European Alliance for Innovation opens a new office in Bratislava, Slovakia

The European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) continues to illustrate its commitment to create and develop as a collaborative research community of ICT innovators with the official opening of a new EAI regional office based in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The EAI Bratislava office, the first in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, will operate in close collaboration with the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, to provide a unique opportunity to expand and enrich the existing community of ICT innovators. The EAI Bratislava office was officially opened on the 3rd of May 2013 following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by EAI President Prof. Imrich Chlamtac and STU Rector Prof. Robert Redhammer. The office represents the third branch of the growing EAI community supporting the already well- established teams in Trento Italy and Tel Aviv, Israel and will be managed by Prof. Milos Cambal and Assoc. Prof Dagmar Caganova from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava.

The establishment of the Slovakia branch supports the global vision of EAI to develop as a collaborative, user led network of innovators through connecting individuals and organisations and to promote research excellent, ICT innovation and education. The office will launch a series of info days and business breakfasts across the CEE region, in order to promote the growing number of innovative ICT initiatives. The dedicated team in Slovakia will also work to support the development and growth of the global EAI network by engaging with the research community and coordinating global EAI meetings and events to bring together the research institutions, government bodies and ICT innovators across Europe.

"The current situation in Europe and in the world requires innovation. The European Alliance for Innovation is unique because it builds a community - brings together governments, industry, research institutions and individuals with the potential for the development of innovation and their application in practice. The best individuals are those who are trained, and such training is provided primarily by universities. Education and universities are engines of new ideas, therefore we chose the Slovak Technical University as the lead research partner, "said Imrich Chlamtac, President of the European Alliance for Innovation. The decision to open an office in Slovakia reflects the growing importance of the knowledge economy in the CEE region. STU Rector Robert Redhammer underlined this message by saying that "Universities in Slovakia have the largest research capacity, but also internationally accepted performance in science, our aim is to enhance knowledge transfer and innovation from academia to practice. The Slovak University of Technology has experience in this area, based on our research team, we have established several spin-off companies and through the university technology incubator, we supported the development of dozens of start-ups. Knowledge transfer must be global priorities if we are to maintain the competitiveness of the Slovak economy”.

If you would like to find out more about the new EAI office and future events and activities in the CEE region please visit the EAI website http://eai.eu/contact and register your interest via the “Contact Us” form to receive more information shortly.