Annual meeting of members of Thematic Innovation Councils held

An annual meeting of the members of the Thematic Innovation Councils (TICs) and their working bodies - validation committees and action groups - was held in Zagreb on December 16th. TICs are one of the key tools in building an effective national innovation system in creating a more stimulating environment for innovation. Their main role is to network the business sector with the scientific research community and public authorities and encourage the exchange of knowledge and experience. They were established by the Innovation Council for the Croatian Industry in early 2019 at the proposal of the Ministry of the Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, and have been established for each of the five thematic priority areas of the Smart Specialization Strategy 2016-2020 (S3): health and quality of life; energy and a sustainable environment; traffic and mobility; security; food and bioeconomy. Each TIC, as a rule, consists of representatives of the business sector (70 percent), consisting of representatives of companies and representatives of organizations and associations of business entities, representatives of the scientific and research community operating in the area relevant to a particular TIC (20 percent) and representatives of public bodies. authorities (10 percent).

Mario Antonić, President of the Innovation Council for Industry of the Republic of Croatia and Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, addressed the attendees with a welcome speech, followed by a working part. Katerina Sereti, Head of Stakeholder Communication at the Stakeholder Relations Office of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), outlined the work of the EIT, which aims to foster innovation across Europe. She also announced a conference to be held in Zagreb next February.

The main part of the meeting was the presentation of the work of five thematic innovation councils and their working bodies - validation committees, formal working bodies and action working groups, informal working bodies of TICs in 2019. The work of TIC for health and quality of life was presented by TIC President for Health and Quality of Life, Dragan Primorac. TIC President for Transport and Mobility Mija Šipek, informed the attendees about the work of her TIC. TIC Deputy President for Security, Filip Aralica presented the work of TIC for Security, while TIC for Food and Bioeconomics President, Jasmina Ranilović, presented the work of her TIC. The work of TIC for Energy and Sustainable Environment in 2019 was presented by its President Ernest Vlačić, who emphasized the participation of TIC members for energy and sustainable environment in the development of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan and introduced the national concept of Smart Industry Croatia (SIC) .

The work of the TICs in 2019 included their founding, filling in for members, selecting a president, deputy president and members of the validation committees, selecting participation in action groups, holding meetings and sessions, launching a public call for project ideas and validating them, participating in the development of the National Development Strategy and various other activities, depending on the individual TIC. The current number of members after the subsequent inclusions was also discussed. Attendees were informed about the meetings of the validation committees, the public call for project ideas held, the number of received and positively evaluated project ideas, the method of their validation, the work of the action working groups and their participation in the narrowing indicative IRI topics for the future version of the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) and for the publication of the so-called IRI2 tenders, respectively tenders Increasing the development of new products and services resulting from R&D activities - Phase II.

As part of the annual meeting, a draft of the National Plan for Digital Transformation of the Economy was presented by Marija Božićev from Ernst & Young Consulting Ltd., an external contractor of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, contracted to develop the National Plan.

In order to facilitate the work of the members of the Thematic Innovation Councils, as well as of the National Innovation Council and the Innovation Council for Industry and the technical secretariats accompanying them, the Innovation Web Platform was presented as the central contact point of all participants of the national innovation system, by Tvrtko Pavić from the company ATOS IT Solutions and Services, external contractor of the Croatian Chamber of Economy. 

The annual meeting of the members of the Thematic Innovation Councils and their working bodies was held and co-financed as part of the Strategic Project to Support the Establishment of an Innovation Network for Industry and Thematic Innovation Platforms, benefited by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, with the Croatian Chamber of Economy as a partner that performs the role of the Technical Secretariat of the Thematic Innovation Councils. The project is implemented under the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Program 2014-2020 of the European Regional Development Fund.