Programme for Taftie EWG, Academy Workshop and INNO-Partnering Forum Workshop, Birmingham 18-20th September 2012

Following the Taftie Executive Working Group meeting in Birmingham, at the same location will be the Taftie Academy Networking Workshop on E-Identification, which is open to Taftie and INNO-Partnering Forum members. This will be followed on Thursday by an INNO-Partnering Forum Workshop looking at international best practice in how innovation agencies deliver support to SMEs. This is open to anyone. Please also note that immediately after the IPF Workshop will be a closed meeting of the IPF Management Team. The programme is outlined below.

Tuesday 18th September / 12:00 – 13:00 / Lunch for Taftie EWG / Radisson Blu Hotel
Tuesday 18th September / 13:00 – 15:00 / Taftie Expert Session / Radisson Blu Hotel
Tuesday 18th September / 15:00 - 18:00 / Taftie EWG / Radisson Blu Hotel
Tuesday 18th September / 19:00
20:00 / Walking Tour around Gas Street Basin (canal area)
Taftie EWG Dinner / Meet in lobby of Radisson Blu Hotel
Pushkar Indian Restaurant, Broad Street
Wednesday 19th September / 09:00 – 12:00 / Taftie EWG / Radisson Blu Hotel
Wednesday 19th September / 12:00 – 13:00 / Taftie EWG lunch + Workshop lunch / Radisson Blu Hotel
Wednesday 19th September / 13:00 – 18:00 / Taftie Academy e-identification Workshop / Radisson Blu Hotel
Thursday 20th September / 09:00 – 12:00 / IPF Workshop – International Good Practice – Delivering Innovation Support to SMEs / Radisson Blu Hotel
Thursday 20th September / 12:00 – 13:00 / Lunch / Radisson Blu Hotel
Thursday 20th September / 13:00 – 14:00 / IPF Workshop / Radisson Blu Hotel
Thursday 20th September / 14:00 – 18:00 / IPF Management Team Meeting / Radisson Blu Hotel

NB: Red boxes mean for Taftie members only. The green boxes are open to Taftie and IPF members. Blue denotes the IPF Management Team meeting open only to IPF Management Team members.

Registration

·  Please respond on this doodle link regarding your attendance at Taftie EWG and meals. Please also note any food requirements in the comments box. Remember to press save! http://www.doodle.com/txgbevvsk7y2mxkg

·  If you want to attend the Taftie Academy workshop you must separately register on www.taftie.org/content/e-identification.

·  If you want to attend the IPF Workshop on Tools for Delivering Innovation Support to SMEs (see other attached programme), then register on the other doodle poll: http://www.doodle.com/vy759mg9f7rqsa39#table

Location

Birmingham is the UK’s ‘second city’, in the centre of England and the biggest British city outside London, with a population of over 1m. Birmingham was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, and in 1791 was proclaimed the ‘first manufacturing town in the world’. The city became over dependent on the motor industry and suffered in the 1980s. Since the late 1990s the city has been redeveloped and there are 3 universities and 2 university colleges. The city is the home of Jaguar cars and Cadburys chocolate.

The weather is likely to be around 10-17 degrees, and could be dry or quite wet, so bring an umbrella and sensible shoes.

Meeting Venue

The Expert Session, EWG, Taftie Academy Workshop and the INNO-Partnering Forum Workshop will all be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Birmingham http://www.radissonblu.co.uk/hotel-birmingham which is around a 5 minute walk from Birmingham New Street Station.

Travel

Birmingham Airport www.birminghamairport.co.uk is the recommended airport and is located around 6km from Birmingham. AirRailLink connects the airport to central Birmingham every 10 minutes, with a 10 minute journey time. There are flights from many European cities.

East Midlands Airport www.eastmidlandsairport.com is 40 miles from Birmingham, with no direct links.

Connections from Birmingham city to London are very good, so people arriving at Heathrow airport, St Pancras station, Gatwick airport need to transfer to Euston Station in central London, and then take a train to Birmingham New Street station (1h 30). Alternatively trains travel from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street (1h 42), a 1930s style station, which is only around 5 minutes walk from New Street station and the hotel.

Train times can be seen on www.thetrainline.com .

Accommodation

All within about 10 minutes walk of Birmingham New Street station

·  Recommended hotel: Radisson Blu is also the meeting venue. We have a special deal of £135 including VAT, per room per night. Rooms are on hold until Thursday 9th August. Please call 0044(0)121 654 6000, after that you will have to take the (usually more expensive) available rate. The hotel is a 5 minute walk from Birmingham New Street Station. http://www.radissonblu.co.uk/hotel-birmingham

·  Budget options include:

o  Ibis Hotel, City Centre http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-1459-ibis-birmingham-city-centre/index.shtml

o  Comfort Inn, City Centre http://www.comfortinn-birmingham.co.uk/?affid=CR0210

o  Or consult tripadvisor http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ for other options and reviews. Make sure you search Birmingham in the UK.

Meal – Tuesday 18th September

Birmingham has an Asian population of around 20% and is famed for its Balti curries. The Balti was either invented in Birmingham or was first introduced there from Pakistan and is currently being put forward for regional protection under EU law! We will be visiting a top Indian restaurant, Pushkar on Broad Street. Vegetarian options will be available but if you have other dietary requirements please let us know as soon as possible. http://www.pushkardining.com/

Visit

On the way to the restaurant we will take a guided tour (walking) through the historic 200 year old canal basin of Birmingham. The walk is around 1-2 miles but will take around 1 hour. The tour will be leaving the hotel at 7pm.

In the 1700 and 1800s, when a network of 5 major and many more mini canals was built to transport goods to and from the industrial midlands of England, Birmingham became a great industrial city. Birmingham is said to have more canals than Venice! Later in the industrial revolution the railways began to compete with the canals, and eventually the canals fell into disrepair. Birmingham’s canal district was redeveloped in the 1990s and the abandoned warehouses were turned into expensive apartments and restaurants.

Expert Session

In this Expert Session we will look at how to set up and run a pre-commercial procurement programme. The main speaker, Stephen Browning, Head of SBRI at the Technology Strategy Board, has been responsible for setting up the new SBRI scheme in the UK. He has been involved in INNO-Partnering Forum work on transferring SBRI/PCP type programmes to other European innovation agencies, and is also responsible for the EU-funded SILVER project looking at a Europe-wide PCP scheme.

David Golding, Head of Strategy at the Technology Strategy Board, has been involved in advising the European Commission on PCP and will give the latest news on the Commission’s plans for PCP in Horizon 2020.

Agencies such as NL Agency and IWT, which have already started to implement PCP in their countries will also present an update on progress. This will be followed by an open discussion.

Agenda – 18th September

Chair: Kate Yarrington, Technology Strategy Board

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Expert Session on Pre-Commercial Procurement

15:00 Coffee Break

Chair: David Golding, Technology Strategy Board

15:15 Welcome (David Golding)

15:25 Summary of Cambridge Board meeting (Joanne Goede)

15:35 Update on plans for board visits/interviews of prospective members (Celia Gavaud)

16:00 Update on ‘Guide to Membership’ (Kate Yarrington)

16:15 Task Force Update: Revision of Rules for R&D Framework (Marita Paasi)

16:30 Comfort Break

16:45 Taftie Academy Update and New Programme (Nicole Schmidt)

17:30 Certification of the Taftie trademark (Ene Kull)

17:35 Any Other Business (may include Rita Ward on membership status)

18:00 Close of Meeting Part I

19:00 Leave Radisson Hotel Lobby for guided walk of canal basin and walk to dinner venue.

20:00 Dinner at Pushkar Restaurant

EWG Agenda – 19th September

08:30 Coffee available

09:00 Meeting Opens (David Golding)

09:05 IPF Legacy (Cecilia Johansson, Project Coordinator for the EU-funded INNO-Partnering Forum, and Kjell Hakan Närfelt, both of Vinnova) , followed by discussion.

10:00 Introduction to decision making process session (Kate Yarrington)*

10:30 Coffee Break

10:45 Decision making process session (facilitated by Kate Yarrington)

12:00 Lunch

*Following the EWG some Taftie members expressed a wish to revisit the membership question and the Taftie strategy. In discussion amongst the Troika, and following feedback from other Taftie members, it was decided that a decision making approach would need to be agreed before important issues such as membership and strategy could be revisited. This session will therefore start to consider what decision making process is appropriate for Taftie decisions.