R a D in the Moravian-Silesian Region (2. strana)

INVESTORS IN MSK Zdroj: ČSÚ (prosinec 2020), vlastní zpracování to support thirteen strategic projects that are currently in the approval process with the European Commission and aim to complete set goals. Examples of these projects are Černá kostka—Digital Center of Science and Innovation, the Technological and Business Academy and the LERCO project (Life & Environment Research Center Ostrava). Ostrava is the Moravian Silesian Region’s heart and most regional research companies concentrate around it. According to data from the Technological Profile of the Czech Republic, there are 270 entities focused on science and research within the Moravian Silesian region, 151 of which are based in Ostrava. In 2019, 4,786 people were employed in this sector, an increase of over a thousand since 2013. Around 5.5b Czech crowns were invested in science and research, around two-thirds of which were part of the private sector. Seventy-nine patent applications have been made from this region, making up around 11% of all the applications from the Czech Republic, ranking the Moravian Silesian Region in third place within the country. Companies such as Hanon Systems Autopal, Continental Automotive, or Varric Lighting Systems, which opened their new business research and development center in Nový Jičín this year, are amongst the largest representatives of private regional science and research entities. Another center, similar to the one Varric opened this year, will be built at the Mošnov Industrial Park within the next year where the company ABB is developing their global development and production robotics center, the only one of its kind in Europe. In 2017, the Moravian Silesian Innovation Center (MSIC) was founded in order to support the innovation ecosystem within the region; its goal is to strengthen bonds between the commercial, academic, scientific and public spheres and initiate strategic projects focused on improving the local environment for business and innovation. MSIC also greatly benefits from cooperation with VŠB-Ostrava Technical University and the national supercomputer center IT4INNOVATIONS. Other than the aforementioned companies, the region also offers many other organisations, branch clusters and programs to support business, such as the Innovation Support Center, Center of Nanotechnologies, the ENET center and 4Medical Innovations. We can witness the earliest successes of these initiatives at national competitions where regional start-ups are garnering great achievements. In last year’s CzechInvest Startup Challenge 2020, held by agency for business support and investment CzechInvest, the top two highest performing startups originated in our region. The company 24 Vision, based in Ostrava, came in first place that year for their tool for flawless automobile manufacturing and quality checking. In close second came the ecological startup based in Opava, Ullmanna, for their development of a smart weeding device capable of increasing the production of bio foodstuffs while making use of robotics and artificial intelligence. 82 Text a foto: Marek Burian, Faktografické listy Ostrava, ČSÚ, Inovační firmy v MSK, Varroc, ABB, CzI, 24 Vision, freepik.com POSITIV 4/2021 ǀ 41