Čakovec, 26. July 2012.
I3CT Crossborder Clustering Opening conference was held in Čakovec in the premises of the Technology Innovation Centre on 18th October 2011. A great number of people participated at the event which indicates the relevance of the topic of the project. Participants from the private sector, educational institutions, SMEs supporting institutions and local authorties were greeted by Mr. Ivan Perhoč, Međimurje County Prefect, dr. Zoltán Birkner, head of the Nagykanizsa Campus, Pannonia University and Mr. Matija Derk, director of Regional Development Agency Međimurje REDEA d.o.o. Neccessity of collaboration between educational and private sector backed by SME supporting institutions in both Croatia and Hungary was a main feature of all introductory speeches. Quality and success of previous crossborder cooperation between project partners are the key to success of I3CT project and other futher projects. After the introductory speeches, Ms. Antonija Bedeniković, representative of the IPA crossborder programme Hungary – Croatia gave a presentation and announced a new call for submission of project proposals in November this year. Rest of the conference was dedicated to detailed presentation of the project where each of the partners had the opportunity to present its future role and activities to be implemented in scope of the I3CT project.
The overall objective of the project is to facilitate synergies and cooperation between organizations on both sides of the border including IT companies and clusters, universities and innovation support institutions. The project is co financed by the European Union in scope of 2nd Call of the Hungary-Croatia IPA Cross-border Co-operation Programme and is focused on building co-operative economy through joint research, development and innovation. Total budget of the I3CT project is 282,687.54 EUR out of which 84% are financed by the European Union. The project will be implemented in Međimurje County and Podravina Prigorje County in Croatia and Zala County in Hungary. Project implementation started in September 2011 and will last for 16 months. Lead Beneficiary of the project is Regional Development Agency Međimurje REDEA Ltd. (Čakovec, Croatia) and the project partners are Međimurje IT Cluster (Čakovec, Croatia), Međimurje University of Applied Sciences in Čakovec (Čakovec, Croatia), PORA Regional development agency of Podravina and Prigorje (Koprivnica, Croatia), University of Pannonia – Nagykanizsa Campus (Nagykanizsa, Hungary), Pannon Novum West Transdanubian Regional Innovation Nonprofit Ltd. (Zalaegerszeg, Hungary).
