The Science City Ecosystem. Connecting Business and Science event was held in Kyiv on 15 January 2025. Its aim was to present the Science.City project – one of the initiatives within the WINWIN 2030 Digital Innovation Development Strategy of Ukraine. The event brought together more than 100 participants, including representatives of the public sector, the scientific community, innovative businesses and international organisations. The event focused on the transformational potential of science parks in promoting Ukraine’s economic and technological development.
The goal of the Science.City initiative is to unite science, business and the state to create a network of modern science parks that will become a platform for developing innovations, start-ups and attracting investment.
«Innovations are the basis of economic growth and competitiveness of the country. But their development is impossible without quality education. That is why the transformation of the education system is one of our priorities, and the creation of effective science parks is an important part of this process», said Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development and Minister of Digital Transformation.
Science parks, created on the basis of higher education and research institutions, have enormous potential as catalysts for innovation and the transformation of scientific ideas into real production results. However, their potential is largely unfulfilled due to a number of barriers: fiscal pressure, complex and lengthy procurement processes, regulatory restrictions and insufficient private capital attraction.
«The Science Park is not just a tool for developing innovations in higher education and research institutions, but a foundation for a future in which Ukrainian science is competitive on the world stage», said Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.
International partners emphasised the importance of the project for Ukraine’s economic recovery. They stressed that Science.City has the potential to strengthen Ukraine’s position as a regional leader in innovation by attracting investment and providing jobs in high-tech industries.
One of the active participants of the event was Nazar Podolchak, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Department of Administrative and Financial Management at the Institute of Public Administration, Governance and Professional Development, Lviv Polytechnic, Head of Tech StartUp School and SID City Science Park at the University.
«Science parks are not just premises, but powerful innovation ecosystems where science, education and business come together to create the future. They are the driving force of economic growth, because it is here that new technologies and business models are born. It is at Lviv Polytechnic Science Park that we have successfully implemented a model of technology transfer not only from university to business, but also from business to university, with the aim of transforming education to train specialists who are able not only to generate ideas, but also to implement them and create new research groups and schools. Only through close cooperation between universities, research institutions and businesses we will be able to build an innovative economy that can compete globally», shared his experience Nazar Podolchak.
At the event, the representative of Lviv Polytechnic presented the University’s innovation ecosystem and focused on several key aspects of its effective development:
- the role of science parks in regional development and their ability to become a driving force for regional economic development;
- development of modern infrastructure to support start-ups and introduce innovations through the creation of innovation laboratories and R&D centres;
- commercialisation of scientific developments, development of joint projects and public-private partnerships.
«Speaking about the innovation ecosystem, we need to understand that it is not only infrastructure, but also, to a greater extent, the synergy of science, business and society, which jointly implement research and activities that contribute to the transformation of sectors, and move the economy forward on the basis of university science parks», summed up Nazar Podolchak.
More information is available on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
