Lappeenranta will host the EBN Congress on June 13-15, 2012. EBN Congress will be combined with the 3rd EU-Russia Innovation Forum.
Lappeenranta Innovation was selected to become the main organizer of the annual Congress of European Business & Innovation Center Network – EBN – which gathers more than 300 innovation experts representing the Business incubators and innovation centers from around Europe to a common networking event every year. Final approval of Lappeenranta Innovation Ltd as the organizer of this event was made on June 16 in Toulon, France, during the EBN Congress 2011. The main focus on the congress on 2012 will be on internationalisation of innovative businesses where special attention will be given to cooperation between innovation supporters and innovative SME’s from Europe and Russia. The participants of the congress will be offered also with a possibility to include a visit in St. Petersburg to their program.
Lappeenranta Innovation was granted the EC-BIC status and full membership of the EBN for the maximum period of three years in 2010. EBN is a network of more than 200 EC-BICs, the EU accredited innovation based incubators around Europe. The main focus of the EBN network is to qualify the services of the members following the innovation-based incubation standards as officially recognized by the European Commission. They assure to stakeholders, clients and innovation based incubators that certain standards are met in terms of general mission, organization, services, quality, performance and efficiency.
‘EBN membership supports our strategy of being an internationally recognised leading actor in the European-Russian innovation sector’, says CEO of Lappeenranta Innovation Reko Juntto. He continues: ‘The membership opens up new international gateways between more than 200 member companies which we are pleased to invite to explore new opportunities in Lappeenranta at the border of the EU and Russia.’
The second week of June on 2012 will be a true innovation week in Lappeenranta. The 3rd EU-Russia Innovation Forum will be arranged just before the EBN Congress and the program of these two events will be partly common. Combining the EBN Congress and the 3rd EU-Russia Innovation Forum will make the event truly European at an interesting meeting point of the EU and Russia. The participants will further benefit about the EU-Russia cooperation program and Matchmaking sessions with Russian companies. Participants of the EBN Congress will be offered also with a possibility to get a concrete touch with the Russian culture with a post tour to St. Petersburg.
More than 500 participants gathered for the 1st and 2nd EU-Russia Innovation Forums, held in Lappeenranta on May 2010 and 2011 respectively. In 2011 the Forum focused primarily on Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Information & Communication Technologies and Health & Pharma. The 2nd Forum sought practical solutions for barriers to co-operation introducing multiple concrete cooperation proposals on energy efficiency & renewable energy and innovation & modernization cooperation.
“Both EBN Congress and the Innovation Forum bring innovative small and medium-sized businesses together and combining these event will further boost the start of new international business partnerships”, Katja Keinänen, Director, Russia Affairs of Lappeenranta Innovation Ltd., comments.
Additional information:
Reko Juntto
Managing Director
Lappeenranta Innovation Ltd
Tel. +358 50 5527433
Regards,
Mirka Kristiina Rahman, MBA USA
Head of Marketing Communications
Lappeenranta Innovation Ltd.
Tel. +358 40 849 9161
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Koko: 6,57 MB Tyyppi: jpg Resoluutio: 2912x43681308561109-lappeenranta-innovation-to-host-the-annual-ebn-congress-2012
Koko: 6,57 MB Tyyppi: jpg Resoluutio: 2912x4368Lappeenranta Innovation Ltd is a non-profit company co-owned by the Lappeenranta City Holding Company, Technopolis Plc and the Society for Viipuri School of Economics. It combines business, research and public administration in an innovative way. Lappeenranta Innovation Ltd is part of the Business & Innovations Service Unit of the Lappeenranta City Holding Company, aimed to support the growth and internationalisation of local companies. The Lappeenranta City Holding Company is a group company fully owned by the City of Lappeenranta. It is responsible for the management of the city group’s economic policies by promoting and developing the activities of its operative subsidiaries. The Group employs about 50 people, and the combined employment impact of the group of companies is about 960 jobs. Lappeenranta is a vibrant international University City of approximately 72,000 inhabitants in Southern Karelia. Lappeenranta has closely cooperated with the City of St Petersburg on innovation issues since 2005 and this cooperation has earned the title of EU-Russia Innovation Corridor. The objective of the partnership programme is to promote cooperation in innovation at the political level, in the education and research sectors and among private companies. The long-term objective is to have the innovation collaboration play a significant role in the new EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
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