Visit of Naousa’s Delegation to Barcelona

16th of March, 2008

A delegation of the Greek´s town of Naousa visited Barcelona and the Landing Program on 13th of March 2008. The delegation was headed by the Vice Mayor of Nousa’s Technical Services: Mrs. Karida Maria and the Supervisor of Naousa’s Technical Services: Mrs. Kiriakidis Pavlos.

The Naousa´s represents met with the CEO of 22@Barcelona: Mr. Josep M. Pique and the Director of Landing Program: Mrs. Mariona Ferrer. Moreover the delegation had an interesting presentation about the 22@Barcelona, which aimed to introduce the visitors to the development of the innovation 22@ District of Poblenou, focusing on the urban structure development plans. In addition, after the end of the presentation, the delegation visited key elements of the 22@Barcelona District.

The delegation got to know not only the development of the entrepreneurial spirit and the construction of new infrastructure in the 22@ district, but also it gained some new experience about how Barcelona is conserving the historical background (old buildings and industrial factories from the XIX century) of the 22@ area of Poblenou neighborhood.

Think London visits Landing Program

12th of March, 2008

London will host the Olympic Games in the summer of 2012 and it hopes to attract hundreds of foreign companies due to business opportunities in probably the biggest international sport event. The British capital, as it did Brazil in 1992, aspires to take advantage of the Olympics and transform the city. It is noteworthy that the 2012 Games in London will have a direct economic impact of 5,800 million euro. So for the foreign investor there are good business opportunities, especially in the areas of construction, communications and technology services.

The Olympic event also represents a great opportunity to promote London in international aspect, attract foreign investors and create jobs that won´t be linked only to the Games, but to all companies that will continue their activities in the city once the Olympics are over.

“During the Olympic Games in London there will be business for everybody”, according to the words of Mr. Brendan Dineen, Director of 2012 Games for Think London and also responsible for developing and implementing the strategy by which London will use the games as a catalyst to further increase Foreign Direct Investment in London.

What is the role of Think London?

Think London is the official agency responsible for the promotion of foreign investments in London and the Olympic Games that will be hosted by the city between July 27 and August 12, 2012. The main aim of the agency is to convince foreign companies to invest in the sport event. A few days ago Mr. Dineen visited Spain and he was seeking for Spanish and Catalan competitive companies. During the his visit it was announced that the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) will promote to a contest some 2,000 big contracts , which in turn may lead to another 10,000 or 15,000 supply contracts with smaller companies. These competitions will be open to all companies that wish to compete and win, whether if they are British, Spanish or from any other country.

Tnink Lodon also visited the 22 @ Barcelona District of Innovation with the aim of speeding up the process of collaboration between the two platforms. If you would like to find out how Landing Program can support your business in London, please contact us.

Information about Premio Tecnos (Tecnos Awards) , Nuevo Leon- Mexico

4th of March 2008

On 8th of February 2008, as we know, Landing Program organized a meeting between representatives of the Audiovisual and the IT cluster of Monterrey (the State of Nuevo Leon- Mexico), Catalan companies from these sectors and Catalan agents that are promoting the internationalization of Catalonia. During the meeting the University of Monterrey (UDEM) presented the calling 2008 of the Premio Tecnos (Tecnos Awards) that for the first time will be hold so International: Mexico, USA, Spain and Catalonia.

The idea of these awards is that the Government of the Mexican State of Nuevo Leon, through the Department of Economic Development, aims to stimulate the technological development of the productive and academic sectors, either private or public, as a strategy for international competitiveness. This is way, since 1993 local public and private organizations have combined their efforts to create the PREMIO TECNOS, which is awarded every year by the Government of the State of Nuevo Leon, to individuals, companies or institutions that have contributed significantly to the technological advancement, creating benefits for industry, business, and society in general. There are six possible categories of participation: Technological products, Technological projects, Technological services, Student projects, Technological publications and Special award; so it can be presented thesis, articles, services or products. Potential participants sectors can be: Telecommunication and Information technologies, Biotechnology, Industrial technology and other new technologies.

It is easy to participate: you will have to complete an on-line based application form and report. You can do that at: http://www.tecnos.org/solicitud/indexeng.asp. It was also awarded a prize of $ 5000 for each winning project.

We, the team of Landing Program, are very pleased that as a result of our collaboration with Monterey, Premio Tecnos are now open for the Catalan innovation and technological spirit. In addition we also remind you that if you would like to apply, you will have to do that before June 2008.

For more information you can download the Participant’s Guide (.pdf file) following the link below:
http://www.tecnos.org/guiaeng.pdf ,

or check the web page of Premio Tecnos:
http://www.tecnos.org

ICT Opportunities in UK: Why UK should be part of your Business plan

14th of February 2008

On Monday, 11th of February 2008, Landing Program attended to a conference entitled “ICT Opportunities in the UK: Why UK and UKTI should be part of your business plan”. The event was organized by La Salle Innovation Park in cooperation with UKTI (UK Trade & Investments) and it took place in Sala Paraninf in La Salle Innovation Park.

The objective of the conference was to present the UK experience in ICT sector to the Catalan business. The United Kingdom could be an important opportunity for partnership taking into accounts that many of the development projects world-wide that have driven the development of ICT sector are located there. Moreover Britain is concentrating the largest share of R & D facilities and investments in Europe from the US and Japan and also it is the largest recipient country of Europe for software investments.

A special guest of the seminar was Frank Morris, an important expert of the ICT sector in the UK. Mr. Morris is Electronic Engineer, and a very experienced person in the business of technology and globalization, especially for SME’s sector.

The time after the presentation was dedicated to discussions, lunch, networking and finally: conclusions of the meeting.

For more information contact the Landing Program.