The final seminar of the ICT-VN Project, financed by the EU and led by Fundacion Dedalo, was held at the European Parliament – hosted by Mr Pablo Zalba, MEP from Navarre, and attended by Joaquim Torrents, President of Fundacion Dedalo.
The Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, and host to the meeting held with Fundación Dédalo, Mr Pablo Zalba, stated that SMEs today play a key role to fight unemployment, for which purpose it is necessary to trigger the mechanisms required to increase their competitiveness and to create new opportunities. Likewise, he insisted, this must also involve enabling a flexible regulation, especially as regards liquidity.
The Final Seminar of the ICT-VN Project (Information & Communication Technologies Value Networks), financed by the European Union under the Interreg IVC Programme, was held on 14 November 2012 at the European Parliament. The Seminar allowed to highlight regional exchange experiences focusing on innovation in SMEs and on the opportunities for SMEs within the European Union for the period 2014-2020.
The event was attended by Mr Joaquim Torrents, President of Fundacion Dedalo from Tudela (Navarre, Spain), the lead partner of the ICT-VN Project, whose partnership has involved eight European regions. The event was also attended by Kelly Zielniewski (Project Officer of Interreg IVC), Francisco Loras (Secretary-General of Tele Regions Network), Rodrigo Zardoya (Manager of Fundacion Dedalo), as well as three European Comission members: Nikos Pantalos (Support for Industrial Innovation DG Enterprise), Igor Jelinski (DG Research and Innovation) and Alexandra Kiel (Unit for Enterprise Policy and Financial Instruments). The ICT-VN project supports the exchange of experiences and cooperation among regions, highlighting best practices related to the use of new technologies.
80 success stories have been identified within the framework of the payment to promote the use of Technologies in SMEs. Each partner region has chosen one success story among the best practices from the other regions participating in the project, based on criteria such as regional impact, results obtained or the creation of added value for the territory.
DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET
Mr Zalba put the focus on a digital single market and highlighted the role played by the digital industry – considering that for each job that is destroyed in traditional industries 2.6 jobs are created in the digital industry. He also explained that the EU is taking steps to improve the situation of SMEs through innovation and education.
During his statement Mr Zalba stressed that the single European market offers over 500 M potential customers that advocate free trade and international law. For this reason, he emphasized, it is necessary to foster new agreements with countries and regions across the globe.
