Present in Cluj-Napoca between March 5-7, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, opened together with Mayor Emil Boc the series of StartupCity Cluj-Napoca events, organized by Cluj-Napoca City Hall together with Transylvania IT Cluster. On this occasion, the competition for the title of European Capital of Innovation 2020 was launched, for which Cluj-Napoca announced the candidacy.
The European Commissioner said that our city is a model of good practice through the existence of a strengthened ecosystem, based on a collaborative model between local public administration, universities and the youth sector, the business environment, non-governmental organizations and citizens.
Within StartupCity Cluj - Napoca, Transilvania IT Cluster organized the third edition of Innovation Camp. Youth. Startups. Synergies. Strategies. This year aims to identify solutions for the development of the innovation ecosystem, but also to find solutions for local and European communities.
The four participating working groups were composed of representatives of companies, non-governmental organizations, public administration and universities. The working groups had four challenges: “Climate change - Ecotourism and eco-industry”, “How to turn a locality into an attractive place for startups and major investments”, “Building and developing the local ecosystem of startups in a Digital Innovation Hub "," How to develop a local / regional investment fund that enhances local talent at the beginning of the road. "
"The third edition of the innovation camp was the most successful so far because, on the one hand, it created the opportunity to identify extremely pragmatic solutions, which will help us move to the next level as an innovation ecosystem, and on the other hand we have successfully transferred a good practice to our colleagues who represented the innovation ecosystem in Varna, Bulgaria ", said Bianca Muntean, executive director of Transilvania IT Cluster.
Among the four challenges launched to the four teams of participants in the Camp, during the third Challenge, the development strategy of Transylvania DIH was developed so that it becomes a regional catalyst for innovation. The focus of this strategy was to align the IHL with technological trends and the European Commission's innovation strategy.
Through this event, Transilvania IT Cluster marked the importance of consolidating the local ecosystem and the importance of the existence of a link between the communities of professionals throughout the region.
Also, within StartupCity Cluj - Napoca, the Manifesto on the values and common mission of startups in Cluj was publicly launched, which “expresses what each organization can contribute: to use resources efficiently, to support each other, to work synergistically and to mobilize to capitalize on all the opportunities that stand in our way, ”explained Mircea Vădan, member of the Cluj Startups organization.
We are confident that all events organized under the umbrella StartupCity Cluj - Napoca have strengthened the position of Cluj Napoca as a space for innovation and collaboration, both locally and regionally and internationally as a city aligned as a strategy of European metropolises.