Zenica Development Agency ZEDA in cooperation with project partners, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Tehnopolis, IPNG-Industrial Park from Nova Gradiska and the City of Gradiska, organized a kick-off conference of the project iNnovaNet – Innovative technologies for stronger businesses and improved business environment and an improved business environment).
At the very beginning, the project, its goals, and expected results were presented. This project is based on the principles of transferring knowledge and experience of partners in innovative technologies and improving infrastructure to meet the growing needs of the economy and industry.
“The project will work on improving the business environment by creating new favorable and innovative business support mechanisms for small and medium enterprises, and through project activities new centers for training and education will be opened, to enable the acquisition of new knowledge and competencies for entrepreneurs, unemployed and students. One of the goals of the project is to improve the work of all business support organizations involved in the project by strengthening the competence of staff, acquiring new knowledge and skills and creating a network of centers, which will enable new business support organizations and educational institutions to become members, exchange knowledge and experience different areas to create better conditions for economic development in the program area, “said Aida Pasalic-Uzunovic, the project manager of the Zenica Development Agency ZEDA.
“The special potential of this project is the training centers. Namely, the product we receive from our employees is not always what we need. That is why training centers are very important for us, which will enable the theoretical and practical part of teaching, and which are missing in our educational institutions, “said Senaida Turkic, President of the Board of the Association of Employers of Zenica.
Through this project, the Nova Gradiska Industrial Park intends to improve its products, but also its educational and technological capacities. “We will further improve our training center with a machine that will enable our users to create some new and additional values. Our goal is to provide business support by procuring equipment for our small and medium entrepreneurs, who, in addition to education, will also have the opportunity to work on machines, “said Ivan Galic, the director of the Nova Gradiska Industrial Park.
“Through the iNovaNet project, we will upgrade and improve existing services, but also procure additional equipment for the Industrial Design Laboratory, which will make us available on the market and enable us to provide support to our community completely free of charge or on preferential terms,” said Aleksandar Janicic. project management and entrepreneurship development at IEC Technopolis. He pointed out that the project has a special significance due to further connection with young people and improvement of their STEM skills, which is why it was decided to equip cabinets for robotics and mechatronics in two high schools in Montenegro. At the same time, training for professors will follow to ensure that the acquired knowledge and skills are passed on to the next generations.
Representatives of the City of Gradiška Bojana Bjelovuk and Vlado Tomic, the director of the Technical School Gradiska, said that the procurement of equipment through the project will enable the progress of secondary education following the needs of the labor market in the metal processing industry.
At the very end, it was announced that in the coming period, work will be done on establishing an online platform, creating a public call for the reconstruction of the ZEDA agency building, but also the procurement of equipment so that all the announced activities can be realized.
The iNnovaNet project is co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg IPA cross-border cooperation program Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro. The leading partner in the project is the Zenica Development Agency ZEDA, while the project partners are: IEC Tehnopolis, Nova Gradiska Industrial Park for Development and Investment, and the Municipality of Gradiska.
