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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can from today (October 3) lodge applications under the Design-Business Collaboration Scheme (DBCS) through the online funding administrative system on the DesignSmart Initiative website of the Innovation and Technology Commission.
The DBCS promotes collaboration between design companies and SMEs to help upgrade the latter's products and services through design. Following a review of the DBCS completed in June this year, SMEs are being given a bigger role when participating in the scheme. In the past, only design companies were eligible to lodge applications. Under the new arrangements, both the SME and the design company are co-applicants in an application and either one, with the consent of the other party, is eligible to lodge an application.
The online funding administrative system has now been upgraded to allow both SMEs and design companies to lodge applications online. The funding guide for the DBCS setting out all the new arrangements is also available online for applicants' reference and download.
"By allowing both the design companies and SMEs to initiate applications, we hope to provide more flexibility to the industry, thus enabling more companies to actively adopt design as a value-adding tool. It is the result of our on-going efforts to take into account the genuine needs of the industry and the design community, and is worked out with advice from relevant stakeholders and the DesignSmart Initiative Assessment Panel," the spokesman of the Innovation and Commission said.
The telephone number of the help-desk for enquiries on the DesignSmart Initiative and the new arrangements is 2737 2635. Further details are available from the website at www.designsmart.gov.hk, or from the DesignSmart Secretariat at the Innovation and Technology Commission, 20/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai (email:enquiry@designsmart.gov.hk).
Ends/Friday, October 3, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:01
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