The conference was attended by representatives of various instituions (White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, U.S. State Department, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Office of Naval Research, U.S. National Academies, U.S. National Cancer Institute, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, Ambassador of the United States, Office of the Prime Minister, Academy of Science of the CR, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Defense, CzechInvest), universities (Cambridge University, The University of Akron, Johns Hopkins University, Czech Technical University, Technical University of Ostrava, Brno University of Technology, Mendel University Brno, University of Pardubice, University of West Bohemia Plzeň, Institute of Chemical Technology Prague) and companies (IBM, 3M Czech Republic, OmniCompete, Meopta-optika) from the CR and the United States.

According to Mr. Petr Nečas, Prime Minister of the CR, the Czech Republic has something to offer in the areas of science, research and development. Therefore it is worth discussing, exchanging experience and collaborating with the world's innovation elite, such as the United States. However, there are still issues to be learnt and the American-Czech Innovation Conference was an ideal opportunity for that. The innovation conference was the icing on the cake in the effort to show the world the kind of ideas that originate in the Czech Republic. At the same time, it is an outstanding opportunity for our universities and companies to establish contacts and collaboration with their American counterparts. It was expected that these connections would help to elevate the scientific cooperation that has been existing between the two countries. That would lead to new technology ideas, cutting-edge commercial applications as well as job creation in both countries.

Support for international cooperation in science, research and innovation is a priority for Czech diplomacy. The outlines of the Czech-American Innovation Conference originated with the active participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a full range of other departments and institutions have gradually joined in. Diplomacy has thus fulfilled its traditional and most efective role: to be a facilitator of international cooperation. Czech-American cooperation in research and development has achieved noteworthy successes. The event has become a part of the already traditional Czech Technology Days organized by CzechInvest in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A unique feature of the conference was the large number of officials coming from the USA, many of whom have operational responsibility for cooperative research and significant resources available for such cooperation.

More information on the conference is available HERE