Enterprise Europe Network Annual Conference, Budapest, 6-8 November 2024

Conference title: “Boosting the potential of European SMEs”

Day 1: Wednesday, 6 November 2024

12.30 –
Registration at the Budapest Congress Center - Welcome lunch
13.30

13.30 –
Opening Plenary Session
15.00

15.00 –
Coffee Break
15.30

Auditorium (800) Room 1 (300) Room 2 (140) Room 3 (120)

QUALITY & IMPACT
The new Commission: we want to
hear your opinion!
15.30 – The session will hear from
17.00 participants about the practical
issues that SMEs face and potential
policies that the new Commission
can take to address them.
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Innovating Public Procurement for a
Sustainable Future
The session will address challenges
SMEs face in public procurement,
especially in Innovation Public
Procurement (IPP), and strategic
procurement by public buyers, and
set out solutions.
QUALITY & IMPACT
Quality starts with me!
The session will tackle up to four
current Network issues by sharing
best practices and solutions through
testimonies and interactive
discussions. The focus is on
enhancing overall quality,
competence, and management
models within consortia.
INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
Increasing Resilience: the next steps
for the Network
This session will build upon the
successful activities of the task-force
resilience and will aim at improving
resilience across the Network.

17:30-
Cocktail reception
19:00
Enterprise Europe Network Annual Conference, Budapest, 6-8 November 2024
Day 2: Thursday, 7 November 2024

9.00 – 9.30 Welcome Coffee

Auditorium (800) Room 1 (300) Room 2 (140) Room 3 (120)

INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
The new EU Biotech Hub: what role
for the EEN?
9.30 – 10.30 The session will explain the planned
Biotech Hub and set out how EEN
members can contribute.
QUALITY & IMPACT INNOVATION & START-UPS
Supporting our clients on Skills Synergy for Success: Strengthening
SME Growth through NCP-EEN
The session will present the final
Collaboration
output of the SME Skills Expert
Group and discuss how it can be The session will highlight the
implemented. importance of collaboration
between NCP and EEN networks to
add value to SMEs and their regions,
showcasing successful practices
from various regions and countries.
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Unlocking Innovation: Mastering
IPR in the Digital Era
This session aims to empower EEN
advisors with knowledge to support
SMEs in leveraging IPR, featuring
practical experiences from
colleagues and insights from Robert
Harrison of the EU IP Helpdesk on IP
in AI innovations.

10.30 – 11:15 Coffee Break

Auditorium (800) Room 1 (300) Room 2 (140) Room 3 (120)

SINGLE MARKET & BEYOND
The Single Market is more than a
Market
The session highlights the latest
11.15 – 12.45
developments in the EU Single
Market, showcasing new EEN
resources like a brochure of SM
success stories and updated
advisory services, and discussing the
Letta Report.
QUALITY & IMPACT
Boosting SME Success: Harnessing
the Power of Regional Ecosystems
This session will examine how
regional ecosystems impact the
international success of SMEs and
the role EEN can play in supporting
these businesses, with a special
focus on innovation.
INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
Driving Sustainability in SMEs: the
Tools of the EEN
This workshop focuses on the EEN's
sustainability toolbox with a special
emphasis on social sustainability
using insights from EU initiatives
and discussing potential
improvements or sector-specific
adaptations.
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Innovate with ISO 56000: Guiding
SMEs to Excellence
The workshop aims to equip EEN
advisors with the knowledge to
implement the Innovation Analysis
Questionnaire effectively,
facilitating SMEs' understanding and
adoption of ISO 56000 series
standards on innovation
management.

12.45 – 14:00 Lunch Break

Enterprise Europe Network Annual Conference, Budapest, 6-8 November 2024
Auditorium (800)
INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
AI Unleashed: Empowering EEN
Advisors for the Future
14:00 – 15.30 The session aims to help EEN
members navigate AI's challenges,
opportunities, and risks. It will cover
AI tools for businesses, ethical
issues, the AI Act, cooperation with
EDIHs, and practical applications for
EEN advisors.
15.30 – 16:15
Auditorium (800)
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Meeting the needs of new times:
what role for the EEN in Defence
Industry and Dual Use
16:15 – 17:45 Technologies?
This session will focus on the
defence industry and its link to
innovation in dual-use technologies,
and how the EEN can help with a
focus on the Niinistö report.
19:00 – 23:30
Room 1 (300)
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Innovation Rocket: Reinventing the
Innovation Services of the Network
The session introduces the
"EENnovation Rocket," a suite of
innovation management tools
aimed at supporting SMEs through
technological, strategic, ecological,
and social transitions.
Coffee Break
Room 1 (300)
SINGLE MARKET & BEYOND
Navigating Global Growth: EEN and
EUREKA Partnering Together
This session explores how
knowledge-based companies can
navigate internationalization with
support from EEN, EUREKA funding
opportunities, and robust IPR
protection strategies. EEN member
led session
Networking Dinner at RaM-ArT
Room 2 (140)
INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
Accelerating Circular Innovation
with EEN
This workshop aims to deepen EEN
advisors' understanding and
implementation of circular
innovation.
Room 2 (140)
INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
Sustainability Reporting: How to
Guide SMEs
The session aims to address the
challenges faced by SMEs in
navigating sustainability
requirements for accessing finance
and integrating into their
ecosystems and supply chains and
how EEN advisors can guide them
effectively.
Room 3 (120)
QUALITY & IMPACT
AI-Powered Marketing: Crafting
Content and Success Stories
This session explores topics like
shifting to solution-oriented
messaging, implementing
Conversational Commerce for lead
conversion, leveraging audience
insights for personalisation, and
using AI for predictive analytics and
automation in customer
engagement strategies.
Room 3 (120)
INNOVATION & START-UPS
From Vision to Success: Lessons
from EEN-supported Start-ups
This workshop will provide
actionable insights from the success
stories of two companies that have
benefited from EEN2EIC support.
Enterprise Europe Network Annual Conference, Budapest, 6-8 November 2024
Day 3: Friday, 8 November 2024

09:00 – 09:30 Welcome coffee

Auditorium (800) Room 1 (300) Room 2 (140) Room 3 (120)

QUALITY & IMPACT
Synergizing Networks: Enhancing
SME Internationalisation through
EEN, Clusters and other Networks
9:30 – 11:00 The session will feature practical
case studies illustrating effective
synergies and benefits for SMEs
from collaboration between EEN,
Clusters, EDIHs and others.
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Accelerating Success: Nurturing
Start-ups and Scale-ups through
Innovative Network Support
The session showcases EEN scale-up
success stories showing how to
provide extended support and
fostering collaborations to optimize
outcomes for young businesses.
INDUSTRIAL TRANSITION
Energy Efficiency: where are we
now?
This session will focus on the energy
transition, and the support that the
EEN could provide to SMEs. Some
examples from the initiative of
“EENergy efficiency action” will be
provided.
INNOVATION & START-UPS
Exploring Regional instruments: I3
instrument and the Vanguard
Initiative
The session focuses on exploring the
synergy between the Vanguard
initiative and EEN, emphasizing
cross-networking opportunities and
the potential for boosting regional
innovation ecosystems through
collaboration

11:00 – 11.30 Coffee Break

11.30 – 12.30 Closing Plenary Session

Note: Bilateral meetings take place from Wednesday 6/11/2024 at 12:00 CET to Friday 8/11/2024 at 17:00 CET