Participate in the giCASES survey on collaboration in GIS&T education

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Angela Ivanova in GIS, GIS, Surveys | Leave a comment

03/23/2016

INI-Novation is a partner in the European project named giCases, and we kindly ask you to participate in the giCASES survey on collaboration in GIS&T education.

The European giCASES project is investigating how higher education institutions are working together with private companies and public administrations in the design and delivery of GIS&T education in Europe. Therefore, giCASES would like to invite individuals and organizations from the higher education sector but also from the public and private sector to participate in a survey on collaboration between higher education institutions and other stakeholders in the design and delivery of GIS&T education.

This short survey is a unique opportunity for teachers, program coordinators but also GI professionals in the private or public sector to share their experiences with and views on collaboration in GIS&T education. In addition, the survey also aims to collect good practices in collaboration between higher education institutions and other stakeholders in the design and delivery of GIS&T education.

The survey can be accessed here.

giCASES is a Knowledge Alliance project under the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission. The project aims to enable and strengthen innovation in GIS&T education and practice, and facilitate the collaborative creation, management and sharing of knowledge between different stakeholders. The giCASES project will develop and test new, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches to teaching, learning and knowledge management in the area of GIS&T.

The survey is the first step in the project, and will help the project partners to better understand current ways of collaboration in GIS&T education and the needs and expectations of different stakeholders regarding this collaboration. Should you have any comments or questions regarding this survey, please feel free to contact the survey organizers.

Thank you in advance for your participation! We appreciate your time and valuable input.

The giCASES consortium.

giCASES kick-off meeting

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Angela Ivanova in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The kick-off meeting of the giCASES project was held in Genoa last 26-27 January 2016.
The event was attended by all the members of the Consortium.
giCASES has officially started on January 1, 2016, with an expected life of 36 months and ending 31 December 2018.

The wider objectives of this projects are:

to enable and strengthen innovation in GI education and industry
to facilitate the collaborative creation, management and sharing of knowledge.

These objectives are addressed by developing new, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning within the Geographic Information (GI) sector, and facilitating the exchange, flow and co-creation of knowledge.

In particular, the specific objectives of this project are:

to improve the quality and relevance of GI courses provided by the University members of the consortium;
to facilitate the growth of new knowledge-sharing processes and tools between enterprises and universities;
to improve the management of knowledge by the partners.

The overall approach to address these objectives is to develop new learning material and processes based on case based learning. In the approach taken in this project, enterprises and academia will collaborate both when creating learning material based on real cases and also during and after the courses (through a collaborative platform).

Main results expected:

Creation of a repository of best practices on industry-academia cooperation to create and share knowledge in the GI domain
Definition of the focus, scope and requirements of the case studies
Specification of innovative collaboration methods, with best practices on different methods and validation of these methods in different settings
Definition of process, tools and methodologies for co-creation of knowledge
Definition of technical specifications for the set up of a collaboration tool (collaborative platform) and implementation of the technical infrastructure
A set of case studies adopted for case based learning and related learning material

The collaborative platform will also be used to make the project results (learning material and processes) available to other stakeholders under open licences, as well as to attract more content providers / stakeholders to contribute to the growth of the content base.

LILA Guidebook, October 2015

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Angela Ivanova in Training, Training | Leave a comment

By applying the Living Labs approach and the principles of open innovation, the LILA Project provides the opportunity for European entrepreneurs to obtain user feedback about their products and services. The entrepreneurs understand business barriers to access local and the European market, and to understand user requirements.

“Prepare startups for European success” is our guidebook, presented during the EBN Congress in October 2015 and describing the whole process of LILA Labs.

Download it from here.

Kick-off meeting of EUROPETOUR EU Project with INI-Novation Bulgaria

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Angela Ivanova in Tourism | Leave a comment

2015-12-02

Happy gathering of ideas at our first meeting in the HeilbronnerLand with KLOSTERLAND, INI-Novation GmbH, Kreativ Reisen Österreich – Creative Tourism Austria, Creativelena, Bucovina Turism,Regione Marche, Future for Religious Heritage &Camino Lebaniego.

Global Technology Commercialization Forum in South Korea

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Angela Ivanova in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Managing Director of INI-Novation GmbH, Wolfgang Kniejski, received a special invitation from the Korean Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) to attend the Global Technology Commercialization Forum as a speaker and panellist. The event was held on October 27, 2015, in Seoul. The invitation was received as a result of the good business relationship between the two organizations and was high recognition of Dr. Kniejski as high level speaker and consultant in the area of international technology transfer of innovation management.

The Forum aimed to become a platform through which global technology cooperation can be enhanced by gaining better understanding of both Koreans and overseas entities’ needs and exchanging know-how on efficient global market entry strategies.

Guests from University of Texas IC2 Commercialization Center, Steinbeis Foundation, European Business Innovation Center Network, Samsung Electronics, Nomura Research Institute were among the speakers who delivered insightful presentations.

Based on his more than 20 years’ experience in the area of technology transfer and innovation management, Wolfgang Kniejski presented SME support to access international markets and good practice examples from the activities of INI-Novation and EBN in the area of soft-landing and living labs organization through so-called LILA Platform and good practices created in the EU funded LILA Project.

The event brought together about 200 participants representing both domestic and foreign SMEs, global companies that have established their presence in Korea, diplomats from various embassies in Seoul, commercialization-supporting organizations such as INI-Novation GmbH, etc. Therefore, Dr. Kniejski was accompanied by Angela Ivanova, Business Development Director if INI Novation GmbH, as a guest of the Global Technology Commercialisation Forum.

Engaging discussions on various topics with all speakers started in the afternoon. Some of the hot topics were finance support and fund raising for internationalization activities, European market, cultural differences, opportunities and barriers for business expansion.

Start-ups in the Internet economy – workshop in Cologne

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Angela Ivanova in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

On October 23th, Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Kniejski, Managing Director of INI-Novation GmbH and Business Developer in European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) was invited as a speaker in an “Entrepreneurs in eCommerce” event in Cologne: “Start-ups in the Internet economy – the European perspective”.
In front of start-ups, coaches and accelerators, Dr. Kniejski presented his approach for the development of business models and business plans at all stages of a company development process, from start-up to international expansion. “In particular, we dedicate to enter the so-called ‘soft landing’ process,” explained Dr. Kniejski, “by supporting start-up companies with an expert network and providing them the help in their efforts to enter international markets and to overcome the early stage challenges of existing barriers.”

Dr. Kniejski presented three support initiatives that are available for all eligible start-ups:
• TESLA (Transnational Ecosystem Laboratory & Actions) project
With the support of partner organisations from Ireland, Wales, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands cross-border access-to-market opportunities are offered. The goal is to drive the internationalization of start-ups faster, giving them access to important export markets in the European Union.
• LILA- Lab web platform
LILA Project is a user feedback platform. It helps the entrepreneurs on their very first stage of product development by providing feedback from targeted users. Start-ups can test their inventions in different stages of their development, even when it is still an idea. Through LILA Labs markets in France, UK, Luxemburg and Germany can be approached. Key to the success is not the platform itself, but the successful networking of partners and the strong groups of user communities behind the LILA platform.

• EIT Digital Accelerator
Assistance is provided to later stage start-ups and scale ups that have already market evidence to show.. On this stage, the start-up is striving for internationalization. Therefore, the EIT Digital network provides the supported scale ups access to market, to experts and to investors on matchmaking events. Support measures in all of this three activity lines can even be provided outside Europe. As Wolfgang Kniejski replied on an entrepreneur’s question: “This is generally possible and we already created success stories. However, it depends on the personal networks and of the quality of the network partners of every business developer.”

*All materials for this event can be downloaded through:
https://e-commerce.eco.de/2015/events/start-ups-im-e-commerce.html
*The Press info is published also here:
http://ini-novation.lilaproject.eu/en/blog/start-ups-in-the-internet-economy-workshop-in-cologne
Press Info
Darmstadt, October 2015

NELUMBOX – the awards winner. Use Case from LILA Labs session

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Angela Ivanova in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

NELUMBOX pro is a cold chain solution with only battery-operated long-term controlled temperature device, which is one of its unique features. NELUMBOX is patented technology and is created by Martin Voigt – an entrepreneur from Darmstadt (Germany). Based on this technology, he developed four different types of solutions for four different use cases: personal medication and traveling, for baby care, for professional use and leisure. Martin Voigt still do not have his own company but all his products are ready for testing by different users.

The General Manager of INI-Novation GmbH Wolfgang Kniejski met Martin Voigt on one of the seminars, organized by INI-Novation about IPR management. After the seminar, they had long conversation about the market and different ways for market entrance. Both agreed that the users’ needs and preferences are important for the market entrance strategy. For this reason, Martin Voigt was introduced to the process of LILA Labs. It was decided a LILA lab to be organized during a special pitching competition “UNCAP 2015 INNOVATION AWARDS”. It was good opportunity for Martin, because he could easily receive feedback from people working in hospices, care homes and from frequent travellers.

The idea of this participation was good, because the NELUMBOX creator Martin Voigt received a lot of feedbac
k from the users during the LILA lab session. The discussion during the LILA lab made clearer the benefits and the challenges of NELUMBOX for the users, that participated in the lab.

The inclusion of a LILA lab session during another event with the same-targeted focus groups was helpful in two directions: Martin Voigt discussed issues of NELUMBOX with highly competent people in the Health Care and Home Care sector; and secondly, the responsible people from the Innovation Management Teamof UNCAP had the opportunity to know in details the new invention.

As a result, NELUMBOX won the second place in the “UNCAP 2015 INNOVATION AWARD“ competition. Martin Voigt was invited as an associated partner in the UNCAP EU project which means that he could test in a real field his invention. He also was invited to participate in Nottingham in the UNCAP conference on eCare and to exhibit his technology.

Next steps are preparation to take NELUMBOX to the international market and again the first step will be LILA lab, organized by our LILA partners in France and England.

Internationally with LILA Labs. Use case: “Testfabrik AG”

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Angela Ivanova in Events, Events, Events, Events, Events, Events, Living Labs, Living Labs, Living Labs, Living Labs, Projects, Projects, Projects, Projects, Projects, Projects, Projects, Start-ups, Start-ups, Start-ups, Start-ups, Start-ups, Start-ups | Leave a comment

Testfabrik AG is a German start-up company, established in 2013. The team was striving to enter the German market and to provide Internet Technologies based services, as webmate. “Webmate” is a groundbreaking tool for the automatic testing of web applications, with a focus on cross-browser compatibility. Until their entrance in the LILA Labs program, they had no clients.

Testfabrik AG is one of the best cases for LILA Lab session because they have a prototype of their future product, tested among other their colleagues, with very high appreciation but without any client’s interest. Their main questions were “Why?” and “What?” – why they don’t clients and what they have to improve.

Their first LILA Lab was in November 2014 in Darmstadt. INI-Novation invited the main target group that can turn into potential customers – web designers from the region. During the session, Testfabrik AG was interested to get information about the following questions:

Where do the users see webmate fitting in their work?
What does the user see as the major issue for the acceptance of webmate?
What do the users think about the pricing model – does it encourage or discourage the usage of webmate?
Do the users need more features to be implemented in webmate?

The LILA Lab session was organized as a free discussion between the users and the creators of webmate. A lot of recommendations and useful tips were put on the table, and after the session all were satisfied with the results of the meeting.

After the local lab, Testfabrik AG decided to continue their experience in the LILA Lab process but this time on international level. A road show in Netherlands and Belgium was organized by one of the contracted mentors in the LILA project,Mr. Filip Coenen. This road show actually was set up as a “multiplied LILA Lab”. Instead of getting together users in a meeting room, the company went to the users in their offices. The company received valuable feedback to adapt product’s features to the specific needs of those markets. As a result, Testfabrik AG found beta testers from Belgium and Netherlands, and committed proof of concept cooperation. This was a real success and added value for the company.

At the end, Testfabrik AG realized that they have to accompany their final product activities with more marketing support. INI-Novation’s marketing and PR specialists were also participants in the LILA Lab sessions. Knowing the users’ preferences, they developed the marketing and communication strategy for Testfabrik.

The goal of Testfabrik AG is in 5 years’ time to become a European leader in software quality tools for web applications with near view to the global market leadership. LILA Labs were one of the first steps toward the goal.

“Einkorn – Ancient Innovation” Conference in Darmstadt

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Angela Ivanova in Food innovation | Leave a comment

Dr. Wolfgang Kniejski talks about the beer market in Germany

On behalf of the consortium of partners in the EU project “Einkorn – Ancient Innovation”, INI-Novation GmbH organized the official Project Conference in Darmstadt, Germany, on September 10^th, 2015.

The purpose of the event was to bring together mainly beer brewing but also food experts, and stakeholders, who are interested in exploring new products of a higher quality with multiple benefits. The innovation of the project is a specific malting process, suitable for less widespread culture “Einkorn”, which has proven qualities superior to other varieties.

The conference was opened by Boyan Milushev, representative of the project coordinator and Dr. Wolfgang Kniejski – an international consultant in the field of innovation management with more than 20 years of international experience as a business development manager.
The conference was focused on topics such as “Einkorn –origin, spread, composition”, “Malting and brewing of Einkorn”, “Bread and pastry with Einkorn”, market opportunities and niches. Lectors were Professor Valentin Batchvarov, Professor Gabriela Marinova – both from Agricultural Academy in Bulgaria, and Lenka Sachambula from the Research Institute of Brewing and Malt in Czech Republic.

Prof. Valentin Batchvarov )Agricultural Academy, Bulgaria), Prof. Gabriela Marinova (Agricultural Academy, Bulgaria), Lenka SachambulaResearch (Institute of Brewing
and Malt, Czech Republic)

Dean Gerasimov, owner of a company, growing einkorn in Bulgaria

Einkorn Beer and Einkorn Pastry Testing

Dean Gerasimov, owner of a company, growing einkorn and producing einkorn products from Bulgaria, shared his practical experience on the market.

Samples of einkorn based beer, homemade einkorn bread and pastry were reached out for testing.

At the end, many participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas and more experience on a get together and networking event with glass of beer in hand.