›Fostering the competitiveness of European SMEs through the use of satellite services

Background

The European economy relies on the capacity of its SMEs to innovate and compete. Especially in the current economical crisis, SMEs need to turn challenges into opportunities in order to survive, compete, and contribute to the European objectives for growth and jobs.
The President of the European Commission J.M. Barroso emphasised that “space-based applications are increasingly important to many other EU policy areas such as agriculture, environment and health. [...] [They] stimulate [...] innovation and create [...] new jobs beyond the space industry.” Operational satellite information and services help SMEs work more efficiently, gain productivity and save on costs. They open up fresh possibilities for creating new and better services.
However, few non-space SMEs are currently aware of the enormous potential offered by satellite information and services for their competitiveness.

Conference objectives

This conference aims to consolidate the political support for and recognition of the potential of satellite services to enhance SME competitiveness, and of the necessity of measures and actions to facilitate SME access to these innovative tools.

This conference will:

• demonstrate the usefulness of satellite information and services for SMEs from sectors other than space
• create an exchange forum for European stakeholders: business representatives, policy-makers and space community
• create stakeholder consensus on an agenda of priorities in facilitating the access of non-space SMEs to satellite information and services
• identify a roadmap to ensure the successful diffusion of satellite information and services for their appropriation by SMEs

Target audience

• Public sector: Innovation and SME policy-makers and experts, decision-makers from all levels of governance, etc.
• Private sector: Business associations’ representatives, innovation and SME policy experts, organisations from fields other than space interested in how SMEs can better benefit from satellite information and services, etc.
• Space community: Providers of space services, space policy experts, programme managers, etc.