This Infograph explains the pros and cons of improving the eIDAS regulation for businesses using electronic identification means and trust services. The gains can be enormous for them and lead to a significant reduction in overheads - boosting profits. It can make the difference between expansion and stagnation for small and medium sized businesses.

This page is for public or private online service providers wanting to learn more about integration with the eIDAS Network in their country. For public service providers, there is an obligation under the eIDAS Regulation to do so by 29 September 2018. For private service providers, there are a number of compelling benefits to doing so.
It is important to note that the specific integration process and activities conducted will differ depending on the situation in your country (eIDAS-Node infrastructure and eID schemes in use), as well as the specific needs of your organisation. The information on this page is therefore indicative only, designed to give you an idea of the sort of activities you can expect to undertake. 
You must contact your Single Point of Contact before beginning the process, as they will support you according to your organisation's specific context. 
You can also check with your national member in the European Digital SME Alliance.

On 29th of May at 10.00 AM CET there will be an online workshop where we will discuss this and share our experiences. We will start with a keynote presentation by Esther Gonzales - Magenta.
After that we will give the floor to all participants and we will have a chance to share our best practices and to develop new ideas on how to approach this challenge. The workshop will be moderated by Kenneth OE Sundin, SME Academy.

The Albanian Institute of SMEs “SMEs Albania” organize their second Summer Academy for SMEs on “training on export management”.
In the program during 25-29 June entrepreneurs and small businesses will find a focus on international business. Topics like:

• Documentation and Export procedures
• International Trade
• Barriers for export
• Internationalization of businesses
  

The Summer Academy is visited by SMEs that are exporting or have a potential in finding new markets. Future exporters are also among the attendees as students are invited to participate.

The presenter list, with a mix of international and domestic speakers and lecturers, is indicating a very inspiring and fully packed week of knowledge and experience that will be shared. One of the speakers will be our own founder of the SME Academy, Kenneth OE Sundin .

The event will take place at Hotel Tirana International, in Tirana, Albania.

The European Microfinance Network (MFN) and the Microfinance Centre (MFC) will organise their joint annual conference, in partnership with Seed Capital Bizkaia Micro, from 3rd-5th October 2018 in Bilbao, Spain. The Euskalduna Conference Centre, located in the very heart of the city, will host the event providing a unique emplacement to the annual conference. 

3D printing and related services like 3D modeling, Animation, Cad etc will be growing rapidly as new materials and new tools will find their way to businesses - not at least Small Businesses that can adopt to new technologies - based on experiences and new knowledge.
Finding skilled managers and employees is one of the challenges but the pay back can be worth the effort.

CrystalClearSoft (CCS) is proud to announce the launch of the Erasmus+ Project ‘in Screen Mode’ that targets young people at risk for Internet Addiction Behaviour (IAB). The project aims at empowering young people (16-25 years old) to deal effectively with situations concerning excessive preoccupation with Internet or screen abuse, equipping them with the skills and the methodological and engineering tools to modify mal-adaptive computer behavior for healthy computer use. In order to achieve its goal ‘in Screen Mode’ will create a personal e-Learning environment integrating easily use tools (i.e. an Internet Addiction Genie) that will offer personalized Internet withdrawal or screen reduction plans for each specific user.

The 2nd project meeting was held in Kaunas (Lithuania) and partners discussed about new advances in the project: focusing on behaviours of young population that will be addressed by the training model, they have started the development of action plans to support individual users to moderate their screen time on specific online activities such as SSN, online gaming, gambling, online pornography, develop low level personality traits, and cope with negative behaviours and feelings due to problematic Internet use.

Soon, you will able through our website to get a personalized report of your behavior over Internet use and suggested action plans, if applicable to you, to moderate your excessive online behavior for a healthier computer use.
 
Are you following along with our progress? Please visit our website and the social media.

We are happy to be mentioned in the April 2018 edition of the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development newsletter. As the SME Academy Network is growing and we are meeting more and more individuals and organizations working with Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses we can notice that the work we have been doing since start pays off in terms of mutual benefits for our members and that our "News and Updates" reaches out with information from and about our members. We will now investigate the opportunities to co-host a workshop and we share the interest in putting more focus on entrepreneurship and increase the awareness of the importance of entrepreneurs.

The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED) is a Greek NGO committed to the promotion of innovation and the enhancing of the spirit of entrepreneurship.

On 19th April - 3-5 PM CET - ESTRAD will, in an online seminar, give you some answers to these very important questions regarding Entrepreneurship.
- Why are social relationships and networks critical assets for entrepreneurs?
- How can universities support entrepreneurs in a better way?
- How can we understand entrepreneurship in different contexts?

Many entrepreneurs aim for their business to be global from the start. Thus, understanding how they will affect - and be affected by - different local contexts, becomes more important. Research has an important role to play here, according to professor Sarah Jack. However, the impact which entrepreneurship research can have on the communities served, is less well understood.

This is the topic for Sarah Jack's Estrad lecture. Drawing on her extensive research on different aspects of entrepreneurship, from a variety of different contexts around the world, she will provide us with fresh perspectives.

On 9th of March SME Academy arranged a Workshop in Robotics and 3D printing - with focus on SMEs and the new skills that are required for individuals. In the session Dr. Paul Quantock gave a  brief summary of a research report with some very interesting details regarding the situation and vision in European SMEs as well as some challenges they will meet - or are already meeting. The report was created by the ROTENA project and has served as a base for a package of training modules in Robotics, 3D printing  and how to construct your own robot..

In the second part Lino Ferreira, CEPROF, and Rafaele Silva , Ovar Forma, presented the training modules and their work to develop them. The base for the curriculum and the level of the training modules was to aim at individual with little or no understanding in Robotics and 3D printing. The target group is SMEs and their entrepreneurs, managers and employees as well as students and individuals that want to get inspiration for a new career.
In the discussion from the Workshop you will find different approaches and challenges discusses as well as the situation in the market.

The Survey is closed and we have a result!
To arrange a conference for a network with 600 members spread in 50 countries can be a challenge and a headache - how to meet all requirements and demands? Now we know how our members of the SME Academy Network wants it - and this can serve as a tips for other event producers as well.

 A great opportunity for new entrepreneurs to develop their knowledge and skills in running a company and to grow a successful business. If you have been running your businesses less than 3 years or actually are planning to start one - you are qualified for this opportunity. The scheme allows you to spend some time in another EU country working and learning from an experienced entrepreneur. It is partly funded by the EU.

The U.S. dropped out of the top 10 in the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index for the first time in the six years the gauge has been compiled. South Korea and Sweden retained their No. 1 and No. 2 rankings.
The index scores countries using seven criteria, including research and development spending and concentration of high-tech public companies.

The conference will be held from 11 to 14 June 2018 in Lighthouse Golf and SPA Resort on Black Sea, north of Varna, Bulgaria. The topic of this year conference (BAMDE Conference 2018) will be Youth and Women Entrepreneurship in Challenging International (Global) Business Environment.  The conference format as well as the conference venue provide excellent conditions for personal professional performance and create atmosphere for direct networking.
This is the Ninth International Conference on Entrepreneurship organized by the Bulgarian Association for Management Development and Entrepreneurship (BAMDE)

It is possible to organize your own work shop, do a poster presentation or to submit a paper to the conference. Deadline for this registration is 15th February 2018 - and you will get a response if you are accepted within a week after the deadline.
Go direct to "Call for papers" here.
The conference program  indicates 4 days of great opportunities to networking with colleagues as well as very interesting presentations.