We are helping companies, especially SMEs in the area of information and communication technologies (ICT), to network and find foreign partners and resources from European programmes or private investors. Our focus is knowledge based society, digital content and network applications while supporting high technology entrepreneurship and R&D funding within international cooperation. Several initiatives undertaken by our staff members have been recognized as the first move activities in the field of the information society and knowledge economy in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe in the late 90-ies.
We are a founding member of the First Tuesday global business network that brought together an international community from over 100 countries (especially in Europe) mixing together entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, new venture and technology managers. In last 9 years we organised over 200 informal meetings, workshops, conferences and discussion panels attended by almost 6,000 people. The new series of discussion evenings Innovation & Inspiration, Intelligence & Instinct is focused on technology, talents and tolerance as the driving force of a regional competitiveness and on comparing trends between the Czech Republic and selected countries.
Through our cooperation with Europe Unlimited and its European Technology Forums and Venture Academies, we have been helping the best and most ambitious tech companies in the new member states to gain access to a world-class coaching and to an international platform of investors and leading technology corporations.
We can help to develop your business plan or project proposal and find relevant foreign partners for getting involved in EU funded projects or expanding your business. We have been the national hub for the 6th and 7th Framework Programme in the area of e-business and IT research exploitation in the Czech Republic. Our experts were invited to evaluate project proposals submitted to the IST calls of the Framework Programmes and are members of the IST Mentor European multiplicator network.
The list of project references include several projects from various EU programmes - Centrope Information Technology Transfer project (2008-2010), Exploitation of research-based innovation: bringing entrepreneurship and market expertise at the start of applied research (2005-2008), Engaging regional SMEs within ICT in EU research (2005-2008), eTEN Promo Invest (2005-2007), NETworking for Innovation and knowledge Economy among SMEs in the new member states (2004-2006, coordinator), Bio Venture East (2004-2006), European Technology Venturing Programme (2002-2004), European Survey of Information Society (1999-2001) and Online Business Beyond the Year 2000 (1998-2001).
In 1995 we founded the Virtual Innovation Park (VIP), an Internet information service (the first national one mapping e-business) aimed at building e-business communities, currently with 8,000 subscribers. It consists of a weblog and a free monthly newsletter covering mostly promising companies’ success stories, information society, innovation policy and Internet related business development. In English we publish on the international website NowEurope having its roots in Esther Dyson’s East-West High Tech Forum.