The efficient and constant access to highly innovative knowledge for SMEs is one of the crucial issues for significant growth in our economies.
For around 500 years, particularly since the Enlightenment, Europe has had a well developed science-orientated infrastructure which contributes to the basis of a unique economic development. The process of globalization has significantly changed this landscape as well as the mindset with regard to possible threats from western societies. Because of this, economies may loose their competitive advantages. Therefore, we are looking for a better approach to bring innovative knowledge to the industry, in particular to SMEs, in order to develop attractive products and services for the global market.

The current situation regarding SMEs and their systematic access to new knowledge will be the focus of the 2008 conference on

Knowledge Economy – Chances and Challenges for SMEs

which will take place in October 9th-10th at Reutlingen University, Germany.

The aim of the conference is to develop and to introduce new ways of how to make the acquisition of knowledge by SMEs more effective and how to turn this knowledge into new products and services.
The perspectives of the various contributions are characterized by a mixture of theoretical and practical approaches to facilitate new insights for all participants.
This conference is designed for people from higher education and industry who have an interest not only in this topic but also in cooperating beyond the conference.

"SMEs constitute an important dynamic element in all economies as they drive innovation especially in knowledge-based indutries ..."
OECD Istanbul Ministerial Declaration, 2004

Here you find the current General Booklet for the 2008 Knowledge Economy Conference.

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The 2007 conference:

Knowledge economy - a multilayer challenge for European regions

International Scientific Conference, Reutlingen (Germany)

Reutlingen University, European School of Business Research Institute

27th -28th September 2007

We are grateful to all contributors who made the 2007 conference a success and good starting point for future conferences on knowledge economy at Reutlingen University.

Prof. Dr. Peter S. Niess

Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Baumeister

Prof. Dr. Stephan Seiter

Directors of the ESB-Research Institute

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it."
Margarete Fuller (1810-1850)