The organisers of the Forum are Applied Research and Communications Fund, ARC Consulting, Joint Innovation Centre of BAS, and Enterprise Europe Network – Bulgaria, with the support of the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Executive Agency Dr. Ognian Shentov, Chairman of the Applied Research and Communications Fund, noted that Bulgaria still does not have a national innovation policy with its own image and continues to rely on the solutions and funding provided through EU programmes and mechanisms. He stressed the need to develop a country-specific innovation policy that would make use of EC instruments to attract more private investment. The regular annual Innovation.bg report proposes a set of well-tested but increasingly complex to implement policies that require both a higher quality of national innovation policy and its administration, and consensus on important national development priorities. Dr. Shentov also drew attention to one of the conclusions of the Innovation.bg 2022 report that “business in Bulgaria is leading the way in investment in research and innovation, including in digital and green technologies.” He underlined that the award-winning enterprises participating in the Innovative Enterprise of the Year 2022 contest offer cutting-edge solutions in the fields of digital and green technologies.
In his congratulatory address President of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Rumen Radev emphasized that “the results of innovation activity in Bulgaria, which are presented annually by the Applied Research and Communications Fund, are a barometer of the state of the Bulgarian innovation system and the opportunities for action and impact to make our country more successful and our economy more competitive.” The forum also focused on the gaps and weaknesses in the field of innovation in the previous programming period and the need to act “smart, with vision, at all levels and with all our strengths” in order to come out of the state of timid innovators.
In his speech Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Coordinator of the Innovation.bg Group at the Applied Research and Communications Fund and Chief Economist at the Center for the Study of Democracy, noted some of the highlights of the Innovation.bg 2022 report. He stressed that by 2027 Bulgaria will receive the largest public investment package in its history under various EU funds. However, the country’s innovation capacity remains far below the EU average and is comparable to the EU-candidate countries in the Western Balkans. The key to reducing this gap is attracting more private investment to accelerate the digital and green transition in Bulgaria. Two examples are illustrative in this regard. The IT industry in Bulgaria is developing extremely quickly and successfully, but the challenge for the national innovation policy is how to integrate the IT sector and help digitize other sectors in the country’s economy. In terms of the green transition, Bulgaria remains the only coastal country without a legal framework and planned projects for the development of offshore wind energy, a technology with huge growth potential, whose value chains are entirely in the EU. By comparison, Romania already has offshore wind projects planned, which will lead to a higher inflow of investment and income to Bulgaria’s northern neighbour within the next few years.
Mr. Todor Mladenov, Executive Director of Sofia Tech Park AD, shared how important it is to be with the people who create the most advanced innovative technologies. The goal of Sofia Tech Park is to create an environment for small and medium-sized enterprises in Bulgaria, to give them access to opportunities and resources and how to use them in the best way possible. Companies that are in the process of growth have access to the environment in the park, to other like-minded companies, innovators, specialists, and research infrastructure. The advantages they get are access to research, access to investors, equity investment, training, networking, access to customers and international markets. Solutions in the areas of green transition and digital industrialization can also be tested in the Tech Park. It focuses on preparing teams, as well as developing a network of mentors to help young entrepreneurs develop.
Ms. Zlatina Marinova, Head of Research Projects at Ontotext: The company is a laureate of the 2017 Innovative Enterprise of the Year Contest, and is developing semantic technologies and products based on artificial intelligence applied in healthcare, media and education. Ontotext relies on European funding programmes for research and innovation, thanks to which it develops most of its products and services. A challenging aspect of working with AI is finding the right computing infrastructure with high power. Companies such as Ontotext are attractive to young and well-qualified people who have a desire to work in Bulgaria or are Bulgarians who have graduated abroad and are returning to the country, attracted by the prospect of working in high-tech innovative companies.
Dr. Plamen Ivanov, Managing Partner at Gamifinno, stressed that it is important for micro-businesses like Gamifinno to participate in the National Innovation Forum and related national initiatives where they can share their experiences. He presented the newest product “Creative Adventure” for preschoolers and children with special needs, with which they can develop their fine motor skills. He said that Bulgaria is experiencing a serious growth of small and medium enterprises, which he considers a positive trend, but the lack of political stability is a barrier to foreign investment.
Mr. Nikola Yankov, Managing Partner at Expat Capital, outlined innovation as an economic process. He shared that he represents an industry that invests in companies that develop new models. In Bulgaria, financing these types of companies is a problem, as the amounts offered by the private sector are small, and Bulgaria is at the tail end of the EU on this indicator. In order to develop the innovation potential, the state needs to provide co-financing, which is currently not happening. All start-up companies come into being without state participation. He stressed the lack of debate in the political community on this topic. The EU has a good framework for creating financial instruments and initiatives, but these are not foreseen in the National Budget and the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Boyan Zhekov, National Coordinator for the Horizon Europe Programme, presented the thematic programmes of Horizon Europe and shared that the funds attracted for Bulgaria are very small. He informed the participants that the work programmes for the period 2023-2024 are published today (7 December 2022) and encouraged all present to review them. All 11 Horizon Europe strands are organizing information days and brokerage meetings to discuss the programmes and how to form new partnerships for applications.
MYX AD received an honorarystatuette and diploma in the category “Market Leadership”, while New Energy Corporation Ltd. received a statuette and a certificate of merit in the category “Green Innovation” of the Contest “Innovative Enterprise 2022″. They were awarded during the National Innovation Forum “Innovations in support of digital and green transition”.
- Seven innovative Bulgarian companies received awards in the 2022 Innovative Enterprise of the Year Contest
- Companies awarded with the 2022 Excellence in Innovation label
- Eighteenth National Innovation Forum Agenda
- Horizon Europe 2021-2027
- Innovation.bg 2022 Report
- In the media
