On December 17, 2020, a press conference was held in the East Slovak Gallery in Košice under the auspices of the Košice Self-governing region to establish the Innovation Center of the Košice Region ICKK, which aims to support the development of innovations and new technologies in the East Slovak region. The main speakers of the press conference were Professor Pavol Sovák, Rector of the P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, Ing. Marek Antal, State Secretary of the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, Ing. Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of the Košice Self-governing region and Ing. Jaroslav Polaček, Mayor of the City of Košice.
The first major ICKK project is the Cassovia New Industry Cluster (CNIC), whose ambitious goal is ready to include a sustainable knowledge economy in the region of Eastern Slovakia to include i) material and biomedical technologies, ii) green and digital technologies and iii) quantum technologies. Closely related to this main goal is the contribution to the development of social areas, including the care of an aging population (the so-called “Silver Economy”) and a healthy lifestyle for the working-age population.
The history of the CNIC project dates back to 2014 when the Department of Biophysics PF UPJŠ acquired the prestigious European project “Fostering Excellence in Multiscale Cell Imaging” (CELIM FP7-REGPOT-2012-2013-1). The demand for the sustainability of the project led to the creation of the “Center for Interdisciplinary Biosciences”, which subsequently became an essential part of another milestone in the team led by professor Pavol Miškovský on the creation of a modern scientific-application center of international level. Thus, in 2017, the rector of UPJŠ prof. Pavol Sovák established the “Technology and Innovation Park UPJŠ” (TIP-UPJŠ). Intensive work of the TIP-UPJŠ team in cooperation with the JRC in Brussels and member experts of the European Commission subsequently led to the creation of the “Cassovia New Industry Cluster” project, in which all Košice universities, selected SAS institutes, the private high-tech sector, the city of Košice and the Košice Self-governing region.
Our main task in 2021 is to prepare the complete project documentation of the CNIC project so that in 2022 it can be registered with its implementation.
A short recording from the KSK press conference is available at https://fb.watch/2shEHSs7Lk/
