In formalizing a long-term strategic cooperation, CEU Business School and the National Innovation Office agreed on two key points: 1. Innovation is a major determining source of economic growth; and 2. Coordinated innovation development connecting science, research and commercialization is a dynamic and necessary driving force for achieving the strategic goals put forth by the Hungarian government in the new Széchenyi program (Hungary’s major job-creation and economic growth plan).

Activities that will come as a result of this collaboration include faculty experts from CEU Business School advising the National Innovation Office on topics of innovation and regulation. It is also planned that CEU Business School will help develop educational programs for the Office’s employees and others involved with Hungarian-based innovation. Joint conferences between CEU Business School and the National Innovation Office are expected as well.

"The top priorities of the new Hungarian innovation strategy include entrepreneurial training and internationalization of R&D based companies,” said László Korányi, vice president for international relations at the National Innovation Office. “I am convinced that this cooperation agreement between the National Innovation Office and CEU Business School will channel the huge international experience of this university into the Hungarian innovation ecosystem and at the same time will enable CEU to tailor its programs to the needs of Hungarian professionals."

Mel Horwitch, dean of CEU Business School, commented: “It is a privilege to work with the Hungarian National Innovation Office and to have the opportunity of contributing to its very important work.”

This collaboration with the National Innovation Office is the latest of many partnerships the School has forged to advance innovation and entrepreneurship in Hungary. For example, it worked with the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the U.S. Embassy and the Hungarian Venture Capital Association, among others, to create the October 2012 Entrepreneurship Summit. The School also partnered with Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME) to develop a course called “Design Thinking,” which brings MBA and design students together, fostering interdisciplinary problem-solving techniques that characterize successful innovation and entrepreneurship.

CEU Business School also regularly joins up with top practitioners and thinkers for its Roundtable Series, which explores pressing issues facing entrepreneurs and management leaders. To date, it has held more than ten roundtable events at its Budapest campus. Topics have included protecting intellectual property, commercializing new technology and services, angel investors, and building intelligent communities in Central and Eastern Europe.

Mel Horwitch (CEU); Antal Nikodémus (NGM); László Turóczy (NGM); Judit Hildegard Hajós (CEU); László Korányi (NIH)