in eastern Germany, was an inspiring location to discuss innovation – the heart of a region which has built a research-intensive, internationally prestigious ICT sector, dubbed “Silicon Saxony”.
Germany has been a solid player in European innovation over the last quarter of a century. The then FRG (West Germany) was one of the founders of EUREKA in 1985 and after the reunification of Germany in 1990, companies based in the former GDR (East Germany) proved just as keen to co-operate with firms beyond their borders to develop new products.
year, business leaders are understandably nervous about fresh investments.
Nor are German firms alone in their reluc-tance. “Companies are in a very difficult situation and boards are not that prepared to devote a lot of money to joint pro-grammes and research,” says Walter Mönig, Deputy Director-General for Euro pean and International Cooperation at Germany’s Education and Research Ministry BMBF and current Chairman of the EUREKA High
Germany determined to show innovation key to battling economic crisisEurope’s largest exporting country takes the Chairmanship of EUREKA in the midst of a profound economic crisis, which is leading companies to slash investment. In the history of EUREKA, R&D has rarely been so under fire – or so essential to future competitiveness.
POPULATION 82.2 MILLION GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT €2,492 BILLION
Walter Mönig, Chairman of the EUREKA High Level Group.
9www.eurekanetwork.org
ments include money earmarked for R&D to boost economies in the longer term, many do not amount to much more than spending on building projects to create jobs in the short term.
aware of what it can offer. An awareness campaign could be organised for poten-tial EUREKA participants on the bank’s funding facilities,” Mönig says.
During the next few months, EUREKA will also explore what organisa-tional or administrative support it can give to new ‘Clusters’ – groups of companies and insti-tutions working together on a common research agenda, which control 70 percent of EUREKA project funds.
“Anything which EUREKA can do to relieve pressure on project funds is currently cru-cial,” says Mönig, particularly since in the early days of a project not all the partners secure their funds in their home countries at the same time in order for co-ordi nated research to begin. EUREKA’s Eurostars scheme will partly help the problem of ‘synchronisation’ of funding since nation-al governments commit money towards it and the best-ranked Eurostars proposals are given money from these pots.
To some extent, the problem of synchro-nisation is linked to the way companies
Although Germany hasn’t met the Lisbon target of 3 percent, the country spends 2.54 percent, according to BMBF figures, well above that devoted by many other EU countries. A Global R&D Report, published by Reed Business Information, said Germany filed 55,487 in-ternational patents in 2004, leaving European peers trail-ing. France filed 13,270 and the UK 12,290. That compared to 167,414 in the US.
Mönig says research and devel opment has given Germany an edge in the chemicals industry, where BASF is the world leader in its field, as well as in the machine tools industry (think of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen), the semi-conductor, pharmaceuticals and automotive industries. “The best qual-ity cars and parts in the world still come from Germany,” he says.
But, like European counterparts, many German companies are grappling with the double whammy of increasing competi-tion from cheaper parts of the world such as Asia and the global credit crunch. While stimulus packages by some EU govern-
INFLATION 0 % (May 2009, German Statistical Office)
Key industry sectors: iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, automotive, machine tools, electronics, ICT, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles, pharmaceuticals, biotechnologies
Exports: more than a third of national output
We think the advantage of the EIB is that they don’t demand companies show the same guarantees as normal bank loans
Top of the German Chairmanship’s agenda is a desire to help companies secure financing for research on new products which necessarily carry the risk of failure, and which usually only deliver profits in the medium or long term. The Chairmanship thinks the European Investment Bank could offer more loans to EUREKA projects. It plans to meet with the bank to discuss specific help for EUREKA partners. “We think the advantage of the EIB is that they don’t demand companies show the same guarantees as normal bank loans,” says Mönig. “We think often EUREKA projects haven’t used it because they haven’t been
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10 EUREKA News nr. 86
generate ideas for new products and then seek the funding for the R&D, in contrast to the way research priorities are set in, say, the EU’s Framework Programme. “The synchronisation of funding is a drawback of EUREKA but it is the bottom-up ap-proach which gives freedom to participants and that means the companies are closer to developments in the markets,” says Mönig.
The bottom-up approach also enables small and medium-sized companies to work with larger partners on big, ambitious projects. Small, agile companies are often creative and dynamic and they play a particularly strong role in EUREKA, as they do in the German economy. “A number of German SMEs are high-tech and world market leaders in their particular niches and the German market is too small for them, so they are to a very high degree interested in cooperation on marketing, production and jointly developing products,” says Mönig.
It might seem surprising that 25 years after EUREKA’s start, small and medium-sized businesses are still so central in a glo-balised world of big brands. In other respects, though, the busi-ness world has undergone a sea of change, which is reflected
GERMAN INNOVATORS
Big test, little screenGerman innovators joined peers from Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden in rigorous validation testing of the mobile TV broadcasting standard DVB-H. CELTIC’s Wing-TV project demonstrated the technology’s outstanding performance and suitability as the European standard.
Potential seen: boosted by the testing of Wing-TV’s 22 partici-pants from eight countries, the standard earned the support of broadcasters, network operators and mobile handset makers.
Speedy labLarge hospital laboratories can find thousands of patient sam-ples from a store, thanks to a new robotic sample manage-ment system developed by Germany’s Swisslab Medizinische Informationssysteme together with French partners. The sys-tem designed by E!3527 PMS includes a hover railway which uses magnetic force to move carriages of samples along a track.
Potential seen: sales of up to 1.5 million euro within five years.
Smooth operatorsMunich-based Fidura Capital Consult teamed up with Czech in-novators on the creation of a range of furniture tailor-made for the elderly and people with reduced mobility. Rubberised and elastic handholds, removable upholstery for easy washing and designs to ensure better visibility of stored items are among the features of E!3120 SPECIFURN’s elegant pieces.
Potential seen: Given Europe’s growing ageing population, there will be increased demand for such products. A market study in Germany estimated a potential market there alone of 6 billion euro over the next five years.
Brewing energyMaking beer produces tonnes of leftover used grains. In E!3540 NO WASTE BREWERY, along with Slovak developers, Germany’s BMP Biomasse Projekt and INNOVAS found a way to turn them into fuel.
Potential seen: “If (brewers) recover more than 50 percent of (their) own energy costs from the spent grain, that’s a big sav-ing,” says BMP’s Walter Bengel.
Cracking cancerGerman pharmaceutical leader Schering teamed up with Portuguese researchers on an eight-year partnership which has laid the foundations for drugs to tackle prostate cancer. E!1948 SASTEREC and its follow-up E!2705 SAMARDES carried out es-sential research on the human androgen receptor, which binds the male sex steroids and regulates genes for male differentia-tion and development.
Potential seen: The knowledge gained has led to new patents. Ultimately, the partners see their discoveries contributing to anti-cancer drugs.
The synchronisation of funding is a drawback of EUREKA but it is the bottom-up approach which gives freedom to participants and that means the companies are closer to developments in the markets
in developments such as the recent decision of EUREKA’s 39 members to consider extending the organisation to beyond Europe. Members agreed to start a special partnership with South Korea after that country approached EUREKA. The German chairmanship term will include a EUREKA day in the Asian country, a chance for EUREKA participants to network with potential partners there.
Also on the agenda is whether to seek further special partner-ships and if so, which one or two countries should be chosen, and whether EUREKA should tie up with the Latin American research network IBEROEKA to work on new projects. So, this could be the year which goes down in EUREKA history as the one where the organisation took the leap to being a truly inter-national player – highly fitting, since that’s exactly the kind of leap it’s been helping European companies to make for quarter of a century.
➜
Current projects: Germany has 226 running projects
totalling 495 million euro, including 63 Clusters and
51 Eurostars projects.
11www.eurekanetwork.org
Innovation DaysXXIV EUREKA Ministerial Conference ReportAt the invitation of Portuguese Research Minister José Mariano Gago, ministers and their representatives from the 38 EUREKA member countries and Janez Potocnik, European Research Commissioner, met in Lisbon on 19 June 2009 for the XXIV session of the EUREKA Ministerial Conference.
At the same time as recognising EUREKA’s success in its ambition to promote European competitiveness through its support to indus-try — especially SMEs, ministers stressed the increased importance of reinforcing invest-ment in new EUREKA projects, leading to the creation of innovative products and services, even more essential in the current economic climate.
EUREKA’s critical role in the building of the European Research Area was also empha-sised by those attending. EUREKA should act as a facilitator and mediator across different European programmes and projects, particu-larly with its experience of organising R&D cooperation between European countries for nearly 25 years, they agreed.
The Eurostars SME Programme received particular praise for rising to the challenge of increasing synergies between EUREKA and European Community policies and pro-grammes and helping R&D-intensive busi-nesses to become more competitive — of key importance given the global financial crisis.
EUREKA ShOwcASES RESEARch SUccESS AT LISbON INNOVATION DAyS EVENT
Coinciding with the EUREKA Ministerial Conference was the 2009 edition of Innovation Days, a major international event promoting the successes of mar-ket-oriented R&D projects and hosted by the ADI, Portugal’s innovation agen-cy. The three-day event took place at Lisbon’s international fairground from 18 through 20 June 2009.
“Innovation Days is an exciting event – for both those exhibiting and those attending,” said Lino Fernandes, Presi-dent of the ADI. “For visitors, it’s an unprecedented opportunity to see the latest innovations reaching the marketplace in every possible techno-logical area. For exhibitors, Innovation Days is a great venue for networking, boosting business success and mak-ing new partnerships.”
The 2009 Innovation Days event in-cluded EUREKA World, an area within the showground dedicated to the results of EUREKA. It was also the venue for the EUREKA Innovation Days Awards Ceremony, won by the LOGCHAIN+ E_RAILMAP (see project showcase).
One significant conclusion of the meeting was the need for a renewal of EUREKA’s political vision in order to bring new dyna-mism to the organisation. EUREKA should do this, it was declared, through increased cooperation with other European mecha-nisms for R&D support, combining national programmes with EUREKA as well as with the increasingly diversified and open EU Framework Programme.
A dramatic, but positive turnaround was witnessed in the EUREKA project portfolio for the Portuguese Chairmanship year with a total of 323 new projects announced for a total budget of some 1.45 billion euro.
The conference also welcomed the associa-tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina (as National Information Point) and South Korea (as Associate Country) to EUREKA, encourag-ing the two countries to contribute active-ly to the network.
At the end of the meeting, José Mariano Gago formally passed the EUREKA Chair-manship to the Head of the German delega-tion, Professor Dr Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, Secretary of State for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, expressing his best wishes for their Chairmanship term.
Portugal’s Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education José Mariano Gago and Professor Dr Frieder Meyer-Krahmer
Portugal’s Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education José Mariano Gago and European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik
12 EUREKA News nr. 86
Project showcase Electronic map keeps rail freight on trackAn electronic rail map and GPS tracking system developed in the EUREKA E!3161 LOGCHAIN+ E_RAILMAP project makes rail as simple as road for international freight transport. Users can quickly access details for 23,000 stations in more than 40 countries and keep continuously updated about where cargoes are located. E_RAILMAP won the EUREKA 2009 Innovation Days Award for outstanding technological and commercial achievement.
The EU has long promoted rail as more environmentally friendly than road transport but users have found it difficult to access infor-mation about rail freight services, particularly international ones. Czech SME JERID, which special-ises in rail transport software, saw the need for a system that could not only provide information about the international railway network graphically but also track loads in real time.
“While electronic maps are now more widely available on the Internet, they are without a sufficient ‘railway’ layer,” ex-plains Petr Kroca of JERID. “Users of rail-ways for transporting goods had no infor-mation about where the stations were or how goods could be accepted. Our idea was to gather information about the posi-tion of stations for the transport of cargo in all European countries. But we realised that this was a good basis for displaying other information such as positions of wagons, locomotives and goods trains.”
JERID formed a consortium with a German map information provider and an Austrian rail forwarder software company. The con-sortium approached EUREKA as it offered a good platform for international coopera-tion and access to national funding.
Powerful system resultsThe result is a powerful system that ob-tains data from national railway companies and independent GPS-based wagon track-
ing. National railway systems can be que-ried to find the position of freight wagons and this information can then be displayed. Alternatively, wagons fitted with GPS posit-ioning and mobile phone equipment send regular SMS messages to the JERID server, allowing real-time tracking.
Users are railway customers, shippers, freight forwarders and wagon owners as well as railway companies themselves. Information is available in English, German, Czech and Polish. Software can be installed locally or the system can be provided as an
Internet Google map application. Access to freight tracking is password protected.
An initial version of the map covering central Europe was available at the end of the first year of the project; it eventually covered the whole of Europe. The system now also includes Russia and Ukraine, en-abling tracking of the increasing amount of rail cargo coming from China – rail transfer is two to three times faster than sea trans-port. A follow-up project will improve in-tegration of national railway infrastructure information, while developing and optimis-ing route-planning software.
Award a big surprise“Winning the EUREKA 2009 Innovation Days Award was a big surprise,” says Kroca. “But when I filled in the proposal and an-swered all the questions of the award committee, I realised how
successful our project had been.”
Kroca believes winning the award will highlight the project and the success of working with EUREKA. “It will also bring more support for our unique activities in supporting rail freight transport in Europe – we don’t know any other com-pany that works on such software,” he adds. Most freight users ask their nation-al railway company but only get informa-tion about their own country and not the European context.
More information: http://www.railmap.net
Our idea was to gather information about the position of stations for the transport of cargo in all European countries. But we realised that this was a good basis for displaying other information such as positions of wagons, locomotives and goods trains
Petrc Kroca, marketing Director for JERID
13www.eurekanetwork.org
Project showcase Variable compression ratio engine slashes car fuel consumptionAn innovative automotive petrol engine that can cut fuel consumption by up to 50% has been successfully demonstrated in the EUREKA E!3538 GOENGINE project and could be in production by 2012.
Novel diet beats obesity and heart diseaseThe EUREKA E!3047 EUROAGRI+ OMS project has shown that it is possible to produce meat, eggs and dairy products with much improved nutritional effects.
“Normal engines have a fixed compression
ratio – around 10:1 for petrol,” explains Bert
de Gooijer of GOMECSYS. “Our innovation is
to vary the compression to suit driving con-
ditions. If you are driving slowly in town, the
compression ratio will increase to 18:1 – simi-
lar to a diesel engine. But the compression
ratio will drop when driving on a motorway.”
The change is obtained by mechanical adap-
tation of the ‘top dead centre’ of the piston,
under computer control. The result is much
higher efficiency, making it possible to double
“I see more and more obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,” says Dr Bernard Schmitt, in charge of the OMS project. “In 1950, only 3% of children under 12 were obese; by 2005 this had grown to 16%, de-spite all the health advice now available.” This has not been helped by changes in agricultural practice that mean cattle now eat maize, soya and sunflower oil rather than Omega-3 rich grass.
Polyunsaturated Omega-3 fats are believed to play an important part in reducing obes-ity and heart disease. However, the major source has been fresh fish – not easily available and not always appreciated. Dr Schmitt worked with animal feed company Valorex to develop an alternative source in everyday foods such as meat, eggs and
power output without increasing fuel use.
GOMECSYS developed a two-cylinder en-gine. When installed in a car, it achieved 40 km/l at 50 km/h. However, it was necessary to convince the car industry that the de-sign could also match modern combustion engines in terms of drivability, noise, vibra-tion, durability and production cost.
The Dutch company therefore set up a EUREKA project with UK-based automotive technology company Prodrive Automotive Technology Europe. They developed two
dairy products by adding Omega-3 rich lin-seed oil to animal feeds.
Dr Schmitt is now president of an associa-tion – Bleu Blanc Coeur – created in France to promote the diet and ensure a complete supply chain for the food products. The as-sociation includes consumer associations, farmers, linseed growers, cooperatives, food processing companies and distribu-tors, including supermarket chains.
“However, we need to modify agricul-tural practices and revise the EU com-mon agricultural policy to increase use of such products,” he explains. This requires clear evidence to convince politicians and was the driving force behind the project. OMS carried out clinical trials with 160 volunteers , half eating normal supermarket
demonstrators: a four-cylinder 1.4-l en-gine providing the power of a conventional 3.0-l V6 petrol engine with 35% less fuel consumption; and a two-cylinder 800-cc engine providing the power of a conven-tional 2.0-l four-cylinder engine but requir-ing half the fuel. These two engines would cover 90% of the market for petrol engines in passenger cars. Four OEM projects are planned this year. If successful, production cars could be using such engines by 2012.
More information: http://www.gomecsys.com
products and half eating the labelled foods. “The results were extraordinary,” says Dr Schmitt. “Volunteers demonstrated sustained weight loss, modified choles-terol levels and considerable health im-provements.”
Portugal’s Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education José Mariano Gago with the winner and runners-up of the EUREKA 2009 Innovation Days Award
14 EUREKA News nr. 86
ViewpointInvesting in research for a knowledge-based economy Robert-Jan Smits, EUREKA High Level Representative for the European Union and Director at the European Commission DG Research, stresses the need for creating a knowledge-based economy in Europe and urges EUREKA to continue playing a key role in the European Research Area.
What role should EUREKA play in the European Research Area an how can it support its industry participants during the economic crisis?
The European Research Area (ERA) is about creating an internal market for research in Europe, in which there is a free flow of knowledge and there are no barriers to researchers’ mo-bility, technology transfer and cooperation between academia and industry. EUREKA contributes significantly in fostering coopera-tion in the field of research and in-novation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), academia and industry.
The message of the European Commission (EC) is: Member States, despite the current economic situation, should continue invest-ing in education, research and innovation to
ensure a competitive knowledge-based econ-omy, once the economic crisis is over. Some countries do this and have devoted signifi-cant funding to this economy. (i.e. Germany is currently investing 18 billion euro). On the
Which are the challenges for EUREKA?
I am happy to see that today EUREKA is expe-riencing a renaissance. There is renewed en-thusiasm and there are ambitious new initia-tives such as Eurostars. Nevertheless, there are still some difficulties to overcome. First of all, funding: EUREKA member countries need to increase their budgets as was agreed at the 2004 EUREKA Ministerial Conference in Paris. Another issue is funding synchronisation. In terms of project funding, we should reduce the time elapsed as a result of the different national funding rules. EUREKA should also optimise its relationship with the Clusters by bringing them ‘back into the EUREKA family’, where they were born. EUREKA should also develop performance criteria for its National Project Coordinators based on best practices to optimize the generation of projects. And lastly there is of course the challenge of: internationalisation. EUREKA needs to go global; currently only 2% of the partners in EUREKA projects come from non-European countries. I was delighted to see the efforts of the outgoing Portuguese Chair to develop an international cooperation strategy for
EUREKA. I am confident that the Germans, headed by Walter Mönig, will start with the implementation and fine-tuning of this strategy.
Should EUREKA focus on specific industry sectors for its develop-ment?
Thanks to its Clusters and Umbrellas, EUREKA has always been attractive to specific sectors such as Information and Communications Technology (ICT). However, we should be careful when fo-cusing on specific sectors to avoid turning
Member States, despite the current economic situation, should continue investing in education, research and innovation to ensure a competitive knowledge-based economy, once the economic crisis is over
contrary, there are other countries that are cutting their funds in research, considering it as an expense rather than an investment. EUREKA’s role during the economic crisis needs to be strengthened by increasing its budget and improving its working methods.
15www.eurekanetwork.org
EUREKA into an instrument of industrial policy. EUREKA should rather work in a mul-ti-disciplinary way.
What do you think about EUREKA associat-ing with specialised partners to help fin-ished projects reach the market efficiently, particularly in terms of international policy advice and financing?
As pointed out during the Launch Conference of the German EUREKA Chairmanship in Dresden early July, EUREKA needs to listen constantly to the needs of clients. Many of them need support in bringing their projects to the market. This requires giving industry help with not only explor-ing new (global) markets and IPR related matters but also gaining better access to funding. Regarding the financing part, the EC and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have joined forces to set up the Risk Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), is an innovative scheme to improve access to debt financing for private companies or public institutions in research and innovation. The total finan-cing capacity of RSFF is around 12 billion euro. I think that the EUREKA Secretariat should signpost industry to this instrument as well as to other existing instruments and programmes, like the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP).
How do you see the evolution of Eurostars?
I am particularly happy about Eurostars because it is proof of the partnership be-tween the EC and EUREKA. Eurostars had undoubtedly a promising start. Yet, it still has to prove that it can deliver. Although I share many people’s optimism, we should wait three more years before drawing any conclusions. And only on the basis of an in-dependent assessment at mid-term should we discuss its future, including a possible increase in funding.
How is the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) helping research-performing SMEs?
Each year the Framework Programme wel-comes thousands of SMEs to its calls, for which 15% of the total budget has been earmarked. On top of this, an enormous amount of funds is allocated to dedicated activities for medium-tech SMEs. Thanks to the Eurostars initiative, the SME di-mension will get even more attention and visibility.
Is there a major shift in focus planned for the Eighth Frame-work Programme (FP8)? Many people are talking about a greater need for out-sourcing and joint programming.
It is too early to speak about the FP8. A mid-term review of the FP7 is planned for 2010 and only after this should we speak about the future. Nevertheless, it is true that the EC is outsourcing certain activities through the creation of two executive agencies and is experimenting with a more programme-based approach, in supporting structures and finan-cing programmes. The Joint Technology Initiatives (public-private partnerships) and Article 169 initiatives (public-public partnerships) are proof of this. In any case, the nomination of the new EC and research Commissioner will of course be crucial in shaping FP8.
Following the Lund Declaration laid out on 8 July, what is your opinion about meeting the Grand Challenges in the context of EU research and what could be the role of EUREKA?
We need to create a pragmatic approach to the Grand Challenges by identifying them, and setting up strategic research agendas based on the needs of industry and soci-ety. This requires a full commitment of the Member States. The Joint Programming on Alzheimer is a good example since it is bringing together several Member States to address a major societal problem. I think that EUREKA must be involved in this de-bate since it can build the bridge to indus-try and generate the necessary innovation-related activities.
ROBERT-JAN SMITSRobert-Jan Smits heads the “ERA” research programmes and capacity at the European Commission’s directorate general for research. Robert-Jan Smits chairs several Programme Committees and is the Commission repre-sentative on: the High Level Group for Joint Programming, the European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), the ESF Governing Council and the EUREKA High Level Group (HLG).
From 2003 to 2006, Smits was responsible for developing the European Research Council (ERC) and the European Technology Platforms (ETPs) as well as for shaping the Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs), which are public-private partnerships in the field of research.
Robert-Jan Smits has degrees from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, the Institut Universitaire d’Hautes Etudes Internatio na-les in Switzerland and the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in the U.S.A.
EUREKA’s role during the economic crisis needs to be strengthened by increasing its budget and improving its working methods
Swedish EU Presidency: Research must focus on Grand Challenges The Lund Declaration, adopted at the ‘New Worlds – New Solutions’ confer-ence of the Swedish Presidency on 9 July outlines the direction in which the EU’s research policy should develop through to 2025. The focus should be on global challenges such as climate change, wa-ter shortage and pandemics. The decla-ration calls for reducing the boundaries between different research areas, in-creasing resources for research.
(http://cordis.europa.eu/presidency)
EUREKA partners have developed an open software architecture that will enable the automotive industry to design safer, innovative cars faster and more cost-effectively.The result: a blueprint for the next generation of cutting-edge cars.
Test this one, Jeremy
Each and every year, R&D-performing companies
- big and small - are coming to us to help make
their ideas a marketable reality. We speak your
language, understand your business goals and can
help you get access to public R&D funding.
Many of the innovations that already make our daily
lives healthier, happier and safer are the result of
EUREKA projects. Will yours be next?
EUREKAprojectITEA EAST-EEAEmbedded Electronic Architecture forautomotives
Find out more at
www.iameureka.eu
The EUREKA label. European innovation inside.
iameureka_a4_car.indd 1 17/08/09 16:37
