Matej Rus

🚀AI Catalyst for SMEs – Interreg Austria - Czechia project started recently. In the rapidly evolving landscape of AI, the "AI Catalyst for SMEs" project is paving the way for small and medium-sized enterprises to embrace the power of Artificial Intelligence. Join us on this transformative journey towards digital innovation and SMEs growth. Let's shape the future of business together! 💡🚀🤖   In the transformative period of 2020 and 2021, Artificial Intelligence (AI) began to reshape the landscapes of Marketing, Sales, and Export in Austria and the Czech Republic. However, it has been observed that less than 10% of businesses, primarily small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have embraced this potential.   Introducing the "AI Catalyst for SMEs" initiative: a project designed to close the gap between academic research and practical application in the business world. Central to this initiative is the launch of an innovative online platform, highlighted by the AI Readiness Radar tool. This tool aims to enhance the AI capabilities of businesses in Marketing, Sales, and Export by providing a comprehensive assessment of their readiness for AI integration.   Moreover, the project introduces the AI Days program, a pioneering series of workshops crafted to equip industry professionals with advanced AI knowledge. This program promises to position participants at the forefront of their respective fields by endowing them with unparalleled AI proficiency.   Beyond the provision of tools and training, the "AI Catalyst for SMEs" project seeks to influence AI policies within Austria and the Czech Republic. By leveraging insights gained from the project, we aim to develop actionable strategies that will guide future technological advancements in the region.   Targeting a wide audience that includes forward-looking businesses (with a focus on SMEs), policymakers, and academic institutions, the "AI Catalyst for SMEs" is on a mission to accelerate the adoption and integration of AI technologies. This initiative represents a significant step towards fostering growth and innovation in the broader business ecosystem.   We invite you to join us on this journey to redefine the future of business through AI. Let's embark on this transformative venture together.   Partners: Fachhochschule Oberösterreich – Study Programmes Global Sales and Marketing / Research Area Global Business Management (Lead), Institut für Höhere Studien (IHS), College of Polytechnics, Jihlava, Prague University of Economics and Business, South Bohemian Science and Technology Park, corp. Funded by: Interreg Austria - Czechia   #AICatalystForSMEs #DigitalInnovation #SMEsGrowth #FutureTech #Interreg

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🚀 Exciting News! The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (#EIT) announced the launch of 16 Innovation Hubs across Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe at its conference "The Next Decade of Innovation for the Future of Europe" in Budapest to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS). This is an important step towards increasing regional competitiveness and driving economic growth. This initiative aims to bridge Europe's regional innovation divide and support local innovators and entrepreneurs. The EIT Community Hubs, part of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS), will foster collaboration among businesses, educational institutions, and research organisations. These hubs will be a gateway to Europe's largest innovation ecosystem, helping local innovators scale their innovations and bring new products and services to market. With over 700 projects supported, this initiative has already helped launch more than 500 products and services into the market, showcasing the power of collaboration and innovation. Let's continue working together to empower local ecosystems and bridge the innovation gap across Europe! Also, my warm congratulations to the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Finale winners! The finalists competed for nearly €150,000 in prizes across eight categories: Energy, Food, Health, Manufacturing, Raw Materials, Urban Mobility, New European Bauhaus, and Rebuild Ukraine. Together we are stronger! 💡✨ #Innovation #EIT

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EU body to boost innovation in Hungary? The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has opened a representative office in Hungary to bring local innovators into the European ecosystem... https://lnkd.in/dBQ7nPzg ------------------------------------------ #digitrendi #eit #innovator #europeaninstituteofinnovation

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Throwback to young(er) Tina launching a marketplace to help out Rdeči križ Slovenije | Slovenian Red Cross with inventory management and make sure people can access help in their proximity and do not need to travel to big storage houses to get access to items that were donated. 😜 Back then young(er) Tina did not know that all digital products have to be extensively tested before launching on national news (with all celebrities involved an all that) 🤡 . 🙃 Back then young(er) Tina did not know that you have to have a proper handover in order for digital products not die after you leave the country 😢 . 😝 Back then young(er) Tina did not know that developing a new digital product is not that straightforward and requires iterations. 🙈 Back then young(er) Tina did not know that developing a new digital product requires processes to be aligned with all the major (institutional) stakeholders. 🙊 Back then young(er) Tina did not understand how to work or communicate with the development team (soooooo frustrating, for both sides 😂). Back then young(er) Tina did not know much about developing digital products, but that did not stop her to dive in and deliver just before I moved out of the country. I am mortified when I look back and realize I launched something that was not tested on users on national news. Do not be like young(er) Tina, develop with users, do a quiet launch, and make sure things are sustainable. Is it a good story and a great memory, absolutely. Would I do it again, no 😂 . #lifestory #lessons #productmarketing #gotomarket

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According to Elena Fleming, the EIT Digital Regional Director South, in today‘s rapidly and dynamic business environment, entrepreneurship is more than just building a company, it is also a force to change, propelling progress. As the national ecosystem flourishes, EIT Digital is proud to play a supportive role through various programs. Portugal has experienced an exceptional convergence of creativity and tech advancement - check out our #Scaleup Portugal Report, where we rank the #TOP25 most promising startups of Portugal and get to know the reality of startups ecosystem. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/deCMjpF8

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Food for thought for tomorrow's discussion on the future of education: - "Why do my kids need to learn this?" Schools focus on test scores while families and employers want practical skills. This basic disconnect frustrates everyone. - "Education costs keep rising, but my children's prospects seem dimmer than mine." With soaring college costs and student debt, many question if traditional education is worth the investment. - "My kids' school seems stuck in the 19th century." Schools often resist updating how they teach and what they teach, making education feel outdated in our fast-changing world. - "Schools have become another political battleground." From history lessons to COVID policies, schools are caught in political debates that damage trust in education. - "Education should reduce inequality, not reinforce it." The gap between rich and poor schools shows how education often makes inequality worse, not better. - "Why spend time in school when Steve Jobs..." Stories of successful dropouts make people question if traditional education is really necessary. Tomorrow, I'll participate in a panel discussion about the future of education with distinguished speakers Peter Balogh, Tamas Haiman, Balázs Horváth, and Craig V. Johnson. What are your thoughts on these challenges? Which do you see as most critical to address?

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Slovakia has shown a new approach to public support of technology startups and, following the European Innovation Council #EIC, has launched two Recovery and Resilience Plan calls aimed mainly at technology startups. Thematic calls for #digitization and #decarbonization were closed in March and April of this year. The currently published official results represent 27 innovative 🇸🇰Slovak companies, which will share almost 31 million EUR! #Slovakia #innovation #excellence #EICAccelerator #RRF #researchEU More information (in Slovak) can be found below.

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🌟 Results of BiH Private Sector Analysis Now Available! 🌟 📢 We are excited to announce the publication of the comprehensive research report on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tax system. CREDI, as a subcontractor to USAID-funded Fiscal Reform Activity (FRA), conducted data collection and to some extent analysis for the Private Sector Analysis Report. 🛠️ The FRA, a five-year initiative running until September 2028, works with BiH’s Ministries of Finance and Tax Administrations to enhance fiscal and tax policies, reduce compliance costs, and align with international and EU standards. 🔍 This research tackled key challenges in tax policies and administration, offering recommendations to simplify tax arrangements, address burdensome direct taxes, and create a more business-friendly regulatory framework. ✅ Highlights include: 📊 Regulatory framework analysis 📋 Surveys with private sector companies 💬 Focus group discussions with business representatives 📖 The final report is packed with actionable insights to support policymakers, stakeholders, and the public in shaping a more efficient market economy. ➡️ Dive into the results and explore more here: https://lnkd.in/deKPY2md #BiH #TaxReform #FiscalReform #EconomicDevelopment #USAIDBiH

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🚀 EIT Digital SPIN: Rise Program – Building Momentum! 🌟 On December 5, we kicked off the EIT Digital SPIN: Rise program organized by University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, with an inspiring keynote by Gorazd Lampicč, founder of Elaphe. He shared his incredible journey from lab to market, highlighting the challenges and triumphs of turning research into a successful business. His motivational story set the tone for participants to make the most of these three transformative days. Highlights:  👉 Welcome Session: Mateja Drnovsek officially started the day , introducing the program structure and diving into the key objectives of these workshops. 👉 Deep Dive into Ecosystems: Professor Aleš Pustovrh and Polona Juvančič explored the SLO, SEE, and EU innovation ecosystems, focusing on IP ownership and how to navigate research-based commercialization effectively. 👉 Navigating the “Valley of Death”: Aleš Pustovrh presented strategies for advancing research to higher TRL levels, exploring IP sales and spin-off creation as critical pathways. 👉 The Innovator’s Method: Miha Škerlavaj engaged participants with his session on continuous innovation, sharing lessons from the Marvel case study. 👉 Success Story Spotlight: Mark Plesko, founder of Cosylab, shared his firsthand experiences, inspiring participants with practical insights and a lively Q&A session. The afternoon featured an online simulation with Horizon Ventures Innovation Accelerator, where participants tackled real-world challenges in teams. The day concluded with personalized mentoring sessions led by the SEB team, focusing on crafting actionable strategies for commercialization success. On December 6, participants continued this momentum with more tailored sessions to leave the programme equipped with: - Clear commercialization strategies. - Stronger public funding applications. - Investor-ready pitches. A heartfelt thank you to our inspiring speakers, dedicated mentors, and enthusiastic participants for making Day 2 a resounding success! #innovation #researchtomarket #entrepreneurship #EITdigital #SPINrise #SEBLjubljana Anushka Beltram Anamaria Cuden Elisabetta Trasatti Sergio Balassone Federico Curatolo

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The inViable team, Beatriz Rivela Carballal and myself, will be participating in the next OpenLivingLab Days organized by ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs) in Timisoara. We will carry out the Workshop "WILD Labs - Mapping the Innovation Frontier - A Taxonomy for Navigating Spaces and Processes" to explore interoperability, draw insights and search for synergies from various participatory innovation frameworks and infrastructures (the "labs"), reflecting on processes and tools that can be integrated into what we've coined as WILD Labs. This initiative is is related to our work in EU-funded FARCLIMATE Project where the Living Lab framework is applied to search, experiment and scale climate adaptation solutions in several European territories and communities where agriculture, forestry or fisheries are key economic activities. #OLLD24

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Conclusions of a new ANCOM study: ➡️ national coverage: 93.5% of administrative addresses have access to fiber optic networks (FTTH/B) >1 Gbps ➡️ top coverage technologies capable of providing broadband internet: FTTH/B – 93.5%, DSL – 33.7%, FWA – 29.4%, DOCSIS 3 – 22% ➡️ Over 1,600 localities require investments for broadband internet access. #ANCOM #VHCN #broadband

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Main questions that have to be answered during the preparation of a short application to the EIC Accelerator programme 1. The Problem/Market Opportunity 2. The Innovation: Solution/Product or Services (USP) 3. Market and Competition Analysis 4. Broad Impacts 5. Company 6. Team and Management 7. Funding Request The total amount of pages should be not more than 10 pages.

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📢 Call for Proposals for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to present innovative tourism project proposals to enhance their green and digital innovation!! ➡️ The project aims to select green and digital innovation projects proposed by TOURISM SMEs to be awarded financial support in the format of a fixed lump sum amount of EUR 20,000 or EUR 30,000. ➡️ The applying entities must be legally established and registered in one of the following countries: Germany, Spain, Latvia, Montenegro, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia. 🆂🅴🆁🆅🅸🅲🅴🆂 For more information and development of project proposal contact us at [email protected] #open #collaboration #europe #innovation #entrepreneurship #call #project #financial #support #tourism #explore #green #digital #sustainability #market #tour #agency #consultants #horizoneu #ngo #tips #grant #slovenia #people #hr #employees #benefits #idea #erasmus #training #education #create #creativity #change #coaching #mentoring

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📣 The latest report "Serbia and the 2030 Agenda - Mapping the National Strategic Framework in Relation to the Sustainable Development Goals" 🌐 by the Public Policy Secretariat is out now ❗ The report provides a comprehensive overview of the current national planning documents in relation to each of the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda, grouped according to clusters and negotiation chapters within the European integration process. The report includes a review and analysis of more than 100 planning documents by December 2023. As the report’s findings show, most of the valid planning documents are relevant to achieving the SDGs 🎯 "The latest mapping of the planning framework in relation to the 2030 Agenda shows that the coverage of the sustainable development goals and targets by the planning framework of the Republic of Serbia is 82.7%" says Bojana Tošić, Director of the Public Policy Secretariat/ Republički sekretarijat za javne politike RSJP. According to the global Sustainable Development Report 2023, Serbia ranks 36th out of 166 countries. Serbia will continue to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through a series of measures and activities, reaffirming its sustained commitment to improving the living conditions of all its citizens in all three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection and social inclusion. This political determination of Serbia is based on analyzes of the planning framework related to the achievement of 17 SDGs and relevant data, and was also confirmed at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Goals held in September last year in New York, where transformative and accelerated actions to meet the goals set until 2030 were presented. The preparation of the report "Serbia and the 2030 Agenda - Mapping the National Strategic Framework in Relation to the Sustainable Development Goals" has been supported by the Public Finance Reform – 2030 Agenda project, which is financed by the governments of Germany and Switzerland.   The Report is available in Serbian language: https://lnkd.in/ddntM6E9

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Are you ready to pioneer the future of social innovation with AI? Hosted by the Slovenian Chapter of Catalyst 2030 in collaboration with prestigious partners COTRUGLI Business School Slovenia, Impact Hub Ljubljana, Technology Park Ljubljana, Center Noordung, BSC Kranj, Regional Development Agency of Gorenjska and hashnet, the AI 4 Social Impact Hackathon is your gateway to creating meaningful change. Here's why you can't afford to miss out:  Innovate: Utilize AI to revolutionize business processes for social good.  Learn: Gain insights from industry leaders through mentorship.  Collaborate: Team up with like-minded professionals to tackle challenges.  Implement: Forge partnerships to bring your AI-driven social innovations to life. Choose a business process or field and devise the most socially innovative solution using AI tools. From healthcare to sustainability, the possibilities are endless. Don’t let this chance slip away! Be at the forefront of social innovation and make a genuine impact. Join us in catalyzing change with AI, where technology meets humanity for social good. Date& Time: May 7, 2024 | 17:00 - 19:00 CEST Register now https://lnkd.in/dZj29Z5R  #CCW2024 Impact Hub Ljubljana #AI4SocialImpact #CatalysingChange2024 

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𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐝𝐞 [𝐜𝐨𝐝] 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐮𝐛𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚 explores a range of topics related to software development, the digital landscape, and future technologies. The latest article discusses how #AI and #IoT are playing a significant role in advancing sustainability across various sectors. 🌍 We’re looking to contribute to this dialogue by highlighting the opinions of some of our colleagues and representatives from other companies. Even though the IT sector does not directly contribute to emissions as much as other fields, such as energy or agriculture, the massive energy consumption in data centers and digital infrastructure contribute to generating indirect emissions. 💡 Learn how a team of ours optimised memory and storage usage by reducing the resources needed for server operations; their project can be easily replicated, as it primarily involves optimising work processes and costs through historical analysis of system operation and consumption. For more tech industry insights check out the Pagini de [cod] column on HotNews.ro posted in the 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰. ⬇️

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In H1 2024, the CEE startups raised €1.15B based on the latest The Recursive database analysis In this article you will find: → Funding rounds by country → #AI’s share in the action and #HealthTech status → The real source of capital flow → Top 3 deals that matter Save it now, thank us later. #CEE #TechNews #startups

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