On Tuesday, 5.2.2019, the consortium of the ABS Network project organized the fourth business meeting at the Technical University of Graz. Since the purpose of the partnership is to support the cooperation between industry and educational and research institutions, the project partners invited a wider audience of Slovene and Austrian companies, as well as representatives of Slovenian and Austrian institutions of knowledge.

The partners of the ABS Network project, the Technical University of Graz and the Slovenian companies Talum d.d. and Tiko pro d.o.o. first sat at the round table where they discussed about the importance, advantages and disadvantages of connecting the economy with educational institutions. The ABS Network project is co-financed under the Interreg V-A Slovenia-Austria program.

Dr. Stanislav Kores, Head of Strategic Development at Talum d.d. stressed that all the participants have the advantages of this kind of integration. As an enterprise they see an advantage in cooperation with TU Graz, since they can share knowledge, strengthen research and development, and the potential for finding solutions in the field of innovation. On the other hand, they gain a greater visibility of Talum d.d. both in the Slovenian and the Austrian markets.

Professor Helmut Schober, who works as an expert in the ABS Network project team, emphasizes that through integration,  they have a good connection with the economy and their needs which is an added value to both professors and students.

The partner for informing the expert and lay public in the project is the Slovenian company Tiko Pro d.o.o., which is also a recognized and appreciated business partner in the Slovenian market in the field of preparation and implementation of research and development projects at the national and European level. Mateja Kramberger, EU Project Manager at Tiko Pro d.o.o. supports such a way of cooperation, and through such meetings, it enhances trust among project participants, facilitates networking with other relevant stakeholders in the program region, and sees many opportunities for similar projects in the future.

The modernized round table was an excellent stepping stone for the discussion between the participants of the event, who, having interacted during the event, agreed on the possibilities of mutual cooperation.

TU Graz (Technical University of Graz) presented the pilot project "Smart factory", presented by professor dr. Rudolf Pichler. The purpose of the factory model is to present to students practical operation of digitilized and automated production, and to offer them an environment for innovative development in this field.

Mateja Kramberger, EU Project Manager at Tiko pro d.o.o. presented the recipe for successful applications for European Union funding for companies or educational institutions to apply for co-financing research and development projects.

The consortium of the ABS Network project is already announcing the final conference of the project, which will take place in Maribor on June 13, 2019, where they will present the key results and results of the project, which they carried out jointly for 26 months.