The first edition of the Industrial Technologies 2O10 conference is being organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the Belgian EU Presidency.  The focus will be on nanotechnologies and nanosciences, materials and manufacturing technologies, which are the key areas of the FP7 NMP Theme.

The conference will give you the possibility to meet majors actors in the field. It will be an international forum where industry, research organisations, universities as well as policy makers will meet and discuss possibilities for cooperation and proposals for improved integration in the near future.

The “European Media Wrapper Round Table” is an event aiming at disseminating and proposing a strategic vision concerning the exchange of “Semantic Media Assets” between different independent systems.

It becomes now a well known event in the media semantic landscape! Indeed, together with MediaNet Vlaanderen, the Twist Cluster and the members of the MediaMap project, the Non Profit Association TITAN is organising it in Amsterdam, just before the start of the IBC-2010, for the fifth time. This invitation is sent to selected policy makers, strategic planners and media experts.
As you are one of those, this letter is a formal invitation to this “European Media Wrapper Round Table V” event,  planned on Friday, September 10 at 9.30 am just on the other side of the RAI Building (Knijn - Scheldeplein 3 - 1078 GR Amsterdam). It will be held in English. After two hours of presentations and discussions, we have planned an analogic event : a short lunch. The programme and the registration form are in the attachment.

Realising the eXchanges of information objects requires a physical, a logical and a Knowledge layer. This year, we will focus on the dynamic relations between the logical layer and the knowledge management ! This approach promotes the semantic enrichment of audiovisual objects. That allows to the broadcasters of exchanging easily their assets; to the producers of broadening their audience; to the distributors of extending their reachs. Furthermore, that offers to the users an easier access to the available contents, for playing them out in a more convenient way and, ultimately, for participating and contributing to add-ons onto the existing content: this is an innovative approach to interactivity.

After introductory presentation the Round Table will exchange over the way of building up semantic associations, enriching NewML-G2, analyzing a innovative approach for encapsulating the semantics in MXF-DMS1 and building up a combined approach for expressing the skills and roles and adapting the GUI accordingly …

The MediaMap Project will demonstrate powerful exploitation and retrieval based on the “Congo 60” semantic data base :  ontological properties improve the browse and the queries based on explicit structures and identifiers.

You will find attached an Introduction to the “AXIS-Conceptual Reference Model [AXIS-CRM]” that has been presented at the SemTech-2010 in San Francisco. This conceptual model presents a simple way of constructing the persistence, the access, the traceability of the rights and exploitations and the interoperability for operations and archives. The explicit expression and representation of formats standards and semantics open the way to simplification and efficiency.

The association has organized the “EMWRT I” in Brussels (October 2006), the EMWRT II in Paris (October 2007) and the EMWRT III and IV in Amsterdam (September 2008 - 2009). All the results of the Round Tables have been published on the web-site of the association : http://www.titan.be.

Managing the innovation process is critical to achieve the steady flow of innovation needed for sustainable, long-term success. To establish and develop innovation, all aspects of the business that foster innovation capabilities must be continually and  systematically managed, including business and innovation strategies, organisational structures, stakeholders, and human capital. The necessary tools, methods, approaches
and processes must also be managed, including resources management, technology watch (maintain an overview of the latest technological developments), competitive intelligence, creativity, benchmarking and knowledge valorisation.

This seminar – From Knowledge to Competitiveness – will focus on three tools that public authorities could use to support innovation to drive competitiveness and sustainable growth:

• Standardization
• Intellectual property
• Public procurement contracts

Three speakers will introduce the tools and explain how each is key to competitiveness.

Panels will explore the tools in depth and develop recommendations to be compiled in a Communication from the Belgian Presidency to European Union’s Competiveness Council, comprised of ministers of European affairs, industry and research, among others.

Who are we?  Eight Franco-Walloon partners have joined forces in the context of the European 3pod (‘tripod’ - www.3pod.eu) cross-border project. Funded by the European Union (ERDF), Wallonia and DIRECCTE (Regional Directorate for Enterprises, Competition, Competition, Employment and Labour in Languedoc-Roussillon) this Interreg IV initiative primarily seeks to lend support to companies in the Nord-Pas de Calais (Fr) - Hainaut (Be) area for incorporating design into their projects. As a genuine source of innovation, drawing distinctions and creating value-adding opportunities, design is unquestionably a tool for the economic development of the business sector.

Myriad obstacles and prejudices continue to make some companies reluctant to incorporate design into their business development (new product /service, new packaging, new process) and improvement (more effective channels of communication, more efficient work/sales facilities) strategies. The 3pod partners are offering a comprehensive service to help companies solve these issues and more effectively identify the advantages of design-led innovation.

As part of a collaborative process and in a bid to complement the range of services on offer to businesses we are organising a meeting where we will unveil the 3pod project, the services available and the financial support facilities for the activities of a professional designer. This will also provide an opportunity to talk together about how to make companies more sensitive to the design factor and the advantages for them, while comparing experiences with a view to improving the overall services on offer to businesses.

The meeting is being held on  Tuesday 14 september from 10.30 am to noon in Mons (Incubateur Initialis, Boulevard Initialis n°7).