Czech Digital Innovation Hubs: who’re they and the way can they assist?

Photograph by RICAIP.eu

By Tereza Šamanová

Within the Czech Republic, the preliminary community of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in 2016 was very small – it included solely two pioneer hubs raised from Horizon 2020 European initiatives centered on assist of digital manufacturing (DIGIMAT situated in Kuřim was the primary one) and high-performance computing (the Nationwide Supercomputing Centre IT4Innovations situated in Ostrava was the primary DIH registered in CZ). Since then, the Czech community has enlarged as much as twelve DIHs and their specialisation varies from manufacturing, cybersecurity, synthetic intelligence, robotics, high-performance computing as much as sectoral focus resembling agriculture and meals business, well being or sensible cities and sensible areas growth.

These days you will discover no less than one DIH in every area of the Czech Republic:

Supply: https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu

How are the Czech DIHs constructed and structured? They’re primarily based typically on a number one competence centre, analysis organisation, technical college, science park, expertise centre or probably the most energetic innovations-supporting NGOs who’ve created an environment friendly consortium of different companions round them, all the time following the chosen area of specialisation. The DIHs in Czechia, in addition to everywhere in the Europe, haven’t been constructed “on a inexperienced meadow” – as we are saying in Czech, however primarily based on a document of initiatives, actions and customary references which have created the optimum combination of the DIH`s experience and capacities. The scheme developed by TNO in 2015 illustrates the everyday place of a DIH as an “orchestrator” and cross-point of the regional actions centered on growth and implementation of digital innovation:

Photograph by DIH-HERO.EU

In 2021, primarily based on the Digital Europe Programme, there have been – among the many present DIHs and different gamers – a collection of an preliminary community of European Digital Innovation Hubs – DIHs with European relevance, serving not solely purchasers coming from their area and/or nation, however offering additionally cross-border companies within the area of their specialisation.

The fundamental companies of DIHs and European DIHs don’t differ an excessive amount of, their principal distinction lies within the European and cross-border nature of their companies. Due to this fact, in terms of the association of companies of a regular DIH, you may think about the combination of various elements that collectively make a Digital Innovation Hub as a “satellite tv for pc” revealed in 2019 by the European Fee:

Supply: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/actions/edihs

How do DIHs within the Czech Republic address the mission to assist SMEs and public organisations with their digitalisation?

• Explaining that superior digitalisation means working with information and complex interconnection of individuals, units, and applied sciences, not merely transferring paper or analogue-based information to digital ones.
• Organising widespread occasions – regional roadshows, consciousness elevating actions and brainstorming amongst Czech DIHs to replace info at nationwide degree on superior digitalisation, and sharing examples of finest practices.
• Sharing details about initiatives and recommending them to the suitable beneficiaries with the target of making probably the most added worth for the nationwide revolutionary ecosystem.
• Attracting conventional non-tech SMEs and smaller public organisations and communities (i.e., farmers and/or service suppliers) to speak with DIHs to allow them to provide them a beginning plan of digitalisation in an acceptable manner.
• Together with all the brand new gamers (those that are inquisitive about making a DIH or cooperating with an present one) contained in the Czech DIH neighborhood and Central European Platform for Digital Improvements – CEEInno, organising an annual overview of Czech Digital Innovation Hubs and common conferences for Czech DIHs, all the time with the assist of our Ministry of Trade and Commerce because the governmental supervisor of DIHs.

Photograph by CEEInno

How can Czech DIHs turn into helpful for overseas companions, particularly working within the area of robotics or inquisitive about among the sectors, i.e., agriculture?

• Figuring out related companions in your undertaking within the Czech Republic (CZ) and bordering nations. International companions will have the ability to cooperate not solely with the Czech Digital Innovation Hubs, but additionally with the DIHs and different gamers of the encircling nations inside our Central European Platform for Digital Improvements, CEEInno.
• Offering all of the DIH companies to purchasers not solely from CZ, we’re strengthening our forces within the close to future below the Digital Europe Programme and throughout the European Digital Innovation Hubs preliminary community.
• Serving to to contact Czech SMEs and public organisations, via members and cooperating organisations of the CEEInno Platform.
• Organising, co-organising or internet hosting your undertaking if you happen to intend to draw the Czech members.

Photograph by RICAIP.EU

Amongst related initiatives of the Czech DIHs centered on robotics and agro-robotics, there could possibly be identified the next:

• RICAIP (Analysis and Innovation Centre on Superior Industrial Manufacturing), which as a global distributed analysis centre of excellence specializing in analysis in robotics and synthetic intelligence. The undertaking contains Czech and German companions, being hosted at CIIRC CTU and Nationwide Centre for Trade 4.0 as one of many Czech DIHs. Its purpose is to strengthen analysis in industrial manufacturing and to attach robotic and AI testbeds in Prague, Brno and Saarbrücken.
• Good Agri Hub CZ-SK (AgriHub made in CzechoSlovakia), becoming a member of eight Czech and Slovak companions on widespread undertaking aiming to advertise digital innovation within the agri-food area and to facilitate set-up and realisation of Innovation Experiments (IEs) within the area. Actions resembling revolutionary hackathons, matchmaking actions for companions from completely different sectors and consciousness elevating occasions will happen inside forthcoming yr, the worldwide neighborhood (not solely from CZ and SK) is invited to take part as properly.

If you want to know extra in regards to the Czech Digital Innovation ecosystem you may contact me, Tereza Šamanová (LinkedIn, electronic mail), DIHNET Ambassador and casual coordinator of the “Czech DIHs Group” within the DIHNET neighborhood platform.

tags: c-Analysis-Innovation