February 4, 2020 – ‘Green Mind – transnational integration of innovative entrepreneurs’ is the name of a conference held on Tuesday at the premises of ICT Counties, that is, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in Split.
Dalmatinski Portal writes that the conference was part of the Green Mind project co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg MED program, which aims to develop economic competitiveness and innovation in the green and start mobility industry by enhancing regional and transnational cooperation between businesses, research bodies and authorities. The total value of the two-year project, which ends at the end of July 2020, is 1,298,000 euro, and the share of Split-Dalmatia County as a partner amounts to 151,000 euro.
“We are in the final phase of a project that needs to be capitalized through a transnational innovation network and that aims to showcase eight pilot areas and eight pilot services specifically designed for SMEs involved in the smart and green mobility sector,” said Martin Bucan, project manager for the Green Mind project in Split-Dalmatia County, adding that it is a sector that contributes to reducing CO2 emissions and influencing climate change.
Split-Dalmatia County, as a project partner, organized this transnational event, bringing together small and medium-sized enterprises interested in participating in the future of mobility to obtain free support from project partners and external experts; testing pilot services to better understand the green and smart mobility market and to take advantage of these business opportunities; assistance in finding public funding for their projects; and B2B matchmaking to find the right project partners, as well as supporting the integration of the local cluster and the transnational network.
According to Bucan, some 30 companies participated in the Green Mind project, and seven of them showed interest in participating in this pilot project. After the analysis, all publicly available financing was found for them, and fairs and competitions were identified, and they could join in the next period to find a partner. Vuk Kašić of Net Media Sistemi, a company specializing in website design and customer support, said their company had participated in the project and hoped for its successful continuation.
“By participating in this project, we were provided with an analysis that was very difficult for us to cover financially, nor did we have the resources to execute it, and we were given complete insight into the current market situation. Based on this analysis, we will decide to visit the fairs, and we will also analyze the financial possibilities for further investment in infrastructure. We also hope for the possibility of withdrawing European funds for our projects,” said Kasic.
Professor Mateo Perak outlined the benefits and perspectives of developing their Smarparking app, which reduces the unnecessary circulation of cars by seeking free parking, reducing CO2 emissions.
“As entrepreneurs, in this Green Mind project, we see an opportunity to solve certain problems in society and to connect people with similar interests and energies, which always results in progress,” Perak added.
The conference was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts (Sector for Innovation Policy), Split-Dalmatia County, and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture. After that, a panel discussion was held on the importance of connecting and collaborating with the private sector, the research community, and the public sector, in which representatives of FESB, Ericsson Nikola Tesla and Profico and the City of Split discussed.
Successful innovative projects Smart Parking (Profico), electric parking barrier (Parklio) and Smart City (City of Split) were presented during the conference, followed by a visit to the FESB H2 Laboratory.
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