The first edition of the international conference InnopRo – Innovation Pathways Romania took place between November 10-11, 2022, an event hosted by International Hotel in Sinaia, both in physical and digital format. It was addressed to all national and international entities interested in the remodeling of industrial routes in Europe through a regional perspective and to identify projects, investment opportunities and business development, with more than 60 participants present over two days.
The event was attended by companies, public authorities, experts, financial institutions, clusters, the business environment, interested in the sustainable development of their businesses and a better understanding of new trends in the context of accelerated transformations related to geopolitical, climatic and technological changes. The main organizers were the members of the Walachia Hub consortium, of the digital transformation center initiated by the consortium, the Danube Engineering Hub (DEH), Technology Enabled Construction (TEC) clusters, the Inter-Bio and Smart Alliance associations, as well as Spiru Haret University, through its center entrepreneurial USH Pro Business and the Petrol-Gaze University of Ploiesti through the Faculty of Economic Sciences.
Numerous technology firms within the clusters presented solutions that confirmed InnopRo’s vision to promote sustainable communities of practice capable of creating and reshaping new value chains in Romania. An informal network of regional and international stakeholders was thus consolidated, supported by clusters, universities, public authorities, research institutes, digital hubs, innovation transfer centers, regional development agencies and other entities interested in promotion and competitiveness regional in a European and international context. The South-Muntenia region was highlighted as a vibrant market with strategic geo-economic advantages in the Danube macro-region and with obvious competitive advantages.
Among the participants, along with companies and clusters, there were the academic environment, public authorities representing the town halls in the country, managers of clusters and business development consortia, the South-Muntenia Regional Development Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, associations national ones such as Clustero – Association of Clusters from Romania, APMR – Association of Furniture Manufacturers from Romania.
A distinct and honorable note was given by the delegation of the authorities and the business environment from the Czech Republic, CzechTrade Romania, consisting of companies, associations, trade promotion authorities from the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bucharest and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Czech Republic. Mr. Krystof Rygl, director of Czech Trade Romania, presented to the audience the technological potential of Czech companies in the field of “Smart City” solutions. Also, in the panels, there were representatives of prestigious companies from Germany and Sweden in areas such as solutions and smart networks, 3D, hydrogen, etc.
In addition to the debate component on the transition paths to resilience, the conference had a pronounced matchmaking character, through individual meetings between companies. The conference focused on several thematic areas such as energy, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and IT, with a particular focus on how global and regional actors interact in transforming markets.
“We have the satisfaction of being able to organize, only through the resources of the private and business environment, such an international event that was extremely useful to our members, companies increasingly concerned with finding transitional paths. Transition and resilience must be based on business models thought out and accepted by them, and our clusters can print this content of viable business projects. We will also support future editions of the conference” said Mr. Costin Trandafir, president of the Walachia Hub cluster consortium, the Danube Engineering Hub cluster and the Heveco company.
“Even if, in this year’s edition, the focus was especially on the Muntenia region, the event was successful both nationally and internationally, which is why we intend to organize it next year as well through the contribution of clusters, cluster consortia and of digital transformation centers. Companies from all over the country and abroad were present because the themes of resilience, green and digital transition are extremely important for the business environment, for managers, who feel the acute need to find new solutions to face the great threats related to the energy crisis and of raw materials” said Costin Lianu, coordinator of the digital innovation center Wallachia eHub and general director of USH Pro Business.
USH Pro Business
Events, Communication and Internationalization
