Brussels, 12 Nov 2002
The 7th Innovation Relay Centre (IRC) network annual meeting is due to take place in Nuremberg, Germany, from 21 to 22 November 2002.
The annual meeting will open with keynote speeches from Heinz Zourek, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Enterprise DG, and Giulio Cesare Grata, the Enterprise DG's Director of Innovation. They will discuss how innovation and the IRC network fits into the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for research.
The speeches will be followed by a series of parallel sessions covering topics such as 'maintaining a quality IRC service,' 'technology transfer networks outside the EU - case studies from North America,' 'bringing effectiveness to the IRC service,' and 'making the IRC network financially viable.'
The IRC network was set up in 1995 with European Commission support to facilitate innovation in Europe. It provides a specialised transnational technology brokerage service for small to medium-sized knowledge-based enterprises, large companies, research institutes, universities, technology centres and innovation agencies. There are 68 IRCs, with 250 local offices employing over 1,000 people in 31 countries, that form an extensive European technology transfer network.
Journalists interested in taking part can register in advance by contacting:
Nicola Socha
Bayern Innovativ GmbH
+49 (0)911 20671 151
E-mail: socha@bayern-innovativ.de
For more information, visit the IRC network website: http://irc.cordis.lu/