04 June 2008, Paris
Departement de Sciences Economiques et Sociales de l’Ecole Nationale Superieure Telecom Paris
46, rue Barrault - 75013 Paris
Intellectual property (IPR, including copyrights, patents, trademarks and other tools) are widely recognised as a key driver of innovation in the ICT arena. Adequately protecting and promoting IPR is thus fundamental to Europe’s future ICT competitiveness. But there is a fierce debate on the present IPR legal system and its proposed evolution, particularly concerning software patents, digital rights management for media content and other issues. The main problem is achieving the difficult balance between appropriate protection and knowledge circulation. This is particularly relevant for ICT SMEs, since small innovative firms may have greater benefits from an effective IPR regime, but face greater barriers because of their lesser resources and specific expertise. Managing knowledge and exploiting IPR in the right way is a key challenge for their competitiveness.
This workshop presented the results of a study conducted by IDC Government Insights within the context of the eBusiness Watch project, on behalf of the European Commission DG Enterprise, on the use of IPR by ICT SMEs, that is Small and Medium Enterprises (under 250 employees) active in the main Information and Communication Technologies industries. The study is based on an original survey in 8 EU countries and 9 in-depth case studies, with the goal to produce original, unbiased and coherent evidence about the issue. The study analysed as well ICT SMEs’ opinions about the current IPR system, its benefits and its shortcomings, in order to provide a contribution to the policy debate on this topic. Since many of the present contributions to this debate come from lobby or advocacy groups, the value of this study is based on its independence from interested parties.
The authors presented the main results of the study, including a few case studies of innovative ICT SMEs with emerging business models. Experts in legal issues and ICT SMEs will debate the main conclusions.
09:15 – 09:30 |
Registration & welcome coffee |
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09:30 – 10:00 |
Welcome and opening |
Laurent Gille, Director, Departement de Sciences Economiques et Sociales de l’Ecole Nationale Superieure Telecom Paris |
The Sectoral e-Business Watch Introduction to ICT-related policies of the EC's DG Enterprise and Industry |
Hasan Alkas, e-Business Watch programme manager, European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry |
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e-Business trends and challenges |
Maria Woerndl, empirica GmbH |
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Part I |
IPR for ICT SMEs: opportunities, best practices, main trends
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Chair: Hasan Alkas |
10:00 – 10:30 |
Key messages from the e-Business Watch study on IPR for ICT SMEs (2008) |
Gabriella Cattaneo, Research Director, and Elena Vaciago, Associate Consultant, IDC Government Insights |
10:30 – 11:00 |
Study discussants |
Carlo Piana, Lawyer Vincenzo Spiezia, Head of the Information and Communication Technologies Unit, of OECD |
11:00 – 11:30 |
Discussion |
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11:30 – 11:45 |
Coffee break |
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Part II |
The role of policies to improve the use of IPR by ICT SMEs and promote innovation |
Chair: Gabriella Cattaneo, IDC Government Insights |
11:45 – 12:45 |
Panel discussion |
Leo Baumann, EICTA Pieter Hintjens, Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), Belgium Carlo Piana, Lawyer Henry J.F. Ryan, Lios Geal Consultants, Ireland |
12.45 – 13.00 |
Conclusions |
Hasan Alkas, e-Business Watch programme manager, European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry |
