On 22.02.2024 a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Digital Accelerator of Latvia (DAoL) and Digital Innovation Hub “Thrace” was finalized. The Memorandum was signed by Dr. Hristians Daskalov, Chairman of Digital Innovation Hub “Trakia”, and Mr. Salvis Roga, DAoL Board Member from the Latvian side.
DAoL members include the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University, Ventspils High Technology Park, Latvian Green Technology Cluster and 15 other reputable business and academic organisations from the Baltic States. The aim of the accelerator is to promote digital transformation and innovation of the Latvian private and public sectors and help increase the share of investment in ICT R&D.
The Memorandum of Partnership is yet another for EDIH Trakia, in fulfillment of the objectives of the CYBER4All STAR project to establish international partnerships in a regional perspective to mediate and accelerate the digitalization and internationalization of small and medium enterprises in the country with a focus on the security of their assets in the digital space.
Earlier in the week, the process of establishing a partnership with the Austrian digital innovation hub “AI5Production” was completed, involving the University of Vienna, the Industry 4.0 Lab at the Technical University of Vienna, the Austrian Centre for Digital Production, Ars Elektronika and more than 10 other local partners. The Austrian Technology Hub is focused on serving the digital transformation of manufacturing companies with up to 3,500 employees. A joint international event between the Bulgarian, Austrian and Croatian innovation hubs will take place at the beginning of April on the upcoming cybersecurity regulations and their impact on small and medium-sized enterprises in the European Union.
Strategically, the aim of the establishment of the international contacts of EDIH Trakia and related joint initiatives and projects is to improve the connectivity between the stakeholders of the EU Member States along the North-South axis located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, in a similar way as the intergovernmental institutional and economic platform “Three Seas” does in the field of cross-border infrastructure, energy, transport and digital communications.
The European Digital Innovation Corridor, a collaborative network within the European Commission’s wider pan-European network of digital innovation hubs, will be a virtual infrastructure through which those seeking and offering innovative products and services in a range of technology areas from the Three Seas Initiative countries (and beyond) will be able to exchange ideas and opportunities in a structured way.
“In the long term, the goal is for companies from Bulgaria to be able to use services provided by our partners abroad free of charge and vice versa. In parallel, we will support the exchange of information and good practices through the established infrastructures such as the European Enterprise Network, of which our partners and friends from the Plovdiv Chamber of Commerce and Industry are a part. We will also rely on our partners and coordinators in the face of the Union for Economic Initiative, which have established traditions in connecting Bulgarian companies with their international partners”, said the Chairman of the “Thrace” Hub, Dr. Hristian Daskalov, who added that the effort relies on the active support of the Bulgarian Cyber Security Association and the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at BAS through their networks of partners in the region, built within the framework of numerous previous transnational programs and projects.
“Our experience in creating networks of innovators is undeniable – we are co-founders of the European Corridor of Cybersecurity EDIHs, we have established partnerships with digital hubs working in the cybersecurity sector across Europe, including. We believe in the success of this new virtual infrastructure that we are building on a regional level for better connectivity along the North-South axis”, adds Svetlin Iliev, Project Manager and Head of International Cooperation at EDIH Trakia, member of the Board of the European Cybersecurity Organization (ESCO).