PowerPoint-Pr

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TRANSACT the transfer of start-up support
mechanisms to different contexts, project
results and conclusions Petra Brüning The
European Day of the Entrepreneur Sofia, 5th
November 2004
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Project Background
aims at the transfer of successful university
based start-up support schemes, which have proven
their excellence in regional, national and
European evaluations to partner universities in
the Candidate and Accession Countries.
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Project Background

• TRANSACT contributes to
• the successful integration into the EU
  enlargement process by transferring best
  practice,
• the dissemination of knowledge,
• the enhancement of an entrepreneurial culture
• the promotion of business ideas and
• the strengthening of the Accession Countries'
  regional and international linkages.

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Partners

• European Incubators
• Innovation und Bildung Hohenheim GmbH,
  Germany
• Attempto Service GmbH, Germany
• Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain
• CREALYS, France
• Internal project evaluation
• Fraunhofer Institut für Systemtechnik und
  Innovationsforschung, Germany

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Partners

• AC partners
• Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech
  Republic
• INNOTECH, Innovation Park of the Technical
  University of Budapest Ltd., Hungary
• University of Tartu, Institute of Technology,
  Estonia
• University of Agronomic Sciences and
  Veterinary Medicine, Romania

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TRANSACT Process
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Project Process and Methodology

• THE best-practice doesnt exist!
• all good practice examples are best practice
  under the given preconditions and at a certain
  time at a certain location
• a one-to-one transfer is rarely possible and
  depends significantly on cultural and
  socio-economic differences between the provider
  and the receiver of a measure
• ? TRANSACT follows the approach of collaborative
  planning instruments (especially
  Open-Space-Technology)

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Project Process and Methodology
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Conferences and Open-Space-Technology
In order to fulfil the needs of the partners in
the accession countries at the best possible rate
a conference was held in each of the
participating countries.
March Budapest/Hungary
September Bucharest/Romania
January Prague/ Czech Republic
May Tartu/Estonia
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Conferences and Open-Space-Technology
During these conferences the Open-Space-Technology
was used to make sure that

• the most important topics to the participants
  were raised and discussed
• TRANSACT partners, experts and relevant decision
  makers were brought together in one place,
  integrating them into the planning process
• all relevant parties are committed to the project
• planning is facilitated, knowledge is shared and
  approaches are selected
• "action teams were established.

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Most Important Results I
Business Simulation Competition
One of the identified problems is the lack of
awareness among potential entrepreneurs in the
Accession Countries.
Therefore a business simulation competition was
proposed during the TRANSACT Conference in
Budapest, in which students from all partner
universities can participate.
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Most Important Results I
Business Simulation Competition
The International Business Simulation Competition
is a computer based simulation for students
interested in starting their own business. It
focuses on the reproduction of the typical phases
a start-up company is going through facing
business, technical and social challenges. Partici
pants have to go through different stages of
business activity

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Most Important Results II
Contacts to Student Organisations

• Entrepreneurial awareness among students has been
  raised by
• contacts to student organisations
• presentations concerning start-up support
  measures that have been or will be held.

Additionally, information and success stories of
young entrepreneurs are being sent to the
students directly via the student newsletters,
e.g. in the newsletter MÜHELY
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Most Important Results III
Strengthened Network at the partner institutions
Integrating relevant decision makers from inside
and outside the universities into the planning
process of the conferences and the conferences
themselves has helped the partner to gain greater
power in order to improve their start-up support.
It was possible to integrate into all of the
conferences representatives of 

• - Universities (rector, professors, teaching
  staff, students)
• Ministries (e.g. Ministry of Economic
  Affairs,.....)
• Government (e.g. City Government)
• Science Parks, Innovation Centres, Patent
  Centres, Business
• Advisory Centres, ...
• Research Institutions
• Chambers

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Most Important Results III
Strengthened Network at the partner institutions

• Together with this enlarged network and supported
  by the TRANSACT partners
• new proposals for start-up support,
• structural changes in the partner institutions
  and
• new collaborations
• are on their way.

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Most Important Results IV
Establishment of Academic Incubator
In Bucharest, an Academic Incubator has been
started. Students with business ideas and
professors, who are supporting them in writing
their business plans, are given the necessary
infrastructure to start their projects, e.g.
rooms. On the conference, an action team on the
Academic Incubator was launched in order to
extend the start-up support activities to an
integrated approach.
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Thank you for your attention
Petra Brüning Innovation und Bildung Hohenheim
GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany bruening_at_ibh.uni-hohenhei
m.de