European IST Newsletter 9

EUROPEAN news

PATINNOVA and EPO Patent Information Conferences in Budapest, Hungary, from 8th to 10th of November

The European Commission and the European Patent Office (EPO) will hold the PATINNOVA and EPO Patent Information conferences in Budapest, Hungary, from 8 to 10 November.

The event will provide a discussion forum for policy-makers, entrepreneurs and organizations involved in the research and innovation system.

Under the title 'Turning knowledge into value for competitiveness', PATINNOVA '05 will focus on intellectual property (IP) management as a business strategy for growth. Small businesses' concerns will also be addressed.

The EPO Patent Information Conference (EPIDOS) will be held in parallel, and will focus on the latest developments in the retrieval of patent information and tools available on the market.
For further information, please visit: http://www.european-patent-office.org/epidos/conf/epic2005/

European conference on mobile solutions

The conference 'Mobile Europe 2005' will take place in Bremen, Germany, on November 15th and 16th.

This fourth European conference on mobile solutions will address global visions, strategies and future expectations, as well as business opportunities, best practices and drivers for new mobile technologies.

Complementary to the conference, a brokerage event organized by the EU-Network Innovation Relay Centre will take place. The partnering event offers to conference participants the opportunity to identify potential cooperation partners in the sector of mobile technologies.

The first conference day focuses on strategies and future expectations presented by international operating companies from the telecommunications, software and hardware industry. Additionally, renowned experts will point out global approaches foe this field of activity. A panel discussion with a view on mobile communication 2020 will complete the programme of the first day. The second day will place emphasis on global visions, drivers of new mobile applications, business opportunities and future challenges. Trends in technology as well as limiting factors, best practice approaches for driving the development, test scenarios, market segmentation and customer orientation will be the focus.
Conference website: www.mobile-europe.org

Council adopts Directive to smooth entry of third country researchers into EU

The Council of Ministers has adopted a new Directive calling on the Member States to establish a fast-track system for the admission of third country nationals to the EU for the purposes of scientific research.

According to the new system, an accredited EU research organization must provide a host agreement, certifying a non-EU researcher's involvement in a research project and his or her possession of the necessary technical skills. On the basis of the host agreement, immigration authorities in the host country will deliver a residence permit through a fast-track procedure.

Possession of such a residence permit will automatically imply the right to work without further economic means testing. Holders will also enjoy equal treatment with EU nationals in many areas, such as social security, working conditions and the right to travel freely within the Schengen countries (and Ireland) in order to carry out their research.

As part of the Directive, Member States are encouraged to allow third country researchers who are already legally present in their territory to submit applications for the residence permit without first having to return home, which is often the case now. All EU countries must transpose the Directive into national law by October 2007.

Alongside the Directive, the Council also adopted a recommendation on facilitating the admission of third country researchers, suggesting that Member States offer exemption or the automatic delivery of work permits, and also covering issues such as family reunification.

Another recommendation was adopted in September encouraging Member States to establish fast-track procedures for the issuing of short-term or multiple entry visas, to adopt a harmonized approach to supporting documents for research visas applications, and to strengthen their consular cooperation on these issues.

Commenting jointly on the package of measures, Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik, and Vice President with responsibility for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini, described it as ”a major step towards a European Research Area more capable [of exchanging] talents with the rest of the world”.

For further information on researcher mobility in the EU, please visit: http://europa.eu.int/eracareers/index_en.cfm

EU launches two new financing programmes

The European Union has launched two new financing programmes.

The first is Call 41 of the IST priority "Networked Audio Visual Systems and Home Platforms", with identifier FP6-2005-IST-41. October 19th is the publication date and it has a budget of 52.5 million €. Closing date is December 20th, 2005, 17h00 Brussels local time. It was launched within the “Integrating and Strengthening the European Research Area” specific programme from the “Information Society Technologies” activity area.
Information on this Call can be found on
http://fp6.cordis.lu/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP6DetailsCallPage&call_id=260

The other programme launched, “Euratom - 2005-6 – EFTS”, has identifier Euratom - 2005-6 – EFTS. The publication date is October 4th 2005 with closing date on January 31st, 2006, 16h00 Brussels local time. The allocated budget is 8 million €. It is included in the “European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)” specific programme from the “Controlled thermonuclear fusion” activity area. More information specific for this programme can be found on the FP6 website, at
http://fp6.cordis.lu/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP6DetailsCallPage&call_id=247

CONSORTIUM news

Romanian-Hungarian ICT Partnersearch Forum held in Bucharest on October 19-21, 2005

The Hungarian Association of IT Companies (IVSZ) and the Romanian Association for Electronic and Software Industry (ARIES) cooperated in organizing the Romanian-Hungarian ICT Partnersearch Forum on October 19-21, 2005 as a side event of the joint Romanian - Hungarian government meeting. The event took place in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The partner search forum consisted mainly of bilateral meetings between companies with advance matchmaking.

Along with ARIES and IVSZ, the other co-organizers of the event were were the Ministry of Informatics and Communications of Hungary, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Romania, ITD Hungary and ANIS.

Please visit http://english.ivsz.hu/engine.aspx?page=projects_romhunitforum for more details on the event.

25 Romanian companies at the OutsourceWorld Fair in New York, on October 18-19, 2005

The Romanian Association for the Electronic and Software Industry (ARIES) and by the Romanian Ministry of Economy, Department for Foreign Trade, set up the Romanian Pavilion for this event. The exhibitors are providers of a wide range of services, including IT services, product engineering and R&D, business process outsourcing and call center management.

OutsourceWorld New York is the most important learning and networking platform in the US for the outsourcing sector, attracting a mix of analysts, practitioners and top-level executives. It took place at the Metropolitan Pavilion in central Manhattan and consisted of a two-day exhibition and a two-day conference. It was designed to give visitors a complete and objective understanding of how this rapidly changing sector is affecting the global economy.

“OutourceWorld was an excellent opportunity for us to present Romania’s strengths to the US market. We believe that Romania is an attractive market to a wide range of US companies including large multinationals, small and medium firms, and venture investors,” said Florin Vrejoiu, Executive Vice-President, ARIES - Romanian Association for Electronic and Software Industry

During and after the fair, the ARIES representative, together with the General Director of the Department for Foreign Trade from the Romanian Ministry of Economy, held numerous meetings with companies and top-level groups from the consultancy and strategic market analysis in the ITC domain, outsourcing brokers (Yankee Group, AMR, Network World, Ventoro, Everest Research, Neo-IT, Gartner, Forrester) as well as with domain oriented mass-media representatives from Business Week, Information WeeK, ITD, eWeek, IDC, and, also, with the Outsourcing Institute. The talks were facilitated by the USAID/CHF Bucharest programme, and their aim was to obtain a better positioning and active branding for the Romanian ITC sector on the North American market through mass-media and large consultancy companies, analysts and brokers which, by reputation and professionalism, would supply credibility on the outsourcing market.

INDUSTRY news

TechTeam Global Announces Acquisition of Romanian company Akela Informatique

TechTeam Global, Inc., worldwide providers of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing support services, announced on October 3rd, that it has purchased all of the outstanding stock of Akela Informatique SRL (Akela).

Akela is a premier provider of custom software solutions and offshore development center outsourcing services headquartered in Bucharest, Romania. In addition to providing software product design services, Akela supplies application development, migration, implementation, and maintenance support for its more than 200 clients in Romania, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Sweden and the United States.

Founded in 1998, Akela also implements human resource information systems, integrated management systems, and document management systems, has been a Microsoft Certified Partner since 2000, and has implemented and maintained an ISO 9001:2000 certified quality management system, designed according to the SEI Capability Maturity Model Integration (SEI CMMI) and ISO 12207 norms and regulations.

The terms of the transaction included a purchase price of 2.45 million € in cash and 250,000 € worth of TechTeam common stock, with an additional sum of up to 450,000 € that may be paid by TechTeam upon the attainment of specified gross profit objectives by Akela during its 2006 and 2007 fiscal years and the satisfaction of various other conditions.

Commenting on this announcement, William F. Coyro, Jr., TechTeam's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated:
"We are very excited about this acquisition and the immediate entree it provides to us in the important off-shore software development and outsourcing services technology sector.

Akela is a recognized leader in its market, has a reputation for providing outstanding customer service, and has a highly skilled and client-focused work force. We are delighted to have Akela join the TechTeam Global family of companies, which includes TechTeam Global SRL, an IT and business process outsourcing services company that TechTeam established in Bucharest, Romania in 2004.

The acquisition of Akela will increase TechTeam's employee base to over 250 IT professionals in Bucharest with access to several new global customers, technologies, and vertical markets.

Coyro added, "In January 2005 Akela was named one of the Top 100 Outsourcing Suppliers Worldwide, and one of the Top Five Outsourcing Companies in Central and Eastern Europe, by expert offshore consultant neoIT and CMP's Managing Offshore newsletter. Akela represents an exceptional group of employees who will significantly strengthen TechTeam's service delivery capabilities."

TechTeam Global, Inc. is a worldwide provider of information technology and business process outsourcing support services to Fortune 1000 corporations, multinational companies, product providers, small and mid-sized companies, and government entities. TechTeam's ability to integrate computer services into a flexible, total single-point-of-contact (SPOC) solution is a key element of its success.

Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, TechTeam also has locations in Dearborn, Michigan; Davenport, Iowa; Chantilly and Herndon, Virginia; Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Bethesda and Germantown, Maryland; Brussels and Gent, Belgium; Uxbridge, United Kingdom; Cologne, Germany; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Bucharest, Romania.

TechTeam website:http://www.techteam.com

Chip design and manufacturing firm eSilicon is making a major expansion in Europe with the hiring of up to 50 engineers at its design centre in Romania

The US firm opened its low power ICs specialized Bucharest design centre in February.

"They're very good at low power design and die size reduction techniques," said Jack Harding, chairman, president and CEO at eSilicon.

The European team will be expanded to "at least" 30 engineers in the next 12 months, maybe 50, said Harding, depending on the availability of good designers.

eSilicon is one of the more significant of the outsourcing firms that have sprung up over the last few years. It boasts around 40 customers and in the year to March 2005 had revenues of $91m.

"What we're trying to be is the new breed of manufacturing firms," Harding explained to Electronics Weekly. "We always ship silicon to the customer."

Harding said around two-thirds of the projects it takes on involve the physical design of the chip as well as the manufacturing, for which the firm uses TSMC 90 per cent of the time.

"Have one fab that really loves you, rather than two that think you're OK," Harding noted.

The demand for outsourced physical design and manufacturing is growing as the complexity and cost of advanced processes rise. Harding estimates that at 90nm and below, there might be only 50 companies that can really afford to do their own physical design and manufacturing."

"People need this [outsourcing] as they move to finer geometries - it's getting too hard," he said. "You have to view the world from netlist to prototype, one process."

This means building chips with yield management in mind, a process that starts during the design phase.

Harding has ambitious plans for eSilicon. "Long term, we're serving a $20bn market. There's no reason why we can't be a billion dollar company in a relevant timeframe... perhaps seven years. I didn't do this to have a $100m business."

More information on the official website: www.eSilicon.com

Wipro to Set Up BPO Facility in Romania

Global software major Wipro will be opening its first overseas BPO facility in Romania as a near shore center in Eastern Europe.

"The new BPO facility will be located in Romania to expand our language capabilities for voice, transaction processing and level one and level two (L1 & L2) support services for infrastructure management," Wipro CEO Suresh C. Senapaty said.

Wipro forayed into IT-enabled services, including the BPO segment, in 2002 by acquiring Spectramind and merging it with its global IT services business unit subsequently.

With Europe accounting for about 33 percent of its global IT business revenue during the third quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal (2005-06), the company has decided to locate its service offerings in the lower end of the value chain closer to the growing number of customers in Europe. Quote: "For instance, in the US market, which generates the lion's share of our revenues, we have four-five facilities spread from east to west".

For further details please visit: http://www.globaloutsourcing.org/content/NewswireFeeds/2005/105102303.asp