Започна търсенето на Европейския технически директор на годината 2015. Кандидати могат да се предлагат свободно онлайн на www.ctoeurope.net до 18 септември 2015 г.
„Главен технически директор на годината” е общоевропейска награда, с която да се подчертае ролята на най-изявените лидери отговорни за технологичния растеж, насърчаващ иновациите, за обновяване на европейската промишленост и конкурентно предимство. Наградите са подкрепени от Робърт-Жан Смитс, генерален директор за изследвания и иновации в Европейска комисия.
През 2014 г. в категорията за големи компании,бе награден професор Ричард Паркър, директор на научни изследвания и технологии в  Rolls-Royce, за personal leadership, дълга кариера в технологичните иновации и успешни сътрудничества. В категорията МСП, д-р Герт-Ян Грутер, главен технически директор на Avantium, получи наградата заради своето перспективно мислене, личния си принос и работата на компанията по напреднала каталитичени изследвания и зелена химия.

На 23.06.2015г. се проведе финално информационно събитие за обсъждане на постигнатите резултати по проект № BG051PO001-3.1.07-0048 „Актуализиране на учебните планове и програми на специалностите във ФЕТТ, ФТК и МТФ на ТУ-София и създаване на нова съвместна магистърска специалност в съответствие с потребностите на пазара на труда”. На срещата присъстваха представители на партньорите по проекта – Факултет по електронна техника и технологии, Факултет по телекомуникации и Машинно-технологичен факултет към ТУ – София, както и техните бизнес партньори по проекта – Фондация „ИКТ Клъстер”, Вистеон Електроникс България и Българска стопанска камара.
Събитието беше открито от ръководителя на проекта – доц. Емил Манолов, който докладва изпълнението на проекта и постигнатите резултати.   В рамките на проекта са актуализирани 9 учебни планове, 115 учебни програми (дисциплини) и е създадена нова магистърска специалност, ръководена съвместно от трите факултета. Новата специалност „Микротехнологии и наноинженеринг” е иновативна, защото освен че е с интердисциплирана насоченост, комбинираща области като телекомуникации, електроника и индустриални технологии, това е и първия проектно-ориентиран учебен план в ТУ-София. Предвидено е рамките на обучението си студентите да работят върху индивидуални проекти от работната среда, а също така ще им бъдат осигурени и посещения във водещи фирми в областта.
 В резултат на изпълнението на проекта се създадоха по-добри шансове за реализация на участниците в проекта и  бе подобрено качеството на образованието в ТУ – София. Чрез партньорството с бизнеса бяха идентифицирани нови специфични умения, съответстващи на потребностите на пазара на труда, които ще се придобият от участниците в проекта. Интересът към реализация в областта на науката и  конкурентоспособността на пазара на труда на участниците в целевата група са повишени.

Round table “Conversation for Smart Growth” was held on 23th June 2015 in the building of the Council of Ministers. The event was organized by Foundation “Cluster Information and Communication Technologies” and Bulgarian Association of Software Companies /BASCOM/ with the assistance of Mr. Tomislav Donchev - Deputy Prime Minister for European funds and economic policy and the Central Coordination Unit at the Council of Ministers. The event was attended by representatives of the government authorities and the leading ICT organizations.

The roundtable began with a speech by Mr. Tomislav Donchev and continued with short presentations by the government representatives, presenting the new operational programs 2014-2020. On other side the business representatives were able to ask questions and make suggestions about programs. The dialogue was moderated by Mr. Peter Statev - Chairman of the Managing board of Foundation "Cluster of information and communication technologies." The round table was closed with a conclusion that the dialogue between business and the administration will continue in the future.

Presentations:
Operational Program "Innovation and Competitiveness" 2014-2020
Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" 2014-2020
Operational Programme "Science and education for smart growth" 2014-2020
Operational program "Good Governance" 2014-2020
Operational Programme "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014-2020

On 12.06.2015 in Varna, Ms. Anna Naydenova - executive director of ICT Cluster took part in the held “Second Meeting of the Bulgarian Business Clusters”. The meeting was organized by Association of Business Clusters and Bulgarian Marine Cluster, with the supported of Varna municipality.

Over 20 clusters – members of ABC and clusters around Bulgaria, took part at the meeting, as well as representatives of various institutions.

During the meeting were discussed issues related to cluster development, in several presentations were presented and discussed the EU's policy for the development of competitive clusters, the EU framework programs related business clusters and business competitiveness, challenges and prospects for the development of business clusters Northeastern Bulgaria "and others.

On 21-22 May 2015 in Sarajevo, BiH, SEE IT Conference took place. The conference was organized by USAID REG project.
The main goal of the conference was to create an effective environment for two days where companies can interact and trade freely and legally, with representatives from SEE and EU target markets for mutual benefit.
ICT Cluster was partner organization of the event.
Mr. Peter Statev and Mrs. Anna Naydenova were key note speakers in different panel discussions and panel round tables during the conference.

On 20th of May 2015 the second meeting of the members of the Balkan and Black Sea ICT Clusters' Network took place in Sarajevo, BiH.
The meeting was kindly hosted by USAID REG project and was moderated by Mr. Peter Satev and Mrs. Anna Naydenova, representatives of ICT Cluster - the 2015 chairing organisation. 
16 ICT Clusters and ICT Associations were represented and took part in the discussions. The main focus of the event was put on fostering future partnership, cluster excellence, cross-cluster and cross-industry collaboration and future projects and incentives.

Presentations from the meeting:
HAMAC - Bring Space Down to Earth
ICT Cluster - Second meetng, Sarajevo, BiH 

On 27-28 April 2015, in Brussels, GROW your REGIOn conference took place. It brings together European Commission's representatives, regional policy makers, cluster practitioners and business stakeholders. Mr. Peter Statev and Ms. Anna Naydenova  took part in the event as a representatives of ICT Cluster.

The main message of the EC high level representatives from DG GROW and DG REGIO was that Clusters are tool for implementation of the smart specialisation strategy, they can bring in knowledge needs to make smart specialisation successful.

The main outcomes of the conference and interactive discussions are:

·         Moving from accidental to systemic approach to help winners emerge. This requires thinking outside the box and an open space for cross-fertilisation in order to find complementarities

·         Clusters are key, but they need a conducive framework of funding, commitment, and support for smart specialisation

·         Building trust is critical for cooperation and involves focusing on strengths, adding value and connecting the right people

·         Visualisation is needed to show the way by moving from abstract to concrete and from past, present to the future in order to demonstrate a long-term vision

·         Smart specialisation was reflected in the emphasis on niche development, identifying own advantages, and being the starting point for internationalisation

Video form the conference: Here

On April 22th 2015 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, ICT Cluster presented to companies - members of the ICT Cluster Plovdiv funding opportunities for innovative projects under EU programs.

Speakers at the seminar were Peter Stattev, Anna Naydenova and Krasimira Shindarov.

To the participants were presented the objectives, specific requirements, practical application guidelines and evaluation criteria of the SME instrument under the Horizon 2020 programme and EUREKA programme

The event attracted great interest and broad discussion among participants.

Presentation for Horizont 2020 programme
Presentation for EUREK programme

The USAID Partnership for Innovation (PI) project from BiH, together with the USAID REG project and the GIZ Open Regional Fund project for supporting the regional IT Promotion, are organizing a SEE IT conference, that will be held in Sarajevo, BiH, on 21st and 22nd of May, 2015.
SEE IT (South-East European Information Technology) conference will gather ICT clusters / associations, both mature and young ICT firms, and companies from other industry sectors that use ICT technologies in their business.
The goal of this conference is to broaden cooperation among participating business entities to implement joint projects with companies (of all sizes) abroad, as subcontractors for product development or as implementers of software products. .
Мost of the leading IT associations / clusters / centers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece,  Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia have confirmed participation for the event. They are also recruiting their member companies and as soon as there is interest/participants from the target markets, we will match them for tailored one-on-one meetings!
Please invite companies to register on the B2B matchmaking platform: http://seeitcon.talkb2b.net/
The conference will gather participants also from Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey.
Conference agenda http://seeit.ba/program/
Register your participation here http://seeit.ba/event-registration/
The participation at the conference is free of charge..
For accommodation details, please refer to the contacts listed here: http://seeit.ba/contact-page/

Transnational competition "DORA - DonauRaum App Award" for young talents from the Danube region.
Young talents from the Danube region are invited to submit their idea of an app and a first prototype or concept. A high-level jury will judge the applications and choose the best ideas.
The finalists will be invited to an Award Ceremony and to a workshop which are likely to take place as  part of the Annual Forum of the European Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR).
The best three ideas will be awarded a prize.
1st place:        3000,-€
2nd place:        2000,-€
3rd place:        1000,-€

Information and news: www.donauraumapp.blogspot.de
Application: www.donauraumapp2015.istart.org
Application period: March, 31st - June, 1st 2015
Announcement of the finalists: End of July 2015
Workshop & Award Ceremony: likely to take place as part of the Annual Forum of the EUSDR on October 29th, 2015 in Ulm/Germany

 Brussels, 16 February 2015 - PIN-SME responded to the public consultation of the European Commission on the interplay between patents and standards. The document aims at giving an SME perspective on complex issues that regard the treatment of patents in standards, such as the pricing of royalties, the transparency of licensing negotiations, patent pools, fair competition etc. Read the PIN-SME Position Patents & Standards. http://goo.gl/UOM4Y1

Standards make available new technologies by disclosing and sharing innovation. As such different companies, including SMEs, can implement and contribute to a complex technological ecosystems. The success of standardization in complex technological sectors depends on the willingness of companies to disclose and share their proprietary solutions. Inevitable tensions exist between those who own the intellectual property and the vendors who implement the standards into sellable products. The right balance between these conflicting business models is necessary in order to encourage all parties to invest in standardization and implement the standardised technologies.

Telecommunication and consumer electronics industries have been particularly affected by the patents and standards debate. In the last years, the so-called “standard essential patents” (SEP) have spurred disputes and litigation among giants. Companies such as Apple, Intel, Ericson and Nokia among others are at the centre of this debate. Although SMEs are less visible, they are important stakeholders since many of them need standards to build their products and they are in many cases contributors to standards.

Besides the disputes that are happening in courts and the debate that is public on the media, Standards Setting Organisations are moderating the discussions among their members with a view of adapting their patent policies. At the same time, the European Commission has launched a public consultation by which it aims at gathering information and views on the interplay between standardisation and intellectual property rights (IPR).

The ETSI special committee on IPR is the body where ETSI members, in particular manufactures and telecom operators, discuss the IPR policy of the organisation. Currently, an important item of discussion is aimed at giving better guidance on the meaning of Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory (FRAND) licencing terms that every member who contributes to a standard commits to respect. Indeed, the lack of a unique and transparent way of interpreting FRAND is a big obstacle for SMEs who implement standards since they are incapable of predicting the licencing costs related to the placement on the market of a new product.

This month IEEE, an international standards body that releases commonly used technical specifications for some ICT fields such as WiFi, announced significant changes to its IPR rules. A very controversial issue is that IEEE wants patent charges to be based on a percentage of component price, not whole device price, as has been the norm. If this will save vendors billions of dollars between them, on the other hand it will hit significant holders of IPR with a risk to discourage future contributions to standards.

On its side, the European Commission closed its public consultation on 15 February. All the major players and other stakeholders, including PIN-SME, submitted their contributions. For the time being it is still not known what will be the next decisions of the Commission on this topic. The hopes of PIN-SME on behalf of the SME community are that the Commission helps to streamline a framework where great uncertainty combined with high legal costs create barriers for SMEs.

Cluj Innovation Days 2015 will take place on March 19th and 20th. This is the third edition of this annual event organized by our cluster, an event which has been profiled as one of the most important of its kind this part of the European continent. This edition is dedicated entirely to the subject of technological transfer under the conference motto "From Knowledge to Market Value".

More information is available on the conference website at www.clujinnovationdays.com, which will be constantly updated.

You can become a speaker in one of the tracks, either in the business focused one or in the technical one. There are two conditions all speakers must fulfill:
1. have good command of English
2. propose a subject that has practical values. It’s expected a study case which showcases very well a completed technological transfer process. By that we mean concrete examples of products or services that are already or are about to be marketed in a business environment and which were generated in a research initiative or are result of a innovation process.

For such a proposal please send them to Bianca Muntean, at speakers@clujit.ro, she will handle your proposals. For any other questions regarding Cluj Innovation Days please contact: iustinian.sovrea@clujit.ro