Achievements

Accolades and successes of the South Moravian Innovation Centre

• In January 2010 the South Moravian Innovation Centre won the national round of the international European Enterprise Awards with its programme named JIC | Incubation Programme. This project was entered in the category entitled “Improving the business environment” and it was chosen to represent the Czech Republic in the European finals of the competition.

• In October 2009 a pilot call for the project under the name “Innovation Vouchers” took place. The purpose of this project was to support cooperation between companies and universities with respect to development in the area of innovations. There were 199 Innovation Voucher applicants from all over the country. During a special ceremony 37 projects were drawn; these projects will receive subsidies amounting to CZK 5.7 million. The Innovation Voucher project placed first in DOBRÁ RADA NAD ZLATO 2009, a competition held by the National Training Fund.

• In December 2008 the Westcom company that is headquartered in the Technological Park II won an award at the biggest European conference of web technologies, Le Web 2008. The company was recognised for its project entitled Webnode.com, which was evaluated as the second best Internet project of the year 2008.  WebNode.com enables the creation of website free of charge without the necessity for any previous technical knowledge or programming skills.

• In February 2008 the Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) was commissioned. Its purpose is to support talented ICT companies and to start up the process of development of innovations and innovative entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic. Its clients include start-up ICT companies with innovative ideas as well as well-established and renowned firms. The MIC is a joint project of the Microsoft company and the South Moravian Innovation Centre.

• In January 2008 the South Moravian Innovation Centre became a partner in the newly established European network known as the Enterprise Europe Network. It objective is to help small and medium enterprises develop their innovation potential and improve their competitiveness. This new initiative of the European Commission offers one point of contact to businesspersons with a broad range of easily accessible support services.

• In the year 2007 the Brno University of Technology Technological Incubator placed second in the Business Incubator category in the competition entitled “Business project of the year”. Winners of six categories were selected by juries composed of independent experts, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the CzechInvest agency.

• In the year 2007 the South Moravian Innovation Centre placed first in the competition entitled European Enterprise Awards, namely in the category entitled “Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit”.

• In the year 2007 the South Moravian Innovation Centre prepared and launched the INOVACE.CZ portal – the first Czech website focused completely on innovations, innovative entrepreneurship and inventions in a broad sense.

• In May 2007 the South Moravian Innovation Centre was awarded the European Award of University-Industry Cooperation, which is a part of the RUISNET project.

• In January 2007 a team from the South Moravian Innovation Centre teamed up with the Brain Logistics company and together they introduced the BLUES methodology for the evaluation of early stages of development of companies, based on the EFQM model of excellence.

• In the year 2006 the South Moravian Innovation Centre prepared and launched the first Czech Patent and License Fund (PLF), enabling inventors to receive support consisting in advantageous loans up to the amount of CZK 400,000 and counselling in the area of commercial exploitation of their inventions.

• Václav Muchna, co-owner of the Y Soft company that was founded in the Brno University of Technology Technological Incubator, won the Czech Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006. This award is a part of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

• The Brno University of Technology Technological Incubator, which is operated by the South Moravian Innovation Centre, was nominated among three other projects in the category “Project with the most applied research development benefit” in the competition Industrial Zone of the Year 2005.