Prague, Oct 19 (CTK) – The Czech Republic and a European top-level research institution, the German Fraunhofer Society, will extend their cooperation in applied research projects, according to a memorandum representatives of the Czech Government Office and the society signed on Wednesday.
Cooperation will focus on materials diagnosing, industry 4.0 and IT security, Ralf Wehrspohn, the Halle Institute’ s director, said.
He said joint Czech-German research projects were two million euros worth in the past year.
Joint research was also discussed by Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Fraunhofer Society President Reimund Neugebauer.
Czech Deputy Prime Minister for Research Pavel Belobradek, said “the greatest progress has been attained in science and research within the Czech-German strategic dialogue. This is not the sole event, this is a culmination of the discussion with partners in Germany,” he said.
Belobradek said a joint research institute may be established within three years.
The creation of a strong base of applied research is embedded in the Czech national policy of research, development and innovations for 2016-20.
Belobradek said inspiration drawn from Fraunhofer Institute will be used in support of Czech small and medium-sized firms which do not have capacities for their own research infrastructure.
Karel Havlicek, Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Crafts head, said the firms are faced with an extremely strong competition represented by the Asian market and ties to supply chains.
