site.btaInnovation and Technological Development Council Holds Its First Meeting

The newly established Innovation and Technological Development Council (ITDC) to the Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister Ivan Vasilev held its first meeting on October 15, the press centre of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation announced on Friday.

The ITDC’s main task is to propose specific legislative, regulatory and administrative measures to make Bulgaria a leading destination for entrepreneurship and high-value-added businesses by 2030. Council members agreed that the key foundations for achieving this goal are qualified professionals, easy access to capital and an improved business environment, including modern technological infrastructure.

Sofia Tech Park was among the topics on the agenda of the Council’s inaugural meeting. Access to the public scientific and technological infrastructure at the science and technology park should be transparent, with clear conditions, clear pricing and publicly available information on who uses it and how. This position was shared by the Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister and members of the Innovation and Technological Development Council at its first meeting. Business and technology community representatives on the Council raised concerns that companies and researchers currently lack comprehensive information about the laboratories and computing resources available at the park, the criteria used to select users and the cost of access. Infrastructure built with public funds should serve the widest possible range of Bulgarian scientists and entrepreneurs, ITDC participants stated.

In response, Vasilev announced that, over the next six months, the park’s new management and supervisory bodies would conduct a comprehensive review of its existing assets and examine who had used them so far and under what conditions. As a next step, the Ministry will explore the introduction of a public system displaying available resources, conditions of use, occupancy and spare capacity.

“The state has invested in laboratories and supercomputers that should serve every Bulgarian researcher and entrepreneur. We want everyone to be able to see what is available, under what conditions and who is using it. Clear rules are the best invitation to business,” Minister Vasilev said, according to the Ministry’s press centre.

Opportunities for more companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector to actively contribute proposals when public procurement procedures are announced were also discussed.

“Our main goal is to maximize competition so that we can achieve greater efficiency in spending financial resources and ensure that public funds reach more companies rather than a small circle of firms,” Vasilev said.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister Mira Yosifova and representatives of the Bulgarian Employers’ Association for Innovative Technologies (BRAIT), the Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association (BESCO), the Association for Innovation, Business Services and Technology (AIBEST), the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT) and the Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), all of which are members of the ITDC.

The Council to the Minister of Innovation and Digital Transformation was established as an expert advisory body to the Minister, providing a direct and permanent link between the government and the innovation ecosystem in shaping state policy on innovation and technological development.

The decision to establish the ITDC was approved at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on August 27 this year. According to the rationale accompanying the draft decision approved at the time, the Council is expected to build on the existing institutional framework under the Research and Innovation Promotion Act. When it was established, the principle of clearly distinguishing its functions from those of the Council on Innovation and Scientific Research, while ensuring complementarity between them, was taken into account, the Council of Ministers said at the time.