On 18 May 2022, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) announced the 4th public call of the Programme for Support of Applied Research, Experimental Development and Innovation DELTA 2. The goal of the programme is to support international cooperation in the field of applied research in cooperation between Czech companies and research organizations with partners from various countries, including Canada.

Project proposals can be submitted until 13 July 2022. The announcement of the results of the call is planned for November 30th 2022.

The programme, as such, is not thematically focused. The selection of topics is determined for each foreign partner agency separately and reflects the priority areas of applied research of the participating countries.

Within Canada, this year there is a participating agency Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Québec (CRIAQ), an agency from the province of Québec with a focus on aerospace. The Program’s objective in partnership with CRIAQ is to increase the number of specific results in new space technologies, autonomous air vehicles and advanced sustainable manufacturing where there is conformity with a foreign partner.

The interest in aerospace cooperation between the Czech Republic and Canada continues to grow. This is exemplified by the record number of Czech companies and institutions that participated in the RDV FORUM in February 2021, Canada's leading event in aerospace research cooperation, organized by the CRIAQ consortium. In April 2022, a mission of Czech aerospace companies to Montréal took place, and they met with CRIAQ representatives in person and presented their technologies and specific projects that could appeal to Canadian partners. In September 2022, the PROPED economic diplomacy project is planning Czech participation in the International Aerospace Innovation FORUM 2022 event, which is a great opportunity to meet key aerospace industry representatives from the private and academic sectors.

Applicants from the Czech Republic may be both research organisations and enterprises of unlimited size. However, only enterprises may act as the main applicant on the Czech side. Each project must also involve at least one foreign partner from selected locations.

More information on the call for tenders and the DELTA 2 programme can be found on the TA CR website.

Jan Kubačka, Economic Diplomat
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa