For a single day, participants of the international NanoCzech Liberec 2023 conference were able to glimpse into the world of technologies that work with distances of billionths of a metre. The Czech Republic ranks as a significant global player in this field. In the coming years, however, it faces the challenge of applying scientific findings to practice more effectively. The presenters and the panellists of the closing discussion agreed on this.

“The Czech Republic’s greatest competitive advantage is its highly educated people. How can we make use of that? Investing in science, research and innovation must be our number one priority,” said Martin Půta, Governor of the Liberec Region, opening the international conference in his capacity as its organiser. 

On behalf of the event’s host, the Technical University of Liberec, Petr Lenfeld, Vice-Rector of the Technical University of Liberec, took the floor. He described the university as the “mother of nanomaterials”. According to him, the groundbreaking discovery of the industrial production of nanofibres set in motion developments that have no parallel in the university’s seventy-year history. “We continue to develop nanotechnology, we build new machines and we establish collaborations with innovative companies,” Lenfeld added. 

His words were soon confirmed by representatives of the university, its subsidiary The University Company TUL and the Czech Nanotechnology Industries Association, who signed a memorandum of cooperation. 

In the main auditorium, the conference’s main programme offered a varied range of contributions from innovative companies, research organisations, Czech industry associations and guests from abroad. The ethical perspective was not missing either. It was presented by Michal Trčka from the Faculty of Science, Humanities and Education of the Technical University of Liberec: “According to surveys, people fear the unknown. The fantastical vision of self-replicating nanobots paradoxically instils more fear than the more realistic threat of the misuse of nuclear weapons. The recipe for scientists is therefore, first and foremost, public education.” 

More than twenty stands at the NanoCzech Expo in the auditorium foyer were intended to bring the practical use of nanotechnology closer to visitors. Companies and start-ups showcased solutions for the filtration of water and air, applications in healthcare and in cosmetics. Below the Jizera Mountains, the SKI365 year-round cross-country skiing technology by NanoTrade, which recently caught the attention of the international chain Decathlon, could not be missing either. 

In parallel, the conference also featured research projects of the Technical University of Liberec with commercialisation potential, as well as the ambitious start-up support programme of the CzechTrade agency. 

“Our aim was to bring politicians, scientists, researchers and companies together and give them space to find common ground. The attendance of more than three hundred visitors and the first responses confirm that we succeeded,” says Jiří Ulvr, councillor of the Liberec Region for the department of economic and regional development, European projects, spatial planning and rural development, evaluating the event. 

The final item of the main programme was devoted to the policy of supporting science and research: a panel discussion on the future position of the Czech Republic within the global innovation ecosystem. Will we be a leader, or will we remain trailing behind events? According to economist Danuše Nerudová, who opened the discussion, the Czech Republic must step up: “We have fallen behind in many areas, but I consider our education system to be the most crucial one. If we want to continue to rank as a knowledge-based economy, we must reform education, and as soon as possible.” 

That was not the only point on which the participants of the discussion agreed. Among the other issues to be addressed, they mentioned, for example, the state of the Czech infrastructure, the system for supporting private investment in start-ups and the transfer of technology. 

The international conference was organised by the Liberec Region together with its Regional Development Agency and with its partners: the Technical University of Liberec, the CzechInvest and CzechTrade agencies, the Czech Nanotechnology Industries Association, the cluster organisation Nanoprogress and the Association for Foreign Investment AFI.

Source: https://1012plus.cz/cs/magazin-detail/konference-nanoczech-se-stala-vykladni-skrini-ceskych-nanotechnologii-i-mistem-setkani-vedcu-a-byznysmenu