Tools: French-Russian technological cooperation

Origin: Seen again Objective is / autumn, 2003

Beyond exhibition France Tech on 2003, commercial window of French technology in Russia, beyond the media announcements on the launching of rockets Soyouz since the French base of Kourou, or agreements between big industrial groups (Airbus-Kaskol), technological cooperation between Europe and countries of the CIS will be able to develop only if there is a dense network of exchanges and of partnerships between firms and R&D's centres of both zones.

Experience indeed shows that the broadcasting of technological innovation rests widely on a swarming of technologies between different functional entities (SMES, big groups, R&D's institutions), and between different sectors (of the aerospace in the food processing industry), in a more and more transnational frame.

In this respect, there are instruments and mechanisms allowing to set up joint plans of innovation without using complex juridico-financial solutions (such as joint ventures or the establishment of subsidiaries), while benefiting from necessary guarantees to initiate such plans.

We are going to introduce three of these mechanisms: the European quality-label EUREKA, the grants of innovation INTAS, and the " Partner " programme of CIST.

The European quality-label EUREKA

The EUREKA association was created in 1985 to stimulate the cross-border technological collaboration between the firms of the countries of Western Europe, which joined Turkey and Israel, and since 1989 PECO and countries of the CIS. EUREKA Counts 34 full members today and allowed to initiate a very big number of plans (more than 190 in 2000, for a 400 million euro sum).

The originality of EUREKA is to be a mechanism of support of the innovation of "qualitative" type, which combines the suppleness of a network endowed with local branches to make easier the research of partners and the conclusion of contracts, in the rigour of uniform procedures of valuation (peer review) and of management of plan. The attribution of an European quality-label EUREKA comes to dedicate efforts of the partners and opens the access to private and public financings by reassuring the potential investors on the quality of plans.

The grants of innovation INTAS

The INTAS association was created in 1993 by 32 European countries to promote scientific and technological cooperation with the countries of the CIS across a mechanism of valuation and of financing of plans. INTAS was endowed with a 80 million euro budget for period 2002-2006. Plans candidates for a financing INTAS have to include two partners at least the one in Europe, other one in CIS (accepting at least 75 % financings in case of eligibility of plan). The main trump of this mechanism is that it reduces uncertainties very strongly by giving a frame of cooperation reassuring to the partners and to the backers (valuation of plans, transfer of fund via a network of banks partners, tax release, legal and administrative support) while leaving a big freedom to the bearers of plans.

INTAS set up a specific programme of support of the commercial promotion of technology, in the form of grants of 25 000-euro innovation maximum, able to cover material or human expenses (per diem) as part of the research of partners R&D, of market research and of feasibility, of realisation of archetypes or of store of patents.

The " Partner " programme of CIST

The CIST (International Centre for Science and Technology) is an international organisation based in Moscow created by a decision of the G8 in 1992 to promote the restructuring of the research institutes of the countries of the CIS of military applications towards civil applications. If the creation of CIST was motivated first of all by political considerations, the importance of his budget and its pragmatic modalities of action make an inevitable actor of scientific and technological cooperation with the countries of the CIS, in the first rank of which appears Russia. Indeed, since his creation for a total sum of 569 million US $ among which 150 millions US $ coming from the programme " Partner ". This programme allows to working limited partners R&D to locate a partner fast among the hundreds of institutes of R&D classified by CIST and to manage in an optimum way all aspects linked to negotiation and to conclusion of R&D's contract, to logistics and to management of plan, by benefiting from an administrative and legal support, and from a privileged status of CIST (release of the tax and customs taxes, transfer of reassured fund).

Certifying the success of this programme, more than 200 firms and institutes coming from Europe, from the United States and from Japan are "partners" of the CIST today. Among them represent as well heavyweights of industry (EADS, Michelin, BASF, Boeing, Procter and Gamble, etc) big research laboratories (CERN, ONERA, Max Planck Institute, Los Alamos Laboratories, etc) or innovative SMES (Intralytix, Targit, Soft Systran, etc).

The technological cooperation between Europe and countries of the CIS will be able to develop only if there is a dense network of exchanges and of partnerships between firms and R&D's centres of both zones.

EUREKA - http://www.eureka.be

NTAS - http://www.intas.be

CIST - http://www.istc.ru

Article writes by Alexander Kateb

Origin: Seen again Objective is / autumn, 2003

Written by admin one June 21st, on 2006 with no comments.
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