The XVI annual congress of the European Business & Innovation Centres Network will take place in Canterbury, England from 20-22 June. This year’s congress will discuss Europe’s role as a global actor and leader in innovation-driven regional development and will look inside as well as outside Europe, with participants and guest speakers from Canada, Latin America, Russia and the US.

The European Business & Innovation Centres Network (EBN) is the leading European organization in the field of business, entrepreneurship and innovation support programmes. ESA is an official sponsor of the EBN XVI Annual Congress, entitled “Global Innovation Bridges – a new generation of business and innovation centres”. The mission of ESA is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about EBN members, e.g. local and regional actors, actively supporting regional development through entrepreneurship support programmes. The Annual Congress is a chance to meet new partners and above all, to receive an update on the main trends related to regional development strategies, business and innovation, and opportunities for international cooperation.

ESA’s Business Incubation is an initiative that will create new business opportunities and jobs for non-space companies and broaden the market for space industry. ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) coordinates three business incubation centres, each offering technical expertise in several fields, as well as advice and support with business development.

The ESA Business Incubation centres are located at three ESA sites: European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA/ESTEC) in the Netherlands, European Space Operations Centre (ESA/ESOC) in Germany, and the European Centre for Earth Observation (ESA/ESRIN) in Italy.

During the pre-programme of the Annual EBN Congress, the new European Space Incubators Network (ESINET) will be launched. ESINET is a unique platform supporting the launch of innovative start-up companies capitalising on space developments. Its mission is to stimulate and support entrepreneurship in the area of new services or applications emerging from the creative use of space technologies and/or systems in non-space sectors. ESA’s Business Incubation centres are linked to ESINET, which is an official partner of the EBN XVI Annual Congress

The XVI EBN Congress programme

Wednesday 20 June 2007:

• Opening ceremony
• What’s the problem with innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe: a global vision
• Launch of the new ESINET Network

Thursday 21 June 2007:

• Let’s look and benchmark outside Europe, with a focus on North America

Friday 22 June 2007:

• Let’s think BICs: looking at the daily reality of incubation and innovation
• BICs, the road-map to the future
• Closing ceremony

More information can be found on the Congress site:
http://www.ebnkent2007.net.