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The European BIC Network

Quality eMag Q-light: “Spending Quality Time on Quality Issues”

IT| Innovation & Tools

Right Tools, Right Now!

We have been asked by many members and non-members to create a tool-box, a reference for all the Business and Innovation Centers networked by EBN. Excellent, says the wise man, then do it! Of course, as everything, things are easily said, brain-stormed, imagined, programmed, but not easily done! Indeed to fill a toolbox with useful and relevant tools that can be utilized by the staff mem-bers of our BIC community to better support the inno-vative entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow has proved to be a gigantic task, which needed to be tackled from a different angle. A reversed angle to be precise. We just thought

it would be more interesting if we could talk about tools before, giving us a chance to provide our members with a more reasoned an-swer to the famished re-quest for tools.

Looking, assessing, under-standing and putting to a test the added value of tools developed by BICs and outsiders for all inter-ested Innovation-Based Incubators.

We have then created an occasion dedicated to tools, to exchange tools among BICs, to give a chance to talk to tool developers and see whether useful instru-ments can help you do your job better. The toolbox will follow.

So yes, we invite you all to participate in the 1st EBN

T o o l s E x c h a n g e Forum in Berlin in the WISTA MANAGEMENT premises, the 28th and 29th of November not only to find tools but also to ex-hibit tools, and to let us know if you are looking for something specific.

Indeed, if you have created interesting tools, please contact us, show us what you have and let’s talk.

Follow the links below for more info:

* The program of the 1st EBN Tools Exchange Fo-rum.

* The Infopack, to conven-iently find the location, hotels, etc.

* The registration form.

In this issue

IT, it’s time to talk about

tools! Right Tools, Right Now!

IQ, some comments on the country observato-ries!

QI, greeting two new BICs!

IT, meet some of the tools that will be showcased at the 1st EBN Tools Ex-change Forum!

QS, EBN’s Quality ser-vices, where to find them!

We hope you enjoy the reading! Comments wel-come!

Giordano & Chiara

Editors: Giordano Dichter and Chiara Davalli .

Responsible for the publication: Philippe Vanrie, EBN CEO.

 Tools Exchange Forum

for Innovation Based Incubators and BICs

Berlin, 28 - 29 November 2011

WISTA-MANAGEMENT GMBH Rudower Chaussee 17

D-12489 Berlin

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IQ| Innovation & Quality Some comments on the observatories

The observatories are on-line on the EBN website as already announced in the last issue of our eMag. EBN’s quality team produces the observatories of countries where there are a minimum of 5 BICs, hence, we can now point out the specifici-ties of the BIC communities of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK. And some BIC directors have kindly accepted to reply to some of our questions, pro-viding us with some comments about the data.

Jean-Claude Ettinger, director of Solvay Entrepreneurs high-lights the need for cooperation with funding partners which has been pursued in Belgium. Specifically, according to Jean-Claude, “the remarkable result in terms of fund raising of the Belgian BICs is due to an in-creased collaboration with the Walloon business angel net-work (Be Angel) and their counterparts over the French border through a network jointly created and managed by Walloon BICs (WABAN)”.

Two features appear to be the main characteristics of the German BICs: (a) the level of technological innovation (b) the success in raising capital for the entrepreneurs, espe-c ia l l y venture cap i ta l . "Germany — says Gategarching BIC director in Munich — is famous for its engineers and developers. That is why the level of technological innova-tion is high. Engineers develop the best products and they do this well. The challenge for entrepreneurs is now to reach the market and fit the prod-uct/service to the needs of

customer. As for fundraising we know that an investor doesn´t really care of all the details of technology, he wants to see the marketability and the upside potential of the products. There is a gap be-tween entrepreneurs and in-vestors and German BICs are bridging the gap better and better".

Crossing the Channel, the 2011 UK BIC Observatory shows remarkable perform-ances when assessing the work undertaken by the UK BICs for existing SMEs. It ap-pears that they are experienc-ing a shift of the attention from entrepreneurs to other older and more consolidated compa-nies. When asked to confirm the statement, Geoff Riley, director of the Staffordshire and Black County BIC, replies "There has been a shift away from (but not completely) en-trepreneurs and start-up busi-nesses in favour of more ma-ture businesses due, in part, to the realisation that wealth creation comes mainly from identifiable high value/ high growth businesses andthese are seen as the way out of the present depressed market situation. Even more important than ever is the BICs role as a detector of new products or processes that can progress to this stage" . We have also noti-ced that UK BICs have a lower value for money when conside-ring the cost per job created. "The focus is now on higher value jobs being created in higher value businesses and therefore it results in a higher cost per job".

Of course we couldn’t miss the occasion to ask the three BIC

directors what could we expect from the BIC communities of their respective countries!

"The Belgian BIC community — says Jean-Claude — is in the process of increasing the qual-ity level of services by identify-ing and disseminating the best practices within its network as well as organizing access to mutual resources such as databases, communication campaigns,…"

Geoff Riley does point out some of the difficulties the BICs in the UK are facing. "In the UK business support arena — states Geoff —all re-gions of the UK are working on their own individual problems with little national focus. All new business start-up support is to be delivered on-line by Business Link and no face to face support is to be provided. Obviously this does not fit with the ethos of the BICs and strenuous effort is being put into identifying funding to re-source the assistance to entre-preneurs".

We like to conclude this small article with the same optimism expressed by Franz when he states that "The EBN commu-nity can expect a deeper col-laboration of the German BICs between each other. There will be the first German BIC meet-ing in autumn this year. And EBN can hopefully expect more members".

“The challenge for

entrepreneurs is now to

reach the market and fit the product/service to the needs

of customers” - Franz Glatz

“The Focus is now on

higher value jobs being created in higher value businesses” - Geoff Riley

“The Belgian BIC

community is in the process of increasing the quality level of services by identifying and

disseminating best practices ” - Jean-Claude

Ettinger

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QI| Please, meet 2 new EC-BICs!

Another reason why to join us in Berlin at the Tools Exchange Forum:

"Digital Analytics Tools for Start ups and Incubators" Led by Nicolas Malo, a digital ana-lytics expert with 15+ years of experience in digital marketing, this workshop will guide

you into the practical steps and indispensable tools that you need to measure and optimize your digital strategy. No technical knowledge is required to attend and enjoy!” -

Two innovation-based incu-bators have been proved compliant with the BIC Quality Mark Criteria and have therefore been granted the use of the EC-BIC trademark in Septem-ber.

So we welcome them as full members of EBN!

The first of the two new BICs is Novitech, located in Košice, in the Slovak Re-public. We would like to highlight the excellent

“Innovation Zone Portal” as an interesting tool aimed at opening inflows of new in-novation ideas achieved by mobilizing and orchestrat-ing the intellectual capital of all employees and part-ners. The tool will be pre-sented in Berlin on 28-29 November.

Flying from the Slovak Re-public to the UK to greet the other new BIC: the Inno-vation Center Medway lo-cated within the University

of Greenwich in the UK. To say it with Mr. Olivier To-mat, the designed evalua-tor of the BIC, “If they are not a BIC, then no one is!”.

Indeed welcome to the new BICs. If you need to contact them you can find them in EBN’s membership direc-tory on EBN’s homepage.

“If Innovation Center Medway is not a BIC, then no one is!”

Olivier Tomat, evaluator of ICM.

“It is my strong belief that Novitech is one of the best choices as a BIC member in Slovakia!” Jan Jacob Hilberdink, evaluator of Novitech.

“As the world is becoming more and more digital with the explosion of social media, online videos and mobile Internet, no company can any longer afford to be careless with the measurement of their digital strategy, or at least their digital presence. How can this apply to start ups and incubators? Where should we start? What could be the

expected ROI?”

Nicolas Malo, on web analytics, Come talk to him in Berlin 28 — 29 November.

Do you want your website diagnosed by Nicolas Malo?

We are looking for 3 BICs who accept to unveil their data at the workshop!

Apply by sending us an email within 11 November to silvia.depasquale@ebn.eu

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IT| Please, meet the first tools!

The Pandora Risk Management Tool,

Developed by BIC Business Development Friesland.

In Greek mythology, Pandora's Box is the box carried by Pandora that contained all the evils of mankind - greed, vanity, slander, lies, envy, pining - and hope. After Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create the woman Pandora as part of the punishment for mankind. Pandora had been given a jar and instructed by Zeus to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of

curiousity, and ultimately opened it. When she did, all of the evils of mankind escaped from the jar, although Pandora was quick enough to close it again and keep one value inside, and that was Hope. As the undisclosed risks of organisations and enterprises might be considered as threatening as the evils of the box of Pandora, risk management could be the ultimate tool to prevent the risks getting out of the box putting the companies in hazardous situations .

The StartupWheel Developed by StartUp Company Inc.

The StartupWheel is a visual toolbox for decision-making and action planning for start-up and growth companies. It helps entrepreneurs build their businesses through a simple action-oriented process that stays true to the way most entrepreneurs think and work. For the business advisor, the absolute flexibility of the toolbox means that it can be fully adapted to existing advisory tools and client needs, and it can even be used by clients themselves, thereby saving time for the advisor.

360° Perspective Made Simple

Everything about business in one single toolbox.

The StartupWheel was designed around the observation that all businesses – in all industries and life stages – have four lasting challenges in common: They must create an attractive Business Concept, build a strong Organization behind it, develop lasting Client Relations, and do so while maintaining profitable Operations.

The IBCS incubator management software Developed by ra information systems. ibcs is the perfect software solution for managing your Innovation or Incubation Centre, Business Centre, Conference Centre, Science Park or any other serviced office or managed workspace environment. ibcs creates a centralised access point for the management of all the features related to your incubator (e.g. Enquir-

ies & Prospects, License, Lease & Service Charges, Meetings, Conferences & Events, Ad Hoc Service Provision, Peri-odic Invoicing’ Forecasting & Sales Analysis, Contacts Management & Document Storage, Facilities Maintenance, Sur-veys & Questionnaires…) With over 10 years of multi-centre use, ibcs has been successfully implemented into many businesses . ibcs provides a modular solution to the management of your workspace by giving you a seamless flow of real-time information. In using ibcs, you can significantly reduce the number of manual interventions required and increase your productivity, freeing up your valuable time to focus on your clients

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IT| Please, meet the first tools!

Innocall Developed by BIC Innotek, Belgium. Innotek, BIC since 1987, has experience with providing added value solutions to tenants of business centres. Innotek decided to create a new concept, an internet based tool

called ‘Innocall’, based on all lessons learned. The concept allows managers of Business Centres and Incubators to professionally handle incoming calls for tenants, do project management, CRM... This tool also offers : Integrated tele-phone answering system, Project management and follow up, Time sheet management, Meeting room reservations, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Contact center software (outbound), and more.

The Benchmarking Tool,

Developed by the European BIC Network .

What is it all about? Collecting data to return data through a sophisticated analysis of the profile, the perform-ance and the value for money of an incubator compared to those of BICs selected through the application of previously defined criteria.

What information can be found in a benchmarking report? A PowerPoint presentation (raw data are made available upon request in excel format) containing information on the main characteristics of the benchmarks (country, catchment areas, income and expenditures ecc.) the key expertise, the utilization of human resources, process indicators (e.g. enquiries, feasibility studies), performance indicators (e.g. business plans, start-ups, existing SMEs supported, types of support, IP, access to funding) and value for money (e.g. cost per job created, start-ups created per 100K of BIC expenditures or of BIC staff).

The Innovation Zone Developed by BIC Novitech, Slovak Republic.

New rules for better collaboration! ... achieved by mobilizing and orchestrating the intellectual capital of all employees and partners regardless of their formal role in the company......in an open and informal atmosphere.

BENEFITS:

Improved ecosystem performance Open inflow of new innovation ideas. Equal opportunity to information access. Improved participation of ecosystem members in projects.

... Bottom line: improved performance of an incubator’s ecosystem!

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Interested in showcasing your tool at the 1st EBN Tools Exchange Forum?

You still have time!

Contact us!

The EBN Quality Team supports the European BIC commu-nity to ensure compliance to the EC-BIC quality mark crite-ria.

Initiated in 2004, powered by a community-based self-assessment protocol, a routine web application, a com-bined set of both process & performance indicators, and a “peer-to-peer” audit system, this initiative has enabled the EC-BIC brand & label to be highly respected in private and public circles.

Through the development of the quality process, the EBN Quality team has engineered and now delivers:

* Production of benchmarking reports of innovation-based incubator

* Production of peer reviews of innovation-based incu-bators

* Design of road-maps and provision of technical as-sistance to become an EC-BIC

Consult EBN’s website to check terms and conditions to benefit from these services, or contact us directly.

The EC-BIC trademark, a sign of quality and distinction

among the European innovation-based incubators.

Giordano Dichter +32-2-7611083 gdi@ebn

Skype: g.dichter

Chiara Davalli +32-2-7611094 cda@ebn

Skype: Ebn.Helpdesk

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