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As Krisztina Dajnoki, Deputy Dean of the DE Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, President of the DEViK Business Innovation Club, pointed out in her welcome speech, “The club was launched ten years ago, with the aim of facilitating the realisation of students’ innovative entrepreneurial ideas, supporting Debrecen students in becoming entrepreneurs, informing them about current trends, the competencies needed to succeed, and bringing together representatives of the university and the business community”.
“We organise club events where students and other interested parties can learn about innovation methodology and models. At the first session of each semester, we invite a speaker who can give a general overview of a given topic. And in the continuation we put a lot of emphasis on the fact that our guests, who graduated from the University of Debrecen, present their entrepreneurial career, leadership challenges and innovative solutions, inspiring the audience,” Krisztina Dajnoki said.
The DEViK President stressed that in today’s changing world, organisations that innovate, develop and innovate are the ones that can remain competitive. A very good example is the University of Debrecen, which is constantly looking at trends, how to innovate, how to become sustainable and how to get involved in new and exciting projects.
Zoltán Szilvássy stated at the beginning of his presentation that he was not present at the event primarily in his capacity as rector, but as Director of the Regional Representation of the Hungarian Innovation Association in Northern Hungary, and his presentation will be about competitiveness and innovation systems.
“The four helixes are the skeleton of an innovation system, where in this case the university, the city, the companies and the financial institutions form a homogeneous unit and define themselves as part of this industrial development system,” Zoltán Szilvássy explained.
The Director pointed out that a lot of work has gone into making Debrecen one of the best in the country, with the University of Debrecen ahead of other cities and other renowned higher education institutions.
“In order to build up a living relationship with some 300 large companies such as BMW, CATL, EVE, Bosch, Vitesco, E.ON, Krones or Rosatom, it was necessary to establish cooperation between the parties, research coordination took place in the background, joint projects were formed, and thanks to this, the cooperation system was able to develop,” the Rector added.
Zoltán Szilvássy also spoke about the importance of preconditioning disasters, giving examples of how companies have been able to overcome difficulties and crisis situations because they have recognised their potential and used their own flexibility to adapt to a changed situation. It also gave an insight into how this adaptability has become a powerful competitive advantage.
“The most important asset at the moment, which is a very important element of competitiveness for the university and for regional companies, is that they are structured, they communicate with each other, they are clustered, they are alliances. This is the greatest guarantee for surviving difficult situations in the future. This is the perception level of crisis management,” the Director of the North Great Plain Regional Representation of the Hungarian Innovation Association said, adding that the key to continuous development and smooth operation is clearly human resources, adequate expertise and the provision of replacements.
Source and photo credit: dehir.hu
