EU-Projekt InfoPro: 2. Newsletter zu Informationsverarbeitungsmethoden in Innovationsnetzwerken. Ergebnisse der SWOT-Analyse und erstes Transferseminar.

1. Information Processing Methods Information Processing Methods:
within the partners’ regions SWOT Analyses
Within the 3rd project period, the project partners’ objec- The overall aim of the analysis was to present a clear
tive was to provide a general overview of the state-of- overview for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
the-art in the field of information processing methods threats for information processing within all partners’
used within innovation networks in the partner regions as regions.
well as to define areas of information processing that
have not been developed to a desirable level yet. To this The SWOT analyses were carried out by all InfoPro part-
end, all partners engaged in the project have been work- ners according to a previously elaborated template. The
ing together during joint research, learning from each Strengths and Weaknesses concern internal character-
other and seeking for best available methods of istics of innovation networks, such as:
knowledge diffusion.  members' propensity to share and absorb infor-
mation about innovation,
The first step was the preparation of regional reports on  smoothness of information flow within the network
information processing within each partners’ network. as well as mechanisms used by the network's coor-
After defining a common methodology, surveys among dinator to promote open innovation,
the members of the four regional networks were con-  skills and abilities of network's coordinator in the
ducted. Based upon the regional reports and surveys, field of open information processing within the net-
regional SWOT analyses were generated. work.
Opportunities and Threats concern the environment of
innovation networks, and refer to:
 European and regional innovation policy,
 innovation stakeholders' attitude to networking and
OPEN INFORMATION PROCESS- clustering,
ING WITHIN INNOVATION NET-  funding schemes supporting open innovation,
WORKS  accessibility of experienced providers of services
supporting open information processing, e.g. auto-
NEWSLETTER #2 mated technology watch.
This approach allowed to compare and unify each individ-
ual SWOT analysis as well as to draw suitable conclu-
sions which will support future development of Open
Innovation in each of the four regions.

2. Strengths and Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats 3rd InfoPro Project Meeting &
Transfer Seminar, 9th of May 2012
Strengths and Weaknesses of partners’ networks Opportunities and Threats of partner’s networks The third InfoPro project group meeting and transfer
seminar took place in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary and was
Most members of the partners’ networks are interested In all partners’ regions the topic of innovation is ad-
hosted by the Zala County Foundation for Enterprise
in the implementation of innovative solutions. Moreover, dressed in the regional development strategy. Moreover,
Promotion.
cooperation with external networks in all regions is the new European financing period 2014 - 2020 also
maintained but frequency of communication should be directly addresses the issue of innovation, therefore it The first part of the transfer seminar took place in the
increased. Unfortunately, in three of four partners’ re- can be expected that it will also be connected with fund- Arany Bárány Hotel. The event was open for interested
gions there are no or very limited signs of Open Innova- ing source. enterprises and organizations. It started with the presenta-
tion (OI) implementation. This might be related to the tion of Mr. Andras Nagy, managing director of Zala County
Unfortunately, those programs do not directly address
fact that the awareness of the OI concept is very low in Foundation for Enterprise Promotion, who presented the
Open Innovation but rather innovation and the
these regions. concept of Open Innovation as a new paradigm of coop-
knowledge-based economy as such. This might be
eration as well as the regional innovation system in the
Most of the network members never heard about OI and caused by the fact that in many regions Open Innovation
West-Transdanubian region. Following his presentation
if they are familiar with the expression they cannot clear- is a brand new concept and it has not been fully em-
Ms. Alexandra Brzozowski from the Virtual Dimension
ly explain what it means. It is alarming that in two out of braced yet.
Center Fellbach introduced the aims and the partnership
four regions, network members are not aware of possi-
Moreover, in some partners’ regions national and local of the InfoPro project.
bilities that are granted by internet and new channels of
funding are not enough for sustained development of
communication, such as social media. Mr. Marcin Dudojc, expert in the field of innovation pro-
Open Innovation, since implementation of information
jects from Research and Innovation Centre Pro –
All partners are aware of the importance of their identity processing systems is quite expensive.
Akademia informed the participants on experiences and
on the internet, and despite of the fact that they do not
However, research also revealed that in three out of four results of the SWOT analyses in the field of information
have any designated IT administrator, all partners’ web
regions, the idea of networking and clustering as well as processing that were carried out in the participating re-
pages present a rather satisfying level. Nevertheless,
the interest in searching for innovative information is well gions among the network members.
minor improvements could be implemented and users
established. This provides good opportunity and fertile
be encouraged to co-create content so they can con- The next presentation was held by Mr. Oscar Tomico and
ground for the development of Open Innovation.
tribute to network development. Ms. Yuan Lu from Technical University of Eindhoven from
the Department of Industrial Design. They familiarized the
According to the respondents, information provided by
audience with some best practices in the field of infor-
network coordinators is easily available, clear, and can
mation processing at Eindhoven Technical University.
mostly be understood by non-professionals. Neverthe-
less, the potential to make this information more user-
friendly was identified.

3. 3rd InfoPro Project Meeting & Upcoming Events in 2012 Consortium
Transfer Seminar, 9th May 2012
Last but not least Mr. Zoltán Kalcsú and Mr. Dániel Further Transfer Seminars will take place on the Lead Partner
Magyar, the colleagues of Pannon Novum West Pannon following dates and locations: VirCE- Competence
Regional Development Agency described the Methodol- Center for Virtual
ogy for identification of best practices in the field of June 2nd Transfer Seminar in Eindhoven Reality and cooper-
information processing and the Hungarian support sys- 19th&20th
ative Engineering
tem to the implementation of innovative projects. (Virtual Dimension Center Fellbach)
September 3rd Transfer Seminar in Stuttgart
19th www.vdc-fellbach.de
During the second part of the event the participants
visited the company Timbertech Kft. in Zalaegerszeg, November 4th Transfer Seminar in Lodz
which produces Swedish laminated floors with innova-
tive solutions. Nebeuer Tibor, the owner of the small The Transfer Seminars in each of the participating re-
Participant 2
company showed the visitors around in his plant, intro- gions are dedicated and open to all regional cluster Research and Innova-
duced the production process and the innovative activi- organisations and innovation networks. The aim of the tion Center (Pro-Akad)
ties of the company. seminars is to introduce and share the best practices in www.proakademia.eu
the field of information processing to other parties. These
best practices were identified based on a survey among
members of regional innovation networks, delivering
complex data on effectiveness, quality, relevance, sus- Participant 3
tainability as well as cross-compliance of information Zala County Foundation for Enterprise
processing methods. Promotion (ZMVA) West-Pannon,
www.zmva.hu
All dates for upcoming events and more information on
the project can be found on the project’s website:
Participant 4
Eindhoven
http://infopro.euris-programme.eu
University of
The downloads of the presentations can be found on the
Technology (TUE),
project website in the News section:
Department of Industrial Design
http://infopro.euris-programme.eu http://www.tue.nl/universiteit/kolom-
2/faculteiten/industrial-design/