CALENDAR.

* European innovation scoreboard benchmarking workshop

A benchmarking workshop will be held in Luxembourg from February 24 to 25 to discuss possible changes to the European innovation scoreboard (EIS) to increase its usefulness for policy making. From a policy perspective, the EIS is intended to highlight areas where policy changes could be of benefit, and to promote more proactive innovation strategies to ensure competitiveness with leading countries. The event will analyse possible changes in the context of these two objectives.

The four key areas for discussion will be:

- How to evaluate the relationship between the EIS and other innovation indicators and economic outcomes, in particular growth. Why is the relationship between innovation indicators and economic outcomes so weak?

- How to improve the usefulness of the EIS to guide policy action, specifically resolving the tension between general policies that apply equally to all types of innovation, versus sector or technology specific policies, and assessing the variation in development pathways due to differences by country in economic baseline conditions.

- How to measure and compare innovation in low technology sectors. Should the EIS include additional indicators for non high-tech innovation?

- Which concrete steps should be taken to revise and complement the EIS indicators? Should any specific indicators be modified, complemented, or replaced? Should the organisation of the four categories be altered?

The event is by invitation only, however information regarding the outcomes of the workshop will be made available.

For further information, contact: Julie Pellegrin, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology; Tel: +31 43 388 3895; Fax: +31 43 388 4905; E-mail: j.pellegrin@merit.unimaas.nl

* Seminar to focus on standardisation for microsystems

MEMSTAND, an EU funded project focusing on standardisation for microsystems is holding a seminar on the same subject in Barcelona, Spain, from February 24 to 26. Funded under the Fifth Framework programme's IST (information society technologies) programme, MEMSTAND addresses the lack of standard methods for design, manufacture and testing of microsystems. The seminar is designed to be in preparation for the Sixth Framework programme, where results from these investigations will be consolidated. The seminar will be divided into three sections: design, manufacture and metrology.

The event is aimed in particular at...