AHK Romania initiated a dialogue between the business and academic environment to expand the partnership between German companies and Romanian universities in the field of research, innovation and continuing education. The meeting focused on strengthening the collaboration between private enterprises and academia in the field of research and development (R&D), in order to benefit as much as possible from the funding opportunities of the European Union. The main challenges discussed were the difficulties in accessing these funds, the need for sustained public, private or European research funding and the importance of aligning research themes with market needs. Participants stressed the need to improve cooperation between the various stakeholders, including with the public administration, and highlighted the importance of promoting R&D initiatives to encourage broader participation from all parties involved. Along with university professors, the event was attended by representatives of companies from various fields, such as energy & gas, IT & digitalization, automotive, retail, chemical industry, waste management.
“We want to exchange ideas and perspectives, to see how we approach this topic further, what needs to be done to develop collaboration between universities, research institutes and other public entities on the one hand and SMEs, start-ups and companies on the other hand, to support the business environment in research and development activities,” said Sebastian Metz, general director of AHK Romania, at the opening of the dialogue forum “Business meets innovation”.
He added that this collaboration is all the more necessary, as research and development (R&D) and innovation are becoming increasingly important at the European level and will therefore receive larger budgets. “We need to create an appropriate framework for this money to be absorbed in a productive way,” he said, noting that in Romania the business community managed to obtain tax incentives for R&D activities this year.
In order to expand international partnerships, but also to intensify the exchange of good practices, the event had as a guest an expert from Germany, Dr. Ulla Übler, Director of International Relations of Bayern Innovativ GmbH. She provided an overview of the innovation landscape in Bavaria, detailing the collaborative network of institutions that support research and economic development. She explained Bayern Innovativ’s mission to connect universities, corporations and startups to promote innovation and technology transfer in sectors such as mobility, energy and digitalization. Dr. Übler also mentioned ongoing studies and future projects aimed at strengthening international cooperation, especially with Romania, and stressed the importance of open communication and collaboration between stakeholders to promote innovation.
During the meeting at the AHK Romania headquarters, the participating companies emphasized that the level of collaboration with universities varies depending on their field of activity. They expressed their openness to engaging in partnerships with academia to improve skills, promote an entrepreneurial mindset and ensure investments in research and development (R&D). Company representatives suggested that universities be more market-responsive in terms of funding sources and develop a business model. In turn, university representatives emphasized the need to focus more on interdisciplinarity in order to find mechanisms for cooperation with companies and even to modify school curricula to introduce subjects that help students acquire the skills required by the labor market.
In a survey conducted by AHK Romania among the business and academic environment, most respondents indicated that the benefits of innovation relate to the adoption of emerging technologies, greater operational efficiency, collaboration with start-ups and expansion into new markets, while the challenges are related to financing innovative projects, attracting and retaining talent, market uncertainties, bureaucracy. Respondents believe that the innovation ecosystem in Romania is rather weak, and companies’ needs in terms of innovation are primarily related to financing, followed by collaboration, mentoring and expertise, as well as regulatory compliance.
Based on these premises, both companies and academia agreed to continue the dialogue for better and more extensive collaboration.