2nd Belarusian Innovation Forum

December 06, 2010

2nd Belarusian Innovation Forum

On the 18-19 th of November, 2010, in Minsk he International Conference of Applied Science “2 nd Belarusian Innovation Forum” was held. The Forum was organized by the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, other government bodies, the Republican Centre for Technology Transfer, the Minsk Capital Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers and business associations from across the country.

The Forum was held with the support rendered by the Cooperation Foundation of the Central European Initiative (CEI), the UNDP Office in Belarus, and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

The objectives of the Forum were:

  • to appraise the present status of the national innovation system;
  • to exchange the world’s best experience and find guidelines for boosted innovation-driven development of Belarus;
  • to inform the national and international public about the progress made in the innovation-related activity in Belarus, the CIS and CEI countries;
  • to promote the 1st Belarusian Venture Fair.

The forum participants discussed such actual problems of innovation activity, as:

  • Policies and legislation applicable to innovation activity, introduction of a system of innovation-based development indices, establishment of the entities that belong to innovation infrastructure (technoparks, business incubators, innovation centres, technology transfer centres, venture entities); overview of the present state, problems and challenges, practicable solutions;
  • The funding system of innovation projects, including commercialization of research;
  • The policies and legislation in the domains of technology transfer and intellectual property protection;
  • State-private partnership in technology transfer and establishment of innovation enterprises;
  • Technology foresight as an instrument for innovation-driven development;
  • International integration in innovation-concerned activity.

The Forum has brought together 454 participants: high-ranked officials from ministries, agencies and governmental bodies, representatives of academic and educational institutions, commercial organizations, business associations, key experts from UNDP, UNIDO, UN Economic Commission for Europe, EurAsEC and other international organizations.

Forum Programme