The SMART4FUTURE project consortium is very well balanced. We have 9 project partners: 6 of them are higher education institutions (Algebra University College, Sabanci University, Naples University, Griffith College, Lublin Medical University, National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”), 1 is a large company which is a founder of two Higher Education institutions (both of which will take part in the project’s activities -Link Group), 1 is a very agile and experienced business accelerator (Mentortec), and 1 is a large company; namely, the first Croatian unicorn (Infobip). Given the strength of local innovation ecosystems at institutions of higher learning, partners can very effectively learn from each other’s national best practices. At the same time, we are a good mixture of traditional and new institutions.
Our project partners come from the fields of research, education and business, totalling 9 partners in 8 different countries. Click on each “plus icon” or on each logo to learn more
Algebra University College (Croatia) is the biggest privately-owned educational organization in Croatia and is an accredited higher education institution, employing more than 100 full time and more than 500 part-time employees in 28 towns in Croatia. In 2014, Algebra became the best Microsoft learning partner in a global competition of 3,200 organizations. Today, Algebra University College carries out four undergraduate programs (bachelor) and seven graduate programs (master). Algebra University College will lead the management and coordination activities of the project, which are related to the effective handling of all the administrative, scientific, technical, financial and legal aspects of SMART4FUTURE. Algebra LAB has been listed on EC’s Smart Specialisation Platform as a fully functional Digital Innovation Hub (DIH). It has an in-house tech startup incubator, the oldest and the most successful in Croatia. Algebra University College has 20-years’ experience managing EU-funded projects.
Sabanci University (Turkey) is internationally recognized as one of the most innovative and research-oriented universities in Turkey. As of 2021 Sabanci University has been running, 11 undergraduate, 50 masters and 15 PhD programs. Within the scope of these programs, Sabanci University offers a highly interdisciplinary education to approximately 4,190 undergraduate and 1,166 graduate students. In 2016 and 2017, Sabanci University ranked 1st on Turkey’s Innovative and Entrepreneurship University Index prepared in the leadership of TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). In 2021, Sabanci University has been ranked among the top 600 universities in the world and 1st in Turkey according to The World University Rankings.
MentorTec (Portugal) is a business accelerator focused on promoting sustainable growth and business opportunities for start-ups and enterprises and a certified training provider specialized in the design, implementation and monitoring of training and learning opportunities addressed to organizations and professionals, acting in the fields of education and training, entrepreneurship and business support. As a business accelerator, MentorTec activity focuses on the promotion and sustainable growth of start-ups and enterprises, as well as on the establishment of business cooperation relationships between entrepreneurs and new start-ups and companies from different countries.
LINK group (Serbia) is the founder of two higher education institutions: Information Technology School and the Faculty of Contemporary Art. Information Technology School is the first accredited private higher education institution in the sphere of information technology in Serbia. In addition to offering quality in the sense of excellent conditions for studying, state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained personnel, they prepare 2,000 students to become information technology professionals. The Faculty of Contemporary Arts is a faculty of performing and applied arts, with accredited study programs designed with the focus on training related to the professions of an artist and art manager. It delivers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies in contemporary arts.
Griffith College (Ireland) – Griffith College’s core business is the education and development of graduates for employment. The college is the largest independent higher education institution in Ireland with an annual student population of over 7,000. It provides a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and masters’ programmes across a variety of disciplines including accountancy, business, computing, design, engineering, law, media, music and pharmaceutical science. The college works closely with industry representative bodies in the design and delivery of its programmes. In relation to entrepreneurship and innovation, the college works with Ireland’s Entrepreneurs’ Academy, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association and local and national chambers of commerce.
Infobip (Croatia) is the largest Croatian IT company in terms of number of employees. Infobip is a global information technology and telecommunications company that provides cloud mobile communications services for business users and is a global leader in omnichannel communication. Infobip today employs more than 3,500 people in more than 60 offices around the world (including some of our project partner countries – Croatia, Italy, and Turkey). It is estimated that more than four billion people worldwide use Infobip services. In May 2021, Infobip launched the Infobip Startup Tribe – a start-up perk program which will create a start-up community that will have a major positive impact on people and society in general. In order to secure the best possible support, Infobip Startup Tribe has over 50 partners in the start-up community, along with venture capital funds, business incubators, and business accelerators. Infobip is Croatia’s first (bootstrapped) unicorn.
University of Naples (Italy) is the oldest educational institution, founded in the 13th century. Departments joining the project are the Department of Economics, Management and Institutions (DEMI), and the Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences (DNROS). DEMI offers different education services build around managerial disciplines. Its educational offerings include master’s degrees in economics, management, innovation, mathematics for economics, statistics, and law. Over the years, it has enacted several projects (e.g., EIT Health projects’ eLab Sorbonne, Silver Starters, SLIM, SmartUp Lab; Tech Hub Accelerator; Italian Scouts in Silicon Valley; Social Innovation clusters “RE-ENTER”; RIS regions – KTI assessment; and Conversion of Off-Shore Platforms for multiple and eco-sustainable uses).
The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) is a classical university comprised of 6 faculties. Now NaUKMA has more as 3500 students, and the Faculty of Economics has about 800 students.
The Marketing and Business Management Department is one of the most dynamic departments at the Faculty of Economics. The Department teaches the following innovation management and entrepreneurship courses for bachelor’s and master’s programs: the innovation courses: creative thinking and creative management; the foundation of entrepreneurship; the marketing innovations; management of start-ups.
Through its Centre for Analytics and Business Modelling of Sustainable Development the Department support entrepreneurial and innovation activities of students and staff. One of the projects – The Mohyla Open Hackathon – supports the creative and entrepreneurial efforts of students and youth, creates conditions for the development of their intellectual potential in SDG-area.
