The Technology Innovation Centre has actively taken part in the implementation of three projects of the Zlín Regional Government financed from 6th Framework programme.

The first is a project Regional Innovation Strategy of the Zlín Region (RIS). The objective of this project was to create a document Regional Innovation Strategy of the Zlín Region including an action plan, which would lead to the improvement in competitiveness and attraction of the Zlín Region and also contribute to the improvement of the educational process of the citizens of the Zlín Region. An important instrument to achieve this objective was the transfer of know how and experience from foreign partners in the area of innovation. Through the execution of the project better conditions will be created for inter-regional cooperation in the area of innovation within the framework of the network of the European Research Area.

The document for the Regional Innovation Strategy including an action plan was authorised in January 2008 and has the following priorities:



More information about the RIS project and documents for download can be found on the official internet pages of the project www.inovace-zlinskykraj.cz .

The second is a project SupPolicy Support policy making through innovative assessment tools. This is a project in which the Zlín Regional Government is taking part in connection with the Regional Innovation Strategy of the Zlín Region. Its objective is to design instruments supporting effective policy in the support of innovation of participating entities. The project has been running from December 2006 to December 2008.

The SupPolicy project can help in:

• identification of which measures for the support of innovation may or should be implemented on the regional level,
• presentation of methods for the organisation of decision making processes in the area of innovations in the region,
• providing examples of successful establishments of organisational structures for the execution of strategies in innovation management.

To achieve these objectives it is necessary to map out instruments and innovation support possibilities and indicators in the area of research, development and innovation for each partner. The SupPolicy project also helps to promote the Zlín Region to connected partners and the European Commission

More information about the SupPolicy project can be found on the official project internet pages www.suppolicy.eu.

The third project is project Cognac (Coordination of research, development and innovation policies and their integration with other policies of NAC countries). The objective of the project is the support of research in the regions of the EU by improving effectiveness and unifying development, research and innovation policies with a special focus on new member countries. The objective of the project is to map out the situation of the innovation policy and concrete activities in the area of innovation support in the regions, which are taking part and then describe best practice examples and the possibility of their transferability, coordination or cooperation within the framework of these regions.

The specific objectives of the project are:

• design, creation and implementation of a scientific research and innovation policy through RIS project coordination and development policies taking advantage of structural funds and other activities,
• strengthening the role of research policies in the policy mix proposed in RIS and in other documentation on a regional, national and Europe-wide level taking advantage of synergistic effects,
• creation and testing of an effective "custom designed" permanent and dynamic mutual process of learning by extending "examples of good practice" and comparing these examples.

You can find more information about the Cognac project on the official internet pages of the project www.cognacproject.eu.