Will Prague become a Silicon Valley game? – Roklen24.cz
Creative industries, biotechnology, space programs or artificial intelligence. These are several areas in which the capital can excel. Thanks to them, it can become an attractive place for science and business, at least in the context of Central and Eastern Europe. Bohumil Kartous, the director of the Prague Innovation Institute (Pii), thinks so. The institute was created by Prague to help support innovations leading to the improvement of Prague’s infrastructure and environment.
How does Pii Bohumil Kartous evaluate the past two years? Read the interview.
In a video interview for Roklen24 in December 2020, you promised the first results of the institute within two years. You celebrated this anniversary in January 2022. What have you accomplished in this time?
I promised results within two years of my arrival in Pii, but I’m shortening it to a year and a half: We’ve launched the DoToho mentoring program! to support small and medium-sized companies in Prague affected by the covid.
Complete the review portal of in-service teacher education, which, by the way, meets not only the needs of Prague, but also one of the goals of the government’s program statement in the field of education. Other regions are already playing in, and if all goes well, the portal will serve schools throughout the Czech Republic.
We have also prepared a circular economy strategy for the main city. This will help us achieve the 2030 climate plan target.
These are examples of how we are active in the three priority axes of innovation support that I have identified after coming to Pii.
That is not all, we are consolidating the development of the education system through European funds for Prague, specifically through the projects of the Regional Action Plan and Implementation of the Regional Action Plan.
We have launched a Business and Innovation Center in style, where we connect business, the city, science and research and education.
In order not to get bored, we embarked on a project with experts from the Czech Technical University to develop an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
We have also, in cooperation with the British government, localized the game GoViral !, which the player runs against the background of covid vaccination.
In general, there are about fifty of the eight-person organization. We implement more than ten projects in education, business or urban development. We also focus on the use of technology in healthcare. We managed to build an internal innovation infrastructure for the capital without any subsidy. With all modesty, I don’t think we’ll be idle.
Municipal elections will take place this autumn. Will a possible change in the management of Prague affect the functioning of the institute? How does cooperation with the city council actually work?
Last year, before the parliamentary elections, we became part of a political rag. Something similar is probably waiting for us before the communal ones. That is why I am constantly trying to show our political neutrality and benefits for the city. I firmly believe that none of those responsible will close their eyes before that, although I sometimes perceive a similar tendency. Judging purely by price / performance, I believe that any new city leadership will not need to affect the operation of Pii.
Our cooperation with the capital council is factual and professional, after all, this is expected of us. I can certainly imagine that the Prague management will take us as a partner through all its components equally, ie that we will be able to cooperate across unions and city organizations and companies. But I understand that we are not the only horses in the stable and I am patient in this regard.
Last year you mapped the Prague startup environment. What are your strengths / weaknesses?
We addressed over 350 startups in various phases of the life cycle, both directly and through partners (Keiretsu Forum, Hub Hub, Opero, StartupJobs or CzechInvest). We received 80 completed questionnaires.
In terms of fields, startups working with artificial intelligence (AI) and projects related to the incubator of the European Space Agency ESA BIC were very strongly represented. Roughly half of them stated that the pandemic did not have a negative impact on it, on the contrary, a quarter of respondents evaluated it as an opportunity.
This allows the local startup scene to be able to absorb absent shocks. Startups consider human resources and their shortage, gaining new customers and bureaucracy to be the biggest problems. We are now finalizing more detailed survey results for publication.
What technologies do Prague startups usually focus on? Do you plan to “direct” these companies more actively in the future?
In particular, we want to create conditions for the development of startups in sectors defined by a long-term strategy. As part of the Prague Smart Accelerator project, we have created innovation platforms for the space industry, AI, biotechnology, cultural and creative industries and other cross-cutting platforms. The aim of these platforms is to support the transfer of knowledge to the field of urban development and business. We strive for Prague to strengthen its position as a European center of knowledge with high added value as a perspective for long-term development.
In addition to mapping the startup environment, we also try to help startups directly. We are currently working on so-called “Assistance Vouchers”, which will financially support the preparation of innovative projects. The total allocation of this support is twelve million crowns.
We also had a discussion with Prague stakeholders on other ways to support innovative companies, including the establishment of a city venture fund. At the moment, it seems to be the most effective creation of a city subsidy scheme. Pii has already prepared the background material and it is now being discussed by the council. If approved, up to twenty million crowns a year will be set aside to support innovation.
The institute also initiated the DoToho! What is it about? What concrete results has this program brought?
As mentioned, it was primarily about supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by the covid. We offered entrepreneurs a combination of mentoring, expert consultations, mastermind meetings, networking and a comprehensive library of resources. We are currently transforming the program into a permanent form. SMEs will be able to benefit from long-term support in the form of expert assistance with business expansion or stabilization.
Interesting stories emerged. Martin Kasa from Pilulka.cz, in the role of mentor of the Veselá Veverka store, helped to transfer the business from the stone store to the online environment. Antonín Kokeš from Albi found a new range of services in the field of demanding tourism for the Hanibal startup. Michal Nýdrle from Kindred assisted the Miners cafés with a B2B start-up and new branches. Pavlína Kouřilová from Pražská plynárenská helped rebrand and create a marketing strategy for the babysitting company Andělín.
We have facilitated the situation for companies with a total of 1,700 employees and a total turnover of 2.7 billion crowns. Here we are supported by our partners such as Opero, the capital city of Prague, Google, T-Mobile, Česká spořitelna, Pražská energetika or Pražská plynárenská.
Your priorities include education. What are your main goals?
We want to complete the already mentioned portal for the evaluation of in-service teacher education. The team has improved the quality of the services offered, as well as the management of teacher development at the level of schools and founders.
Within the iKAP II project, an academy of pedagogical leadership is being further developed. This should significantly develop the art of directing in Prague education, ie a key element for any further innovation in education.
We are also preparing the concept of innovative schools that have been able to pilot the necessary changes in school education.
We also supported the Municipal Library in Prague with the Learn to Learn project. Formal and non-formal education, one of the necessities of initial and lifelong learning in the 21st century, intertwined within it.
In your opinion, Prague is still in the second ranking compared to Western European innovation leaders. Will they ever be able to cope? So what should be done?
Let’s put it another way. Prague and the whole country have no choice but to try to break through, at least regionally in the areas we have defined for the emergence of innovation platforms. I will use the gloss of Jiří Hlavenka, a Czech investor, philanthropist and politician here. greater than the value of Nissan, is as large as the value of drugstore giant Unilever or BASF (chemicals, fertilizers, etc.), greater than the value of Heineken, and so on. It’s not a overshot value. At this level, companies know what they are doing and Microsoft buys to make money. ”
It shows the value that the creative industry can achieve. In Germany, for example, it is the second largest GDP maker after about 5% of the automotive industry.
In fifteen or twenty years, the situation will be different. Although we do not know exactly, we can be sure that the creative industries will strengthen significantly compared to other industries. And this is one of the best development opportunities next to biotech, AI or the space industry, given the potential, ie the brains and investments that Prague has.
With the dynamics of these industries, it may happen that in fifteen years Prague will be the European gaming or animation Silicon Valley. But it is a question of targeted support in the field of education, incubation of ideas and investment. We also need to learn how to integrate creative industries into other areas of our lives, such as internal corporate solutions and state or local government.
In particular, it is a focused long-term effort that brings together the city, the state and private investors. I will be happy if Pii can play the role of an integration joint, ie the one who connects, enables and starts these activities.
Prague Innovation Institute (Pii) was established in January 2020. Its goal is to plan, support and develop education, environmental protection, urban infrastructures and research, scientific, development, creative, cultural and innovative business and non-business activities in order to improve the competitiveness of Prague.