The Vice President of the NRDI Office said that the Eger-based innovation platform will facilitate cooperation between businesses and universities in the region to promote innovation and competitiveness. “We have the opportunity to link the platforms. We are doing well, although the coronavirus has delayed the process,” said the Vice-President. He said that during the pandemic they tried to operate the system online and now that things seem to return to normal, they will be able to enhance operations. The main objective of the innovation platforms is to enable the capacities at the university, including research and development in addition to education, to provide a meaningful services to small and medium-sized enterprises, and to enable companies to incorporate the results of the universities into their operations, thus enabling them to grow stronger and to cooperate with each other.

Ilona Pajtókné Tari, Rector of Eszterházy Károly University, told MTI that their strategic objectives included more effective links with the economic actors of the region. To achieve this objective, knowledge transfer is needed both within and outside the university.

The creation of the TIP will also help to achieve the strategic objectives. The work will take place within an organised framework, partly coordinated by the university. Students will complete internship at the partner companies or take part in dual training courses – the Rector of the University said.

On the occasion of the platform’s launch, István Gödri, Managing Director of Emerson Automation FCP Kft in Eger, stated that dual training provides very good foundations. “I believe that bridges can be built between universities and companies, and they help young people to find their place in life with the necessary corporate knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit and mindset”, the Managing Director said. Cooperation between the Heves County Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKIK) and the University goes back several years, Sándor File, Secretary General of HKIK, told MTI.

The Secretary General stressed that the principle is to be able to go beyond basic research to research that produce directly marketable results.

Today there are challenges, such as the development of the green economy or automation, in which businesses, especially local small and medium-sized enterprises, need to develop. It is a very good opportunity for them to get the right ammunition for this in a local higher education institution,” said the Chamber’s Secretary General.

In response to a question from MTI, the NRDI Office said that the Territorial Innovation Platforms (TIP) initiative, launched in November 2019, aims to reach the widest possible audience of the regions’ key innovation stakeholders: universities, research institutes, large companies, SMEs, startups, clusters, incubators, accelerators, business angels and national chamber networks.

So far, the TIP charter document has been signed by 12 universities in Budapest and 11 more in rural Hungary. In addition, 5 national professional organisations joined the initiative. Líceum Television’s footage of the kick-off event

Eszterházy Károly University has also joined the Territorial Innovation Platforms (TIP), a professional initiative established by the NRDI Office.