The Prague Innovation Council will set new directions for innovation in the metropolis. New expert groups for the development of the city will also be established
After a year and a half, the Prague Innovation Council (PIR) will return to the round table. The first meeting of this year will take place on Tuesday, May 25. This platform is made up of city representatives and experts from research, academia and the innovative business. Among other things, you will open the topic of updating the innovation strategy of Prague at your PIR meeting. The meeting will also include the creation of six more innovation platforms, ie new expert groups that will focus on the development of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, space technology, urban innovation and the cultural and creative industries. The PIR meeting is organized by the Prague Innovation Institute (Pii) from the position of the main coordinator of the creation of the Regional Innovation Strategy of Prague (RIS3).
“If we really want to be the brainwashing place of the assembly plant and reduce the dependence of our city’s economy on tourism, we must have a clear strategy to support innovation. Thanks to innovations, humanity came out of the caves, the Hussites defended themselves against the Crusaders and Baťa circled the whole world. We certainly have something to build on, but we need to have a plan for how to use all the opportunities for the development of Industry 4.0 in our country, “says the mayor of hl. m. Prahy Zdeněk Hřib.
Within the innovation platforms, experiments from various sectors will meet, which will connect public administration, research and business, identify current trends in science and research and look for ways to use them commercially and within the urban development of Prague.
“Prague should be not only a city with Charles Bridge, but also a city where inventions are being made, which are being put into practice and which will be popular with foreign scientists. The Czech capital is already a world center of artificial intelligence. We would like to do something similar for other fields that are excellent in the Czech Republic, such as biochemistry and space research. Where we are strong, we want to create the best possible environment to create inventions that would translate them into practice, while leaving all the money that will be made. All this should be supported by the Prague Innovation Council, “describes the chairman of the Prague Innovation Council, Professor Zbyněk Škvor from CTU.
The Prague Innovation Institute is proposing a system of a total of nine innovation platforms, the activities of which will be managed by a team of experts (developers of innovation projects) led by Tomáš Lapáček, who has been working as the innovation manager of Prague since January. These expert groups are to identify specific projects and topics that will contribute to the further development of the metropolis. At the same time, they should be in line with the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic and global trends.
In addition to visionary workshops, they cover artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology (biotech), space technology (space), the cultural and creative industries, the promotion of innovation and support for cutting-edge science, research and business or education for innovation, and urban development (urban development). , from which Prague will also benefit directly.
“The pandemic posed new challenges before us, but at the same time the old challenges did not disappear. Therefore, I very much welcome the fact that the new innovation platforms of the Prague Innovation Council reflect both the agendas that Prague has been solving for a long time and the current ones. So far, Prague has dealt well with coronavirus, but now comes a crucial period when its economy must be kicked again by new approaches and innovations. The Prague Innovation Council will play a key role in our efforts to coordinate the city’s innovative energy and seek the necessary synergies, “adds Vít Šimral, Councilor. m. Prague for sports, education and business support.
The Prague Innovation Institute will participate in the activities and results of the platforms in cooperation with renowned organizations such as CTU, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Charles University, Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry AS CR, ESERO, ESA BIC “space incubator”, prg .ai or the state agency for business and investment support CzechInvest.
“The renewal of the activities of the Prague Innovation Council is a symbolic and de facto act of returning to systematic work to support innovation in the territory of the capital city of Prague for the benefit of its inhabitants. It is a supreme body that will approve and submit to the mayor’s proposals experiments carried out in several different industry platforms connecting business, research and public administration, “says Pii director Bohumil Kartous.
The meetings of the Prague Innovation Council, organized by the Prague Innovation Institute, are part of the Prague Smart Accelerator (PSA) project, funded by the European subsidy OP Research, Development and Education. PIR was established in 2014 and will meet three to four times a year. “The Prague Innovation Institute will be responsible for ensuring that this process bears concrete fruits, whether it is the application of research for the benefit of Prague’s citizens, support for business diversity and incubation of value-added projects, or urban innovation pursuing climate and sustainability goals,” adds Bohumil. Cartridges.