EBN Congress 2013

29 May, 2013

This year, NORIBIC with the support of the Irish BICs is proud to host the 22nd Annual EBN Innovation Congress in Derry~Londonderry on 30/31 May 2013 in association with Invest Northern Ireland, the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and Ilex, the urban regeneration company for Derry~Londonderry.

Guest speaker for the event is Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc.

And you are invited to come, listen, learn and be entertained by a speaker line-up unparalleled in Congress history. More importantly, we want you to meet new friends and old colleagues, to network and collaborate with like-minded people.Register TODAY!

There is an exensive programme of events including some inspiring speakers, discussion groups and many more. Participating in International Incubation Lab (Wed 29th 14h-15) will be Brendan O'Driscoll, Soundwave, who spoke at AxisBIC's Going International Conference last October, while Michael O'Connor, AxisBIC will be the moderator for this session. The speakers in this session will discuss the international mission of EC-BICs and innovation based-incubators (IBI’s) and provide insights on business internationalisation tips, tools and services offering growth packages to globally focused entrepreneurs and businesses.

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF KEY AREAS OF FOCUS FOR THE EVENT, THEY INCLUDE:

The Millenium Forum located in the city centre will welcome the participants who will have the opportunity to visit relevant Villages areas according to their own interests

The Digital Village - This area will focus on Digital Innovation and will try to answer to the following issues:

How the digital content sector can be developed and grown to address new business opportunities in the 21st century economy.
What innovative methodologies can be utilised by BICs to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of digital content businesses?
How can traditional businesses adopt and utilise digital technologies to develop their business models?

The Cultural Village - All regions have their own unique culture. This creates a business opportunity that can be used to considerable economic advantage.

What innovative approaches can be taken by the BICs towards ensuring that cultural activities can be made sustainable?
Can traditional businesses adopt cultural innovation processes to drive forward their businesses?

The Innovation Village - Particularly in a recession economy, the opportunity for start-up can be limited through many factors – market, finance, staff or customer base. By thinking innovatively, the business model can be translated from a traditional profit taking model to a surplus making model such as social enterprise.

What innovative approaches can be taken by the BICs towards supporting social enterprises?
Can traditional businesses adopt social innovation processes to drive forward their businesses?
How can social cohesion be promoted through adoption of social innovation?

Case studies of innovative processes adopted by BICs in their support of Digital/Cultural/ Social businesses and successful business exemplars. Examples of Digital, Cultural-Traditional business crossover models as well as Examples of sustainable Social Enterprises will be showcased.

More detailed information on www.ebncongress.eu