PIN-SME

Brussels, 11 December 2009. From January 2010 Spain will have the rotating presidency of the European Union. PIN-SME together with its Spanish member ESTIC have decided to request Spain to focus the next semester of the EU on ICT small enterprises. The European association of ICT SMEs has developed a set of recommendations aimed at fostering the competitiveness of ICT small businesses in Europe. The recommendations of PIN-SME concern:
·    Improvement of European Directive on Late Payments
·    Facilitate Internationalisation of ICT small enterprises
·    Foster SMEs’ Innovation and growth
·    Improved access to qualified labor
·    Better exploitation of R&D  

Click under "Press and Positions/Positions Papers" to download the PIN-SME recommendations to the Spanish Presidency of the EU.

Brussels, 29. October 2009. European policy makers consider ICT SMEs are key players for the EU’s competitiveness and growth.  PIN-SME remains on the European institutional frontline to ensure that ICT entrepreneurs get talked to rather than just talked about and November will be a busy month in this respect:

 

On the 18th of November, the European Commission will hold the conference Educating a New Generation of ICT Standards Professionals, a public event to facilitate the communication between ICT standardisation and the different ICT stakeholders. In order to ensure that ICT entrepreneurs are rightfully understood as the main users of ICT standards,  PIN-SME Secretary General Sebastiano Toffaletti will represent ICT SMEs in the discussion panel. PIN-SME expert Martin Prager will also present his views as ICT entrepreneur. Participation is free of charges and registration can be done HERE

 

On the 20th of November,  the European Economic and Social Committee will host the European e-Skills 2009 Conference, jointly organised by the European Commission and the EESC in partnership with the Council of European Professionals and Informatics Societies and other leading stakeholders. The event will bring together experts from governments, academia, ICT industry, ICT professional bodies and more. ICT entrepreneurs will be represented by Mike Sharpe, PIN-SME expert, who will present the viewpoint of ICT entrepreneurs in a session dedicated to ICT professionalism in the innovation agenda. Participation is free of charges and registration can be done HERE

 

On the 23rd of November, PIN-SME will host an open event at the occasion of its official General Assembly. This event will provide an extraordinary opportunity for direct exchange of views among ICT entrepreneurs, policy makers and industry experts. Key speakers include ECIS Legal Counsel, Thomas Vinje, Azlan Europe’s Managing Director, Simon England, and UEAPME Secretary General, Andrea Benassi.

 

The main highlights in the agenda will be about the European Social Dialogue, the developments in the Microsoft antitrust case and standardization opportunities for ICT-SMEs. All interested organizations are welcomed to join; for more information and registration, kindly contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Brussels, 20 October 2009. Commissioner Kroes gave vigorous support to the idea of “ex ante mandatory disclosure”of rates of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in standards during her speech in Brussels on the 15th of October.
The European Commissioner for Competition Policy warned her audience on the dangers of "patent ambush", "when a company taking part in the standard-setting process hides the fact that it holds essential IPRs over the standard being developed, and starts asserting such IPRs only after the standard has been agreed and other companies are “locked in” to using it". Mrs. Kroes then took a strong stance in favour of ex ante disclosure of maximum royalty rates of IPRs in standards:  

"I see no inherent reason why such a mechanism would fall foul of the competition rules, unless it is some kind of smokescreen for a cartel."

 

Brussels, 31 July 2009 - PIN SME announced today that Research In Motion (RIM) accepted its invitation to join its SME Advisory Committee (SME-AC).
The SME-AC of PIN SME is a group of experts whose aim is to provide consulting expertise on issues affecting ICT SMEs in Europe. The members of the SME-AC are invited by PIN-SME and come from a cross-section of academia, public authorities and industry. As the maker of the BlackBerry® solution, RIM is a recognised wireless technology expert and will bring its vast knowledge and perspective to PIN-SME.

Brussels, 18 June 2009. Caribbean and European ICT and Business Associations and Companies decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to promote their collaboration and foster the growth of ICT in the regions. Mr. Joaquín Garrido, PIN-SME Vice President, delivered a presentation at the event “Boosting Competitiveness for the ICT Sector in the Dominican Republic” on the 5th of June 2009 in the Dominican Republic, and signed the MoU on behalf of PIN-SME.

Brussels, 27 May 2009. PIN-SME, the organisation representing 50,000 SMEs in the ICT sector in Europe,  reinstated today its support for the European Commission's Statement of Objections seeking an end to Microsoft’s tying practices that effectively lock-in SMEs to Internet Explorer. Reacting to a statement by the Association of Competitive Technology (ACT), which in its blog supported Microsoft in this court case, PIN-SME questioned both ACT’s claims and its representativeness of European ICT SMEs.

“We would like to set the record straight”, said PIN-SME Secretary General Sebastiano Toffaletti. “European SMEs fully support the European Commission’s efforts to stop Microsoft’s tying practices, which are detrimental to the innovation potential and future competitiveness of ICT SMEs as developers, content providers and users. The opinion of ACT is a biased voice that does not represent the point of view of European SMEs.”