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| RIS BRIDGE Information Day in Blagoevgrad, on 25 November, 2005 |
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 ARC Fund, together with the District administration of the district of Blagoevgrad and the Association of the South West municipalities, organized an Information day on the RIS BRIDGE initiative for development of a Regional Innovation Strategy of the South West Region of Bulgaria. The InfoDay is one of a series of a RIS BRIDGE Information Days having the objective to introduce the initiative to the local authorities and business representatives and initiate a networking and consensus building process.
The RIS BRIDGE initiative is supported by the DG “Enterprises” of the European Commission and is being implemented by a Consortium possessing profound experience and knowledge in the process of bringing innovation from innovation policies to concrete actions in regions: ARC Fund (Coordinator), Bulgaria; Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)Bulgaria, ; URENIO research unit, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; Coventry University Enterprises Ltd., West-Midlands, UK; and Steinbeis– Europa – Zentrum (SEZ), Germany.
The aim of RIS BRIDGE is to elaborate the Regional Innovation Strategy of the South West Planning Region of Bulgaria in line with the EU policy for promoting regional innovation both in the EU Member States and in the accession countries. The initiative is expected to wire up the innovation system of the region, to enhance the potential of the regional authorities to set up policy measures designed to meet the actual technology and innovation needs of the SMEs, and to build regional capacity to work with the financial instruments of the Cohesion Policy after Bulgaria’s accession in the EU.
 The RIS BRIDGE Information Day was opened by Mr. Manov, Deputy Governor of Blagoevgrad District. His welcoming notes were followed by presentation of the Strategy for Development of Blagoevgrad District, where Mr. Arabadjiev outlined the priority areas in the overall economic development of the district.
 Ms. Zoya Damianova, Program Director at ARC Fund, highlighted the role of the RIS initiatives for the regional development and successful absorption of the EU Structural Funds. She stressed that the consensus and cooperation among all stakeholders – the local authorities, the private sector, research organizations, academia and NGOs – is a key factor for success and appealed for the participants’ involvement in the project. Ms. Damianova also pointed out that this is an initiative of mutual interest since the RIS projects are closely related to all regional development priorities such as the improvement of infrastructure, quality of life, increasing the competitiveness of the towns, cooperation for European development at regional level, and strengthening the institutional capacity for strategic planning and policy implementation. She noted that RIS could be instrument for decentralized implementation of the National Innovation Strategy.
 By launching the RIS BRIDGE initiative the South-West Region of Bulgaria joined the Innovating Regions in Europe Network – a joint platform for collaboration and exchange of experience for regions that are developing or implementing regional innovation strategies and schemes. Ms. Daniela Tchonkova, RIS BRIDGE Project Coordinator at ARC Fund, presented the objectives and the work program of the RIS BRIDGE Project for the South West Planning Region. Special emphasis was laid on the role of the Blagoevgrad District in the development of the Regional Innovation Strategy. She pointed out that the initiative could be perceived by the regional stakeholders as an excellent opportunity for manifesting their needs in the field of innovation and for demonstrating an active approach to best benefit from the EU Structural Funds that will be managed at regional level after accession.
 Mr. Angel Milev, Coordinator of the Innovation Relay Centre – Bulgaria, presented the range of services offered to SMEs in support of the adoption of new technologies by the business. IRC has enhanced 21 transfers of technologies between Bulgarian and foreign entities so far, mainly SMEs, science organizations and individual inventors. It also assists the firms in identifying and contacting the appropriate foreign partners. IRC – Bulgaria is part of the IRC Network which comprises of 71 centres and 250 organizations in 33 countries.
The presentations were followed by a discussion session. The representative of the Community Centers Foundation raised the question whether any educational activities were foreseen in the Action Plan of the pilot initiative RIS for the South Central Region. In response, Ms. Zoya Damyanova, who coordinated that initiative, informed the audience of a suggestion that was stipulated in that Action Plan, for introducing Innovations as subject in the higher education curriculum. Strengthening the bond between science and business was a concern expressed by the representative of the South-West University, located in Blagoevgrad, as well the need for focusing on developing the HR potential and capacity in the region, in certain remote areas in particular. The need of building capacity in the municipalities for future work with the structural funds was likewise stressed upon by the municipalities present. The Regional Agency for Economic Development raised the question of the future funding of the strategies already elaborated. The discussion concluded with highlighting the bottom-up approach that was intended to underpin the RIS process in the South-West Region and hence the pilot initiatives for meeting the regional innovation needs were to come up from all stakeholders through wide public discussions and through strong cooperation at regional level.
Agenda (in Bulgarian, PDF 139 KB)
Presentations of speakers:
Presentation of ARC Fund, Ms. Zoya Damianova, Program Director at ARC Fund (only in Bulgarian)
RIS BRIDGE Project Coordinator at ARC Fund, Ms. Daniela Tchonkova (only in Bulgarian)
Presentation of the RIS projects, Ms. Zoya Damianova, Program Director at ARC Fund
(only in Bulgarian)
Innovation Services to SMEs, Mr. Angel Milev, Coordinator of the Innovation Relay Centre – Bulgaria (only in Bulgarian)
Information for the media (only in Bulgarian)
http://www.innovation.bg
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