PRESS RELEASE: A unique CESMOD research centre is being established under the leadership of UJEP

A huge success of the University of Ústí nad Labem and its partners in a strong national competition is the acquisition of the newly launched more than five-year CESMOD project, which comprehensively addresses the issue of SMART concept development. Its main investigator is Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem with the involvement of other universities and expert organisations.

"The project is unique, among other things, because within one centre, topics that have been dealt with in the past by various institutions in dozens of isolated projects will be jointly addressed," says Dr. Hana Brůhová Foltýnová from FSE UJEP, the principal investigator of the project.

CESMOD, a unique research centre in the Czech Republic, has been jointly formed by ten institutions with the financial support of the Programme for Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA, 5th public competition - sub-objective 5: Cross-cutting support in the measures Long-term research plans and Addressing current R&D&I needs. This interdisciplinary centre brings together experts from organisations in the field of Smart Cities, Smart Villages and Smart Regions, universities and innovation centres, and has state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure of parent institutions.

"The project aims to build long-term professional capacity for socio-economic research in the development of a resilient, SMART and sustainable society. This should strengthen the expertise and knowledge of the public administration and create a research base for better implementation of government policies and strategies that are useful for the development of innovative solutions in the territory. The end users of our results will therefore be, for example, the Ministry of Regional Development and other ministries dealing with smart city issues, state administration authorities, as well as regional and local governments," points out the principal investigator.

The importance of this project is emphasized by the Vice-Rector for Science and Research of UJEP doc. Jan Slavík, PhD.: "Our ambitions are high. By pushing for a comprehensive and interdisciplinary nature of research, active cooperation with application sponsors and the Ministry for Local Development of the Czech Republic, we want to cultivate an institutional environment in the Czech Republic that will enable more effective enforcement of public policies and lead to an increase in the well-being of both the population and other subjects of the national economy."

Co-investigators
Together with UJEP, the exclusive CESMOD research team consists of: the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings of the Czech Technical University in Prague, the University of Economics in Prague, the University of Mining and Metallurgy - Technical University of Ostrava, Masaryk University, the South Moravian Agency for Public Innovations JINAG, the National Network of Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic, the Innovation Centre of the Ústí Region, STEM/MARK, a. s., and Obce v datach, s. r. o.

Innovative solutions for the Czech Republic
The aim of the project is to support the qualitative development of the society in order to make better and more effective use of innovative solutions, i.e. to increase awareness, acceptance, coordination and effectiveness of their implementation among all target groups (state and local government, universities, companies and civil society). The SMART concept will be defined in the specific conditions of the Czech Republic, the main challenges for its further development will be examined, adjustments to legislation and strategies will be proposed, and methodological support will be provided for planning and effective implementation of SMART solutions especially for cities, rural municipalities and associations of municipalities.

"At the same time, the project will significantly highlight the need for education and awareness raising on SMART issues among the interested public. The involvement of universities allows us to effectively focus on the education of students and employees of universities," reminds Hana Brůhová Foltýnová.

Transfer of SMART knowledge and technologies
The transfer of SMART knowledge and technologies to different life situations of the target groups will be based on the support of networking, exchange of experience, sharing of good practice, and support of specific subjects in planning and implementation of SMART measures, or directly living labs.

At the same time, special software will be developed, using up-to-date information (in real time) to serve as a support tool for evidence-based policy application and quality evaluation.

"Practical implementation and implementation of innovations will take place at all levels, national, regional and local, to support the development of all types of municipalities and regions as well as digital and green transition," concludes Brůhová Foltýnová.

Contacts to the CESMOD project coordination team
- Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem
Ing. Mgr. Hana Brůhová Foltýnová, PhD., e-mail: hana.bruhova@ujep.cz
- University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings, CTU in Prague
Ing. Mgr. Michal Kuzmič, e-mail: michal.kuzmic@cvut.cz
- University of Economics in Prague
Lucie Nencková, Ph.D., MBA, e-mail: lucie.nenckova@vse.cz
- University of Mining and Metallurgy - Technical University of Ostrava
prof. Ing. Dagmar Juchelková, Ph.D., e-mail: dagmar.juchelkova@vsb.cz
- Masaryk University
Ing. Leonard Walletzký, PhD., e-mail: wallet@mail.muni.cz
- South Moravian Agency for Public Innovation JINAG
Ing. Patrik Reichl, MBA, e-mail: patrik.reichl@jinag.cz
- National Network of Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic
Ing. Petr Švec, e-mail: svec@zdravamesta.cz
- Innovation Centre of the Ústí Region, z. s.
Ing. Lukáš Eršil, e-mail: ersil@icuk.cz
- STEM/MARK, a. s.
Mgr. Ondřej Vácha, e-mail: vacha@stemmark.cz
- Municipalities in Data, s. r. o.
Ing. Jan Havránek, Ph.D., MBA, MPA, e-mail: jhavranek@obcevdatech.cz

Media contact: Mgr. Jana Kasaničová, Spokesperson, UJEP

Illustrative photos for free use: archive of UJEP

The project "CENTRE OF RESEARCH FOR A RESILIENT, SMART, INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY" (CESMOD, no. TQ12000017) is supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic within the 5th public competition of the Programme for Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA.

Press release taken from: https://www.ujep.cz/cs/50216/pod-vedenim-ujep-vznika-unikatni-vyzkumne-centrum-cesmod