Support to small and medium business and development of innovation in Lithuania

When Lithuania finally regained its independence in 1990 the Lithuanian science community began to restructure its science and education system, adapting it to the needs and conditions of an independent state. There are at the present time 15 universities and 29 state-supported science institutes operating in Lithuania. In seeking membership in NATO, Lithuania actively cooperates with NATO and its member nations, not only in the military sphere, but also in scientific research. Lithuanian participation in the "NATO Partnership for Peace" programme helps Lithuania to implement its security goals, to create favourable conditions for its economic development and to expand its cooperation with military associated industries and in the scientific field. Lithuania actively participates in NATO programmes, although its scientific and industrial potential is not being fully used. There are many projects conducted by Lithuanian scientists, which can form the basis for international co-operation in the defence field. Some of these new devices and technologies developed during the past decade found their place in the civilian markets too. One of the ways to induce this process is support to SME's. The specific features of SME's are favourable for developing and putting innovative ideas into practice. It is very important to note that SME development owes much to different means of government support. The most important of these is preferential taxes and loans. Other means of support are provision of information, training and consulting. The creation of an Information Society remains a high priority both for Lithuania and other European countries, but a great lack of IT professionals has been noticed. Therefore we aim to create the most favourable conditions for entrepreneurs to start SME's in the priority field of IT. Obviously, in this case, specialised IT Business Incubators and Science Parks could effectively support a number of innovative SME's. It is important to note that the majority of Lithuanian SME's have lost their markets in the East, but gained a position in the West. Rapid changes in sales markets foster flexibility and innovativeness of enterprises. However, enterprises lack a strategic innovation implementation model that would combine empirical methods and methods of strategic planning that have as their purpose the promotion of innovation development and analysis of SME expansion perspectives.