At the beginning of March this year, with the approval of the European Union grant from the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion, CEKOM – Competence Center for Smart Cities started with its first preparatory activities.
Competence Centers (CEKOM) are part of the innovation infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia and one of the instruments to strengthen the innovation value chain and to foster the innovation of the business sector and its connection with research institutions. Their main task is to stimulate effective cooperation between the private, public and scientific-research sectors in order to strengthen the innovation potential of the economy and align R&D strategic plans with the needs of the economy.
With the cooperation of 20 partners, 6 major development projects have been designed through which, over the 3 years of the project, 36 innovative solutions for products or technologies will be realized that should facilitate everyday life in our cities:
Smart city Surinmo – e-mobility platform,
Smart City Modesty – Central Big Data Platform and Open Data Portal Development,
Smart City Living – a platform for analyzing city traffic,
Smart City Energy – a platform for energy efficiency planning and management,
Smart City Trans – a platform for multimodal traffic analysis and management,
Smart City 4D – a platform for innovative mapping of underground infrastructure.
The project brings together 20 partners – 16 companies and 4 research institutions
Partners participating in the Competence Center for Smart Cities in Rijeka are Smart RI doo, University of Rijeka, Ericsson Nikola Tesla dd, Hrvatski Telekom dd, Combis doo, Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar, 3tCable doo, Alarm Automatika doo, Elektrokovina doo, Energo doo, Exevio doo, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija, IOLAP Inc., KD Vodovod i kanalizacija doo, Creative department doo, Faculty of Maritime Studies Rijeka, Rijeka promet dd, Apsolon doo, Smart Sense doo and SmartIS d.o.o.
The holder and applicant for the CEKOM project is Smart Ri
Smart RI is a company owned by the City of Rijeka that was established with the aim of managing the Smart Cities Competence Center, that is, managing an innovation cluster to connect business entities and research institutions on R&D projects in smart cities to help meet the challenges facing cities are transported (transport, energy, ecology and other S3 areas).
Smart Ri is the holder and the applicant of the CEKOM project for the tender of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts for the European Union grant under the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Program for Supporting the Development of Competence Centers.
The total value of the project is 149,631,384.15 kn. The grant awarded amounts to HRK 95,357,525.75. The partners in the project participate with 54.273.858,40 kn.
The strategic goals of the Smart Cities Competence Center are to:
- Developing new knowledge, initiating and supporting long-term research collaboration between science and industry in the most complex research
- Positioning the City of Rijeka as a Test Platform for Concept Testing while Ensuring the Participation of the Most Technologically Advanced Companies in the Republic of Croatia
- Improvement and integration of existing industry and university research infrastructure, establishment of a collaborative M2M platform and integration into international projects (Horizon 2020, InterReg), which will demonstrate the competencies of our researchers and strengthen the position of Rijeka and Croatia as a development center, and as optimal locations for long-term research projects
CEKOM in Rijeka will be a test and demonstration center for “smart” technologies, in which pilot projects will be implemented with the city government and citizens to improve products and / or services to the level of readiness for commercialization. It is this context of the urban laboratory that will be most visible to citizens and visitors of Rijeka, where for the first time they will have the opportunity to actively participate in the application and development of new technologies.
The City of Rijeka’s long-term strategy in the context of smart cities is also reflected in linking the results of activities at CEKOM with other projects of the City such as the Torpedo Technology Park or the future project of reconstruction of the energy of the former Paper Mill Rijeka, and linking it with the newly established Center for Artificial Intelligence of the University of Rijeka.
By the end of March, it is expected to sign a Grant Agreement between Smart RI d.o.o., the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Croatia and the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programs and Projects.
