BE - Brokerage Event

Introduction:

Next September, 21st, will take place in Marinha Grande, Portugal, the 2010 edition of the biennial Brokerage Event dedicated to the launch of new European ventures oriented to the Engineering, Tooling and Plastic Processing Industries.

Initiated in 1998, and in the following the success of previous initiatives, the 2010 edition of the Brokerage Event will be once again a catalytic forum gathering the Industry’s Stakeholders, Companies, Technology Suppliers, Technological Centres, Researchers and Universities, towards the establishment of European Scale partnerships for R&D, Networking, Technology Transfer and Business development.

Integrated in the Moulds Event 2010 and developed in straight articulation with the conference RPD’10-RAPID PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, the Brokerage Event 2010 will include in its official agenda, the development of bi-lateral meetings for the discussion of new EUREKA project proposals, for the development of innovative applications for emergent technologies and for furthering Innovation.

Foreseeing the launch of calls for R&D and Innovation projects, within National, Regional and European programmes, the Brokerage Event 2010 will be instrumental in the establishment of international consortia towards the launch of RTD and Innovation projects, exploration of business opportunities and networking.

Developed under the umbrella of the EUREKA initiative, the Brokerage Event 2010 is a co-organisation of CENTIMFE (Technological Centre for the Mouldmaking, Special Tooling and Plastic Industries), OPEN incubator and AdI-Agência de Inovação S.A. (Innovation Agency), in close co operation with the Portuguese Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education, the PRO-Factory Umbrella of the EUREKA International Program, the Enterprise Europe Network (Innovation Relay Centres Network), the Clusterplast consortium (gathering 6 European Clusters active in Engineering, Tooling and Plastic Processing), ISTMA-Europe, the MANUFUTURE’s European Tooling Platform and several industrial associations, research institutes universities and companies.

Objectives:

• To support the establishment of international innovation projects, networks and ventures involving Companies, Suppliers, R&D organisations and Customers;
• To promote the development of adding value Business partnerships, market-oriented R&D and Innovation European Projects;
• To sustain the generation, transfer and take-up of technological solutions and innovative systems, supporting the launch of new products and knowledge-based services.

In last analysis, the Brokerage Event 2010 - Engineering, Tooling and Plastic Processing will establish an environment prone to innovation by:

• Gathering the European key-players in the comprised fields and therefore sustaining the broad development of partnerships for R&D project development and Business Networking;
• The promotion of an increased integration of R&D activities and innovation-based networking at an European scale, by the exploitation of complementarities and avoiding duplication of research efforts, in compliancy with the European Research Area objectives;

Methodology:

In order to promote its proficient development and the maximisation of synergies and results, the Brokerage Event 2010 will encompass in its agenda:

• Official Ceremonies

In Official Ceremonies, invited institutional speakers will provide their insights, perspectives and official outlooks concerning R&D environment, framework and priorities at a National and European scale.

• Plenary Sessions

Sustained by the framework of Innovation, Technological Development and Networking, in plenary sessions, invited experts will develop key-note presentations on the main thematics of the event, setting the tone for the discussion of specific topics and proposals for R&D, Innovation and Technology Transfer.

• Bilateral meetings

Previous to the event, the participants will have access to the event’s information and to documentation fostering the establishment of bilateral meetings, including other participants’ profile and their proposals for cooperative R&D and for technology transfer. This will allow a proficient arrangement of bilateral meetings with potential partners. These meetings will facilitate networking and a more direct and efficient discussion on specific proposals for future projects and collaboration. The Brokerage Events’ organisation will provide facilities and will assist participants in booking these bilateral meetings that will be developed within the Official Agenda of the event.