| |
 |
 |
| RIS BRIDGE Information Day in Kyustendil |
|
 On December 7, 2005, ARC Fund in cooperation with the District administration in Kyustendil 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 was one of a series of 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 chaired by the Deputy Governors of Kyustendil - Mr. Karakashki and Mr. Oparlakov. The InfoDay was opened by Mr. Karakashki, whose welcoming notes were followed by presentation of the Strategy for Development of the Kyustendil District, where Mrs. Negrevska outlined the strategic goals and priority areas in the overall economic development of the district for the period 2005-2015: utilization of geographic, natural, cultural and human resources available, decrease of the discrepancies between Kyustendil district and other districts in Bulgaria and Europe, decrease of intra-regional diversity within the District of Kyustendil, alleviation of negative demographic trends, promotion of public-private partnerships and introduction of innovations at regional level for increasing the competitiveness of the business and ensuring sustainable economic growth.
 Mr. Angel Milev, Programme Manager of the Innovation and Technology Transfer Division at ARC Fund and Coordinator of the Innovation Relay Centre (IRC) – Bulgaria, presented the mission, main objectives and activities of ARC Fund as one of the leading NGOs in the field of innovation and technology transfer for more than a decade. Mr. Milev gave an overview of the structure of activities performed by ARC Fund at micro-, meso- and macro-level for promotion of innovations among SMEs. He highlighted also the role of the RIS initiatives for the regional development and successful absorption of the EU Structural Funds.
 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 Kyustendil 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 Bulgaria’s accession into the EU.
Mr. Angel Milev, in his capacity of Coordinator of IRC - 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 Director of the Institute of Agriculture in Kyustendil, Mr. Domozetov asked for more detailed practical information on the opportunities for support provided by ARC Fund and IRC-Bulgaria for the solution of concrete agricultural problems such as resistance to certain diseases in fruit-culture. He pointed out the importance of this sector as traditional source of income for the farmers in the district. In response, Mr. Milev explained that if the issue is perceived to have regional impact it could be developed into a pilot initiative within the frame of the RIS project. He also announced to the audience that a PHARE call on establishment of technology transfer centers at research institutions is currently under development. Mr. Zahariev from “Alpha Quality” showed concern about the opportunities for “greenfield” investments in Bulgaria. He further explained the issue by sharing his observations on the high level of caution of foreign investors when establishing bilateral collaborations with already established Bulgarian SMEs whose history is not enough transparent in terms of ownership, debts and sustainability. 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, Mr. Angel Milev, Coordinator of the Innovation Relay Centre – Bulgaria (only in Bulgarian)
Presentation of the RIS BRIDGE initiative by Ms. Daniela Tchonkova, Project Coordinator at ARC Fund (only in Bulgarian)
Presentation of the range of services offered to SMEs by the Innovation Relay Centre - Bulgaria, Mr. Angel Milev, Coordinator of IRC – Bulgaria (only in Bulgarian)
Information for the media (only in Bulgarian)
http://www.innovation.bg
http://www.arcfund.net
|
|
|
|
Search 
