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The Centre of Competence for Smart Cities (CEKOM) is the result of a joint application and elaboration of six research-developmental projects by 20 partners based on the call Support for the Development of Centres of Competence within the 2014-2020 Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion.
Since one of the key Croatian problems is the lack of cooperation between the economy and the scientific-research community on specific projects, i.e. a small amount of commercial projects that are the result of such cooperation, CEKOM was established based on the Ministry of Economy’s public call according to which CEKOM is an innovation cluster that encourages cooperation between entrepreneurs and organizations for research and dissemination of knowledge on research-developmental projects. The relations between partners are regulated by the Agreement on the Community of Applicants, which aims to define and establish effective cooperation on research and development projects within CEKOM, aimed at the development and applied research and commercialization of the results.
The centres of competence focus on developmental and industrial research inspired by industry and their commercialization within the specific thematic areas and branches of competence. They are connected to one or more thematic priority areas and/or cross-cutting themes identified within the Smart Specialization Strategy.
In the next three years of the project implementation duration, the project partners will develop as many as 36 innovative products and services in the area of smart cities technology with a significant market potential. The product development will take place in Rijeka on the commercialization level in the pilot projects format, which will contribute to the development of Rijeka as a smart city. Thus, the Centre of Competence for Smart Cities in Rijeka is positioned as a leading institution in the Republic of Croatia, but also in the wider region in the field of development and application of intelligent technologies in the cities with the aim of improving the quality of life and its citizens’ standards.