THE INDUSTRY INNOVATION CLUSTER

Nine companies and organizations under the auspices of the French-Slovak Chamber of Commerce created the Industry Innovation Cluster (IIC) on June 9, 2017 with the ambition to become an accelerator for innovation in Slovak industry.
IIC aims to bring together companies that are leaders in the Slovak industry and want to move Slovakia forward in competitiveness and innovation.

INDUSTRY INNOVATION CLUSTER

Industry Innovation Cluster is a group of highly engaged and proactive corporates established and operating in Slovakia those projects explore innovative technologies and services to improve transportation options, customer experiences, manufacturing processes and any other smart mobility related topic. The challenge to initiate innovation beyond established processes, industries and even corporate borders can be better overcome with the support of a devoted team inside a dedicated Innovation or R&D Center. The Cluster’s joint initiative aims to share innovative ideas, create joint teams and co-finance innovation-related projects, sharing the results at the end.

SLOVAKIA – BEYOND MANUFACTURING

Here in Slovakia, growing local knowhow, producer and supplier networks, and an educated automotive industry work force requires the development of specific innovations so besides manufacturing, industrial R&D and innovation can be locally generated – mobile economy is the next level.

UTILIZATION OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Building partnerships is what it takes to effectively utilize opportunities in the R&D budgets of corporates and EU funds, so everyone brings his or her own strengths and learns from others. Not every company has all the capabilities available to successfully manage innovation projects – but a cluster can always create a complete mosaic of skills and capacities.

ONLY TRUSTED PARTNERS DELIVER SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION

These days real innovation comes from sharing and collaborating – and only a cluster can build up the trust required for such complex challenges as copyrights, patents and ownership.

CROSS-POLLINATION – THE ONLY WAY INDUSTRIES CO-CREATE

Multidisciplinary, cross-industry knowledge is what creates new ideas. So companies in more sectors need to get together. New business models for mobility crossing borders between traditional markets. Smart Manufacturing and Smart Cities are closely related tops not to be excluded from the scope of Cluster activities.

THE SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES

Improve Slovak industrial competitiveness
Foster cooperation in sharing innovative ideas and know-how in the R&D sector
Foster cooperation between the academic and business sectors
Developing new financial instruments from public and private sources
Foster an innovation ecosystem in the Slovak Republic

Identify possible R&D cooperation opportunities among members and universitie
Share management of larger innovation projects with advising and coaching opportunities
Perform a broad range of activities in the area of funding from EU grants and othertypes of financing
Create and share useful know-how among members of the IIC

INNOVATION THEMES AND TOPICS

Intelligent sensors

New sensors and measurement principles for cars, trains and buses

Multi-mode mobility concepts

New business models, mobility ideas in the shared economy

AI, predictive analytics

Industrial use of the Internet of Things, predictive maintenance

Customer engagement, product innovation, security

Security solutions, new products and services

Production processes for new products

Combining existing innovations into new process ideas and models

OUR OPERATING MODEL

I. GOVERNANCE

Association of member companies
Single stable leadership team selected by each Cluster member
Joint decision-making on R&D projects

II. FUNDING MECHANISMS

EU funding
Direct investment by members
Many EU funded grants/programs require consortiums

III. SERVICES

Managing large innovation projects, reporting and steering
Advising and managing fi nances and investment
Legal support
Coaching and mentoring, accelerating existing innovation ideas
Encouraging live business pilots and implementation
Cooperating with universities
Housing a combined project team
and more

OUR AIMS

Creation of a platform for achieving mutual goals in innovation

Sharing innovative ideas, creating joint teams

Creation of new jobs in the research and development (R&D)

Co-financing innovation

Sharing knowledge about the innovative ecosystem

Participation in setting up new financing models for future oriented projects

Exchange of experts

Faster, more effective and affordable innovation

OPERATING PLATFORMS

Design thinking

A collaborative process that carefully examines user needs, considers many options, uses rapid prototypes to refine selected directions based on new ideas.

Agility

An iterative, incremental process for developing any product and managing any work where solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing and cross-functional teams focusing on delivering the highest business value in the shortest time.

Co-creation

Systematically developing networks of individuals, stakeholders, and enterprises to create value together through engagement platforms.

Open innovation

“Opening up” the innovation funnel to move past traditional development inputs like internal development and outputs like the current market.

Co-investment

Resources and funds invested according to pre-agreed rules and principles. Ownership of each project’s results, which the cluster is going to manage, have to be clear before any joint initiative starts.

CLUSTER INITIATORS

MARTINA LE GALL MALÁKOVÁ

Industry Innovation Cluster – president

Companies should foster collaboration to increase the competitiveness in global digital economy

PATRIK HORNÝ

Co-founder IIC

To create and sustain new concepts and complex innovations, large companies have to combine forces and build a stable mechanism for managing joint research and development projects.

PETER ŠVEC

General secretary

Industry Innovation Cluster gathers companies with an appetite for innovation and change, whose goal is to push Slovakia towards greater competitiveness. Innovate solutions developed and applied in Slovakia then have a chance to succeed, within our groups as well as in other countries.