News Nr. 2 of Essence Project Contents General Objective International Conference 1 st Knowledge Management Event Open Call in Essence Pilot s
General objective The ESSENCE project s general objective is to create an ICT platform that will help enterprises to make transport more effective and reduce its environmental burden, as well as to overcome current deficiencies in companies and to increase their productivity and competitiveness. SMEs will be enabled to customize an individual network coordination model from a general collaboration framework. They will be free to enter and leave the system with no constraints and, while in, to select and use the eservices of interest when wanted. ESSENCE faces these issues by developing ebusiness, enetworking and elogistics services as cornerstones for competitiveness and economic development. First of all it is essential to state eservices in general, because there are several definitions existing: The concept of e-service (short for electronic service), represents one prominent application of utilizing the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in different areas. However, providing an exact definition of eservice is hard to come by as researchers have been using different definitions to describe eservice. Despite these different definitions, it can be argued that they all agree about the role of technology in facilitating the delivery of services which make them more of electronic services. The eservices include: communication, catalogues, business network shaping planning operation, document management and performance evaluation, offering the promotion and intelligent use of ICT and non-technical solutions for companies. International Conference in Bologna On the 30 th of October 2013 the Council Hall of Malvezzi Palace in Bologna (IT) hosted the International Conference and outlined the project ESSENCE with its contents of using eservices with. This conference was the conclusion of a two-day partner meeting in Bologna and a very important moment for the project and for the dissemination of its contents. The objective of the project is to create a platform for ICT services to support regional SMEs in being more efficient and reducing costs. Simplified said: to promote innovative services for small and medium sized enterprises, using information and communication technologies and supporting innovation in local economic and productive systems. Within the conference, several experts were referring about their experiences with eservices within their work and daily life. The conference was splitted into three parts: the first one was about how to enforce enterprises and business networks by eservices. The second part of the conference was about analysis and international experiences, where speakers from the UK, Poland and Germany were introducing their know-hows and involvements. And the last part of the conference was about eservices in general including best practices. From ICT to web society between dematerialization, promotion of services and e-web 2.0 user oriented systems. The main focus of the conference was the presentation of the ESSENCE eservice platform. The goal of the platform is to make the supply chain of SMEs more efficient and sustai-
nable and to ensure the access to a coordinated network of services shared with other companies. The platform must be considered both as a point of access for different ICT services and as a knowledge database for the contributions of SMEs. Moreover the platform provides the opportunity to discuss the development potential offered by business networks. In an economic situation like nowadays, the development increasingly depends on the ability of companies and local actors to increase their intangible capital of skills and know-how and to re-invest in the local competitiveness in a network perspective. The participation in Essence project is significant for all project areas as it offers the opportunity to access a space for discussion and cooperation on international issues dealing with the trends of future development platforms, e-services, networks for sharing and cooperation etc.
Information of 1 st Knowledge Management Event Knowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organisation to identify, create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of insights and experiences. The purpose of the 1 st Knowledge Management Event was to share perspectives, ideas, experience and information. During the meeting in Bologna on 29 th October 2013 and in case of project ESSENCE we got an overview about 6 projects with individual recommendations, conclusions, observations that could be used within the project structure. Project KASSETTS is a transport, logistics and ICT related project with services, which play a fundamental role for SMEs in the Central Europe markets. Project CLOUD aims to establish a transnational platform for the exchange of operational activities for managing clusters in the participating countries, by encouraging the development of innovation and activation potential among SMEs south eastern Europe. The project CO-EFFICIENT was presented by Italian project partners and promotes energy efficiency by means of transport optimisation, business document dematerialisation and evaluation of the logistic impact of planning in enterprise networks. The integration of cloud computing into the daily routines of operators and infrastructure providers in logistics is the main result of LOGICAL. It impacts an increased competitiveness as business interoperability is facilitated and has environmental benefits since the bundling of cargo is eased and sustainable modes of transport become more attractive options. One of the main activities within the CENTRA LAB (Living Lab) project is a coordinated set of transnational pilot projects that build partnerships, specify ICT platforms and services, and co-design innovative approaches for issues like: Eco-tourism, Energy, Micro-SME Networks, Media & Creativity, Mobility, Environment & Education, Climate Change, Waste Management, Rural Development and ehealth. Project MER is aimed at ensuring cross fertilization and exchange of know-how with other European projects for improving business competitiveness and economic attractiveness of innovative industrial areas. The guide principle is that green marketing is a key tool for the promotion of innovative and highly qualified industrial areas.
Open Call: Invitation for participation in ESSENCE pilots Why ESSENCE platform? To remain efficient, competitive and energy-efficient, entrepreneurs need access to sophisticated e-services that global corporations use. Such systems are usually complex and expensive. ESSENCE offers both the promotion and intelligent use of ICT and non-technological solutions for entrepreneur s organization and management. ESSENCE develops: (a) a comprehensive business network management framework covering the needs of the target entrepreneurs by allowing ICT models customization for different operational conditions, (b) an eservice platform as management framework serving every single entrepreneur with preferred ICT functions for daily business activities, and (c) the access to such eservices by a number of entrepreneurs starting from pilot cases to behave as living successful examples and widening during and after the project end. Project pilots will explore the use of customized e-services that give logistics support to the individual entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs can see a chance in improving their competitiveness and international performance by exploiting the ESSENCE ICT network. What are the benefits for the participating companies? Free to enter and leave the system with no constraints and, Gain knowledge on the use of ESSENCE Platform Select and use the eservices of interest when wanted. Customize an individual network coordination model from a general collaboration framework. Co-create the ESSENCE Platform by giving back feedback on their actual needs What does the ESSENCE Platform include? E-communication, E-Catalogues, Business network shaping planning operation, E-Document management and Performance evaluation, E-collaboration. Project ESSENCE invites enterprises to participate in the pilot use of ESSENCE platform and use this unique opportunity to gain knowledge, test the ESSENCE platform, give feedback, and embark on new business opportunities. Companies are invited to submit their interest for participation by e-mail, ordinary mail or fax to: Institute of Logistics and Warehousing (Wielkopolska, Poland), Province of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), Institute for Transport and Logistics Foundation (ITL) (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), S.A.T.A. Advanced Technology Application srl (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), Aufbauwerk Region Leipzig GmbH (Leipzig-Halle, Germany), University of Leipzig (Leipzig-Halle, Germany), AREA m Styria GmbH (Steiermark, Austria), SINERGIJA Development Agency (Pomurje Region, SIovenia), ICEG RESEARCH AND POLICY Public Benefit Nonprofit Plc (Kőzep-Magyarorszag, Hungary). ESSENCE project is implemented since July 2012 till December 2014 within CENTRAL EUROPE Programme and co-financed by European Regional Development Fund. In total 6 European regions are involved and the partnership consists of 10 partners with the Marshal Office of the Wielkopolska Region (Wielkopolska, Poland) as the Lead Partner. Project website: http://www.essence-project.eu