The University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” Business Start-up Centre in Skopje, Macedonia together with CITY College (an affiliated institution of University of Sheffield) - Computer Science Department, Thessaloniki, Greece are organizing the first International Conference for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Regional Development ICEIRD 2008. It will take place in Skopje and Ohrid in the period 8th – 11th May 2008.

ICEIRD 2008 will be organized in conjunction with the EU Day of the Entrepreneur on 9th May, 2008.

Topics covered at the conference are:

• Governmental and regional policies on entrepreneurship, innovation and R&D
• Clustering and networking
• Entrepreneurship education
• Family businesses and entrepreneurship
• University – industry collaboration
• Innovation policy in small and medium enterprises
• ICT and Regional competitiveness
• Knowledge management and technology transfer
• Regional innovation strategies
• Regional competitiveness and development
• Business process modeling
• The benefit of knowledge zone, business centers and incubators in the region
• Business incubation
• Best practices in the region / Macedonia (start-up companies)
• Financing innovation, R&D, SMEs

NEWS 171 authors from more than 20 countries submitted abstracts for ICEIRD2008 (see details)
26^th February 2008 - Notification of abstract acceptance/rejection
24^th March 2008 (extended deadline) - Deadline for paper submission
14^th April 2008 - Early registration deadline
14^th April 2008 - Camera Ready Paper Deadline (for accepted ones)
25^th April 2008 - Late registration deadline
8^th - 11^th May 2008 - ICEIRD2008

The objective of the Conference is to gather in the same place decision makers (government, ministries and state agencies), scientists (universities, research and development centers, start-up centers and incubators) and practitioners (SME’s) in order to discuss topic that are of crucial importance for national competitiveness and increased regional development in the South East Europe.

The key areas of the conference are:

• Entrepreneurship as a process of identifying opportunities and putting useful ideas into practice;
• Innovation as the driver of national, regional and global economy;
• Regional development and the possibilities and barriers for closer cooperation between South East European economies.

The workshop will be addressed at national and regional government representatives in all countries of South-East Europe, who are involved in the process of policy making in the area of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Special target group are enterprises, as well as non-governmental organizations active in conference topics.

The workshop brings together policy makers, experts, practitioners, professors, business people and scientists in this subject area. The conference will make a contribution to policy making and new ideas on competitiveness in the region. Special target audience are students, young researchers, scientists, and their supervisors from academia and industry to present actual research projects and results. Specific student track will be organised on 10th May 2008.

In conjunction with ICEIRD2008, the 4th Southeast European Network of Start-ups and Incubators (SENSI) meeting will take place in Ohrid on 10th and 11th May 2008.

The results expected are:

• Raising the level of awareness about the innovation, entrepreneurship and competitive advantage, especially for a small country like Macedonia;
• Strengthening the regional and international network among representatives from SEE countries and those from EU member states;
• Strengthening the Southeastern network of Start-up Centers and Incubators;
• Documentation of the workshops reports and conclusions in a publication and on a web site;
• Establishment of a network of researchers and policy makers that continue to work together in a loose form after the workshop;
• Proposals for funding by donor organizations for possible regional projects.

The conference is planned for 4 (four) days and it will take place in Skopje and Ohrid, Macedonia. The first day, will be more a strategic planning day and the organizing committee, will meet and finalize the whole event. This will also be the time when the strategic issues for the future of the Conference will be revised.

The next day is the main conference meeting in Skopje where after introductory sessions, 4 parallel presentation panels will take place. This is the major event. Presence of more then 300 participants is expected. The last two days, 60-80 people will change the working place to Ohrid and work on the specific topics described above. The results of the conference will be summarized in the last day of work.

• Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Business Start-Up Centre (UKIM-BSC), Skopje, Macedonia
• CITY College (an affiliated institution of University of Sheffield) - Computer Science Department, Thessaloniki, Greece

• ICEIRD 2009 – Thessaloniki, Greece (organized by CITY College , an affiliated institution of University of Sheffield)
• ICEIRD 2010 – Novi Sad, Serbia (organized by Faculty of Technical Sciences , University of Novi Sad, Serbia)