Databank for innovative industrial ideas in development in Grodno

A public regional bank for innovative industrial ideas is in development in Grodno, BelTA learned from the press service of the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno.

Setting up the bank or a market of innovative ideas is one of the goals of the project “Centers of innovative activities: education using the education platform relying on open innovations and research effort at enterprises for the sake of raising the innovation potential and the activity of universities in post-socialistic communities”. The Grodno university is implementing the project as part of the Tempus program. Two experimental programs that rely on cloud technologies have been created and deployed using the university’s servers. Those are the software platform IdeasMarket and the regional innovation platform InnoLab. Initial consultations between the university and top enterprises of the region have been held. A contest of innovative ideas has been arranged, with about 200 applications submitted. Results of the contest are now being summarized.

The creation of the bank of ideas is the first step towards stepping up innovation efforts of the production sector through effective interaction between universities and enterprises of the region. “It is necessary to marry needs of the enterprises to capabilities of scientists. The bank of ideas is being created with this in mind. At present our university is carrying out over 130 financed research projects, half of them are applied ones. As many as 54 projects are being implemented in line with government programs of research institutes. Every year Grodno university scientists file up to 20 patents and introduce up to 200 manufacturing innovations. Enterprises should use the potential and, in my opinion, should more actively participate in the training of future personnel,” believes Andrei German, Dean of the Physics and Technology Faculty of the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno.

A complex innovative center will be created in the university by 2015. The center is meant to become kind of a social network for manufacturers and scientists. “Enterprises will be able to share their problems that require unconventional solutions and creative ideas using a special Internet platform. They will be able to submit applications for innovations while university scientists and students will be able to offer their approaches and ideas to resolve specific manufacturing problems. It can be done as part of the education process as a course paper, a diploma paper, a dissertation or as part of an R&D contract,” he explained.

Two innovation centers are supposed to be created in Belarus as part of the Tempus program. They will be located in Grodno Oblast and Vitebsk Oblast. The centers are meant to foster ties between developers and consumers of innovative ideas and contribute to the commercialization of the ideas.