When: September 11, 8:30 – 12:30
where: Prague, Stages Hotel

The Ukrainian Cluster Alliance is conducting a workshop on the transition from numerous Czech-Ukrainian contacts, missions and general intentions to specific projects, pilots and commercial results.

Representatives of Ukrainian clusters, Czech organizations and companies, as well as Trust Mediators in the field of Agile Lean Leadership Kurt Nielsen and Robert Fujdiar will take part in the meeting. 

Context

Since 2022, Ukrainian clusters have made a number of business missions to the Czech Republic, formed a wide network of contacts and started cooperation in the fields of industry, digitalization, energy, water infrastructure, health care, aerospace and Dual-use technologies.

This cooperation has already provided the first projects, grant agreements and commercial results. At the same time, its overall effectiveness still does not correspond to the scale of the measures taken and the established contacts. Many promising initiatives stopped after the first meeting due to the lack of a clear owner, insufficiently specific proposal, weak post-events or uncertainty about the resources and roles of partners.

The main problem is not the lack of contacts or areas of cooperation, but the lack of ability to turn them into a stable portfolio of joint solutions.

That is why the workshop will not be another general discussion about the importance of the Czech-Ukrainian partnership. Its task is to check whether the participants are ready to move from presentations of organizations to working together on specific opportunities. Read more – see special. UCA report for link.

The purpose of the workshop

The purpose of the meeting is to select the portfolio of the most prepared Czech-Ukrainian cases and determine the mechanism of their promotion over the next 90 days.

Participants will work on three main types of opportunities:

• commercial and B2B projects, including the search for customers, suppliers, integrators and investors;
• technology pilots, tests, prototyping and cooperation between EDIH;
• Joint projects and consortiums within Horizon Europe, EDF, recovery programs and other European instruments.

The main issue of the workshop:

How to convert existing Czech-Ukrainian contacts, programs and competencies into two or three verified project, service or commercial results within 60-90 days?

The special role of preparing clusters

The effectiveness of the workshop will directly depend on the quality of the preliminary training of Ukrainian clusters.

Each cluster should not provide a general overview of its activities or a list of areas in which it would like to find partners. To work, you need to prepare one specific proposal, which will contain:

• a identified problem or market opportunity;
• named customer, user or beneficiary;
• clear value for a Czech partner;
• specific contribution of the Ukrainian cluster and its participants;
• a clear request for the role of the Czech side;
• confirmation of technological, organizational or commercial maturity;
• a result that can actually be achieved within 60-90 days;
• The responsible owner of the case, able to make decisions and continue to work after the meeting.

The general presentation of the cluster can only be used as additional material. The basis of the discussion should be a one-page card of a particular case – Partner-ready Case Card (Recommended structure in Table 1).

Bloc	What should be noted
1. Case title	A short name, understandable without explanation. not the name of the cluster, but the name of the solution or opportunity.
2. Cooperation Pathway	One category: commercial / b2bthe Pilot / TestBed / Edih or consortium / funding.
3. Problem and Beneficary	What specific problem is being solved? Who has it: company, community, hospital, infrastructure operator, SME group? Why is it relevant now?
4. Proposed Solution and Value	What exactly is it proposed to do? What is the measured result or effect will the end user get?
5. Value for the Czech Partner	What will the Czech side get: new market, income, customer access, test site, data, shared product, localization or stronger position in the consortium?
6. Ukrainian Contribution	What companies, technologies, specialists, production facilities, data, facilities or customers are already available from the Ukrainian side?
7. Requested Czech Partner and Role	What kind of partner is needed and for what: customer, OEM, integrator, technology supplier, laboratory, EDH, clinic, investor or consortium coordinator?
8. Maturity and Evidence	The level of readiness of the technology, available pilots, clients, references, certificates, economic indicators, intellectual property rights, compliance.
9. 90-day result	What is the specific result to get: signed pilot description, letter of intent, testing, commercial offer, partnership in the application, confirmed EDIH service?
10. Case Owner and Resources	The name of the person in charge, contacts, powers, team and resource that the Ukrainian side is ready to provide.

By the first wave of targeted processing, it is planned to select 3-5 most prepared proposals. The organizers have some expectations for the Cluster Managers, which took place in July-August Training All – Rivne IMK, Vinnytsia ReMet, All-Ukrainian Association of Innovative Space Clusters and APPAU. The project proposals of these clusters are expected on September 11 in the first place. Other cases can receive recommendations for revision and be included in the next cycle.

The role of partners

Our institutional partners are invited to the event to help check relevant government programs, financial instruments and channels of cooperation, promote targeted contacts and remove institutional barriers.

The Czech-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce will have a special role in the qualification of potential Czech buyers, suppliers, technology integrators and investors, as well as in the further support of commercial opportunities.

Czech clusters, EDIH, companies and other partners are invited not only to declare their interests, but also to determine the specific contribution they can offer: market access, technology, test site, consortium, funding, expertise or partnership in the common Pilots.

Kurt Nielsen and Robert Fujar will help participants apply Agile Lean Lean Leadership tools, test readiness and level of trust, identify optimal roles and build a short cycle of collective action.

Expected results

Following the results of the workshop, it is planned to:

• select 3-5 most promising Czech-Ukrainian cases;
• determine for each case the value, partner channel, responsible owner and the following action;
• set specific results for 30, 60 and 90 days;
• determine the contribution of embassies, chambers of commerce, consultants, UCA and Czech partners;
• decide on the establishment of an international working group or individual teams around selected cases;
• agree on the date of the first review of the results.

Creating a working group is not an end in itself. It will be formed only in the presence of prepared cases, responsible participants, the necessary resources and the willingness of partners to work together on the result.

The main principle of the workshop: first – tested value and well-prepared proposals. Then – the team, the mechanism of implementation and scaling.

Submit the form to participate in the event: