The final version of the EU Regional Social Progress Index, released on October 11th 2016, measures social progress for each of the 272 regions of the 28 member states of the European Union. The index consists of three dimensions: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity described by 50 social and environmental indicators.

The European Commission has released the findings of an independent evaluation of EU investments done in the 2007-2013 period, with specific reports for each Member State. This evaluation highlights the added value of Cohesion Policy, while feeding into the reflection on the future EU budget after 2020.

The European Commission is inviting Europe's top innovators to join a High Level Group that will advise on the design of a potential European Innovation Council (EIC). The EIC aims at stimulating European innovative start-ups and SMEs to grow into world-beating businesses by providing support for innovators who are aiming to develop and deploy ground-breaking, disruptive innovations that can create new markets. 

Today WEgate, the online platform for Women Entrepreneurs, is being launched. It’s the creation of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and EASME, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized enterprises. The WEgate platform is the European gateway for women’s entrepreneurship.

In the framework of the adoption of the European project IN-BUSINESS GROWTH from the Horizon 2020 programme (INNOSUP-5-2014), several agents of innovation are currently cooperating to review practices related to the design and implementation of innovation support programmes for SMEs.

On September 14th and 15th, KEPA's European Programmes Department executives, organized a “Service Design in Public” workshop for representatives of Malta's Ministries and entrepreneurial institutions. The workshop was a great success, gathering high level government officials and representatives of the business community, uniting them to the goal of adapting Design's Principles, and leading to a series of future actions in Malta.

Design has a transformational impact on innovation – from promoting business productivity, stimulating jobs and economic growth, to being a valuable tool for more effective policymaking and public sector delivery. The Summit is a unique opportunity to share insights, best practices and trends on what generates success in business, government and the not-for-profit sector. Design for Europe invites you to join more than 200 pioneering individuals and organisations at the forefront of design-driven innovation, for an inspirational, one-day event.

The Climate-KIC Accelerator is the only EU accelerator programme focused on climate impact by cleantech commercialisation - now coming to more regions across Europe! Get access to an extensive international network, great education, intensive coaching, and substantial financial support. This edition of our start-up Accelerator will open for applications on September 1st 2016 for start-ups in our EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) countries

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) co-founded the European Small- and Mid-Cap Awards three years ago. FESE and EuropeanIssuers are the co-founders and organisers of the awards. The aim is to promote success stories of the most dynamic companies financed by European public capital markets.

The goal of this event is to discuss the importance of impact and innovation in Horizon 2020 proposals and project and to provide participants with insights into best practices to handle these aspects. The workshop on 7 October 2016 in Paris is organised by the French Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research in cooperation with the Horizon 2020 NCP Legal and Finance and the European IPR Helpdesk.