Dr. Haris Zacharatos, Member of the Board of CARIE – Cyprus Association of Research and Innovation Enterprises, Guest of June Smart Talk.

The Smart Talk, organized by the Italian Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, on 28th June 2023, had as its guest speaker Mr. Haris Zacharatos, Board Member of Cyprus Association Research and Innovation Enterprises (CARIE).

The topic of the Smart Talk, “IT, Security and Defence. Industrial Research and Innovation in Cyprus”, is of extreme interest considering the importance of the sector , also in terms of enhancing the cooperation between Cypriot and Italian Operators.

After the usual opening with institutional greetings and thanks it was the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Giuseppe Marino who led the discussion that started with a general overview of Cyprus’s framework regarding research and innovation and some specific information about the eco-system continuing with the presentation of the Cyprus Association of Research and Innovation Enterprises tha established in 2010 to promote the interests of Cypriot R&D technology companies (SMEs) now counts forty five innovative technology companies with more than 500 highly-skilled researchers and engineers that represent more than 500M€ in terms of contributions for the Cyprus Economy.

One of the area of major involvement is Defence Sector and in this regard within CARIE has been established in 2019 a specific interest group related to the Defence Industry Cluster where Cypriot companies are particular active also in terms of participation to European Calls like EDIDP and EDF.

It is essential to join the European calls to be part of consortia with other EU operators but first of all to have an extensive international network of collaborations and in this regard Mr. Zacharatos explained that CARIE is really active in terms of participation but also organization co-organization of the sectorial events.

Of particular interest was also a detailed description of the areas of presence of the member companies and particularly: electronic & sensors robotics & autonomous systems, space & communications, materials & biotechnology, artificial intelligence and big data, sustainable energy.

The Smart Talk was also the occasion to discuss about collaborations already in place and upcoming activities and initiatives to further improve and extend the international cooperation.

In this regard Mr. Zacharatos showed the existing numbers related to the cooperation with Italy currently amounting to 149.8 Milion Euro in terms of Research and Innovations Projects between CARIE Members and Italian companies a number that CARIE also through the collaboration with the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce planned to increase starting with the coming months.

For further insights on this article and other information on the activities of the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, please write to: segreteria@camcomitacipro.it