WORKING SUBGROUP CONTINUES SEARCHING FOR POSSIBLE AREAS OF SMART SPECIALIZATION OF THE REGION
On November 22, 2019, a working subgroup consisting of the representatives of science, business, regional development institutions and the Department of Regional Development of Cherkasy Regional State Administration discussed possible areas of SMART specialization that could be further included into Cherkasy regional development strategy for the period of 2021-2027.
In order to study the innovative potential of higher educational institutions of the region, a survey of scientists was conducted.
Serhii Danylenko, the Deputy Head of the Department of Regional Development of Cherkasy Regional State Administration, presented the results of the survey. As he noted, the survey revealed the most active educational institutions. They are: Cherkasy State Technological University, Cherkasy National University of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Cherkasy Institute of Banking.
It is interesting that the majority of the scientific centers and laboratories are located in Cherkasy State Technological University. At the same time, this university is the leader in the number of completed custom-made business research.
Cherkasy National University of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi is actively participating in different grant programs.
The representatives of the educational institutions confirmed the results of the survey and added that they were ready to participate in the process of applying for grants and other types of additional financing in order to implement project ideas in the areas of SMART specialization, which had been discussed during the previous meeting.
In addition to this, business representatives showed examples of successful research ordered from scientists.
Liubov Ropalo, the Director of Cherkasy Regional Development Agency, said that the public should be informed about such successful practices and their number should be increased. She has also mentioned that the Agency is ready to become a platform for dialogue and cooperation between business and science.
Summarizing the meeting, Head of the Department of Regional Development of the Regional State Administration Roman Karmannik noted that the desire of business representatives to cooperate with scientists and to order scientific research is very important in the process of choosing of SMART specialization areas.At the same time, scientists should be more active in offering their services (opportunities) to business. Very often the business is simply unaware of the unique laboratories, the availability of scientific patents and the staff potential of the educational institutions.
Currently, the working subgroup considers 2 areas of SMART specialization:
- Innovative agro-technologies, deep processing of agricultural products, high quality of food products.
- Development of IT industry, information and communication technologies.