Between the 20th and 21st of March 2014, ClujIT cluster deployed its 2nd edition of “Cluj Innovation Days” having as main tagline: “Discover New Frontiers. Make them Your Own.” With high-level speakers from the European and local public and private institutions, the event was gracefully hosted by the Life Science Institute of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine from Cluj-Napoca. The event focuses on “encouraging innovation, research and entrepreneurship as key ingredients toward building sustainability in businesses and community development.”
The event started Thursday at 9.30 with the plenary session opened by Mr. Alexandru Ioan Tulai – President of Cluj IT Cluster. The welcome note was followed by the short notes delivered by the officials of the Romanian Government, European Commission, Cluj City Hall, Cluj County Council, the elite universitie from Cluj: USAMV (University of Agricultural Sciences & Veterinary Medecine), UBB (Babes-Bolyai University), UTCN (The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca), UMF (‘Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medecine and Pharmacy) and the representatives of the Main and Gold Partners.
“ClujIT cluster’s continuous effort to outline Cluj as a regional innovation hub has determined foreign companies and organizations to contact us for cooperation purposes, some of them closing as real projects deployed by the members of our cluster. Actually, these mediation actions between the private, academic and public environments are intended to increase the local innovation capacities and to foster a sustainable economic development of the region.” Declared Mr. Alexandru Tulai – President of Cluj IT Cluster in the official Press Release issued on the 20th of March by ClujIt Cluster.
A greatly expected topic was Cluj Innovation City (CIC), one of the cluster’s main objectives. According to the same Press Release, the project is estimated to reach a total of 200 hectares and the total necessary investment is estimated at about EURO 300 million with combined financing sources. The project will step in the consultants’ selection stage for the prefeasibility and feasibility studies. First and one of its kind in Romania, Cluj Innovation City will be managed by a team from the private sector, while the infrastructure will be set with the support of the Romanian Government, The County Council and the city’s Local Council. (More on this topic will be provided in a series of dedicated news).
The afternoon continued in the Blue Conference Hall and the Green Conference Hall where Mastering Innovation was the daily theme. The topics were interesting, yet we would like to note Professor’s Stelian Brad’s intervention “Innovation Challenges for IT Companies in the Forthcoming Business Environment”and thet of Mr. Dejan Cvetkovic – CTO Eastern Europe, Microsoft : “The Economic Impact of Open Data”.
On Friday, the 21st of March 2014, Cluj Innovation Days spread across the two conferences halls with two main themes: showcasing innovation and fostering entrepreneurship. Attending the second topic, we would like to outline the following: the session held by Mr. Andrei Pitis – President of ANIS, Owner Simple Systems and co-founder TechAngels on entrepreneurship, the detailed presentation on the artificial blood tests of Mr. Radu Silaghi Dumitrescu – Associate Professor at Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering entitled “Shedding Blood over Innovation”, the straight from his own business experience recommendations of mr. Adrian Gheara – Business consultant and Startup Investor and the powerfull example of Tel-Aviv IT hub, sustained by mr. Oren Modai – CEO, Tel-Aviv Startup Mission.
In addition, Cluj Innovation Days continued on Saturday with a workshop on eHealth. The event aimed at discussing the finding of high-tech informational science solutions for assisting & promoting the medical tourism, the future eHealth strategies inside Romania and some aspects of Innovation in eHealth.
As a closing note, Codespring appreciates Cluj Innovation Days 2014 event as a great step in ClujIT’s attempt to position Cluj as a regional innovation, research and technology hub. We are happy to have been able to participate at this edition too, and we will continue to support and get involved in such initiatives.
