Budapest to have new university innovation centre

This is part of a national strategy for economic growth

One of eight Hungarian university innovation centres is going be established at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), announced Mayor Istvn Tarls last week. This is part of the government's strategy to create an environment where international and Hungarian companies, universities and research institutes can cooperate effectively.

The Ministry of Innovation and BME, in agreement with the capital and the government, are working on how the university can utilize the XI. district office buildings until the completion of the Mol Campus which is currently under construction. There are three buildings, including the current Mol HQ (international oil and gas company, headquartered in Budapest) with a land area of over ten thousand square meters and almost 40 thousand square meters of office space.

The chairman and CEO of Mol Zsolt Herndi recalled that his hompany and BME had signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement earlier this year. A new element of the partnership is the joint application for RD projects on the latest generation of industrial process security technologies.

 A national strategy to attract investment

At a press conference the Mayor of Budapest explained that since 2010, the capital has entered into cooperation agreements with many universities, including BME, which is a privileged partner of the local government. He identified as an important goal the more competitive and economical functioning of the city, which will provide a better quality of life for residents and local people.

 Mayor of BudapestIstvn Tarls speaking at the conference on 2nd October. Photo: Budapest.hu

Lszl Palkovics, Minister of Innovation and Technology emphasized that investments in Hungary over the last 8-10 years have been accompanied by structural changes and development, which is one of the important reasons why the Hungarian economy is growing much faster than the European Union average.

The government has set itself the goal that high-tech technologies should be operated by world-class professionals. This is what science parks are promoting. The government's decision to set up science parks and innovation hubs, however, is related to infrastructure, funding and legal issues that are currently being discussed with the university, the minister said.

He drew attention to the fact that in the last few years several investments were made in Hungary and because of the knowledge available, companies decided to settle here. The Minister praised BME's achievements in education and research and pointed out that the university already has the buildings suitable for forming the first complex to host the science park.