According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs sponsorship for innovation in small and medium-sized entities looks back on two record years. Since 2005 sponsorship offers for innovative small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) have increased from 415 million to 570 million Euros which corresponds to an increase of 37%, said Mr. Hartmut Schauerte, who is the Federal government’s commissioner for SMEs, on the »14. innovation day for SMEs« conference.
Over the past 12 months alone new records have been set in the field of technology promotion. 2000 projects sponsored with 200 million Euros in the course of the »Pro Inno II« programme clearly show the increasing importance attached by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs to promoting innovation in SMEs. At the same time it becomes clear that the co-operation between SMEs and research institutions closely linked to business becomes more and more important in Germany.
Mr. Schauerte also informed participants and visitors of the conference about current reforms aimed at promoting technology in SMEs. The objective is the creation of a clearly arranged and user-friendly sponsorship system. Thus, sponsorship conditions are to be improved and application procedures to be accelerated.
On the occasion of the conference Mr. Schauerte awarded six network projects which were the winners of the 8th edition of the »Netzwerkmanagement-Ost« contest. The projects awarded operate in innovative and market-oriented fields such as information technology, medical engineering, renewable energies, new materials and production technology. More information on this year’s winner projects and the »Netzwerkmanagement-Ost« contest are available online. 