The kick-off meeting of the European project NANO4M was held in Gijon on December 2008 11th - 12th. Members of the 11 organizations coming from the 4 different regions involved in the consortium were present. Each of these regions, Northrhine-Westfalia, Rhone Alpes, Asturias and Tuscany, was represented by a Regional or Local Authority and one or two Research and Technological Centers. The project, that focus in nano and microtechnologies, has a duration of 3 years and a total budget of 1.845.892 ?.

NANO4M tackles some of the challenges identified in relation to the functioning of the regional innovation systems. On one hand, it aims at improving the efficiency of the innovation process looking for new formulas to bring knowledge to the market by identifying the existing barriers in the process of technology transfer. Interdisciplinary Expert groups will be created. They will elaborate feasibility studies pointing out the applications with major market expectations. On the other hand, the project will be oriented towards in-depth analysis in order to better integrate innovation and research infrastructures into both the European Research Area and the European single market. In this sense, a Manifest with recommendations in order to improve the efficiency of regional innovation policies will be drafted.