Experts from the field of Smart Cities, Smart Villages and Smart Regions (abbreviated as the SMART concept), universities and innovation centers, through the Technological Agency of the Czech Republic (TA ČR), the Program for the Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA, joined together in the Research Center for Resilient, smart, innovative and sustainable society (CESMOD). The interdisciplinary center will strengthen the professional competence and knowledge of public administration and create a research background for better implementation of the national Smart City Concept from 2021 and other policies and strategies.

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

"The project is unique, among other things, in that, within one center, topics that were dealt with in the past by various institutions in the framework of dozens of isolated projects will be jointly addressed", highlights the complexity of CESMOD, the main researcher of the project, dr. Hana Brůhová Foltýnová from FSE UJEP.

In the Czech Republic, the unique CESMOD research center was jointly created by ten institutions with the financial assistance of the Program for the Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA, 5th public competition - sub-goal 5: Cross-cutting support in measures Long-term research plans and Solutions to current R&D needs. This interdisciplinary center brings together experts from organizations in the field of Smart Cities, Smart Villages and Smart Regions, universities and innovation centers, and has top-notch equipment and infrastructure of parent institutions. 

"The project is aimed at building long-term professional capacity for socio-economic research in the field of resilient development, SMART and sustainable society. This should strengthen the professional competence and knowledge of public administration and create a research background for better implementation of state policies and strategies, which are useful for the development of innovative solutions in the territory. The final users of our results will be, for example, the Ministry of Regional Development and other ministries dealing with smart city issues, state administration bodies, but also regional and local governments," points out the main 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 putting pressure on the complex and interdisciplinary nature of research, active cooperation with application guarantors and the Ministry of Regional 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 residents and other subjects of the national economy.” 

Co-investigators 

The exclusive CESMOD research team consists of, together with UJEP, the University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings of the Czech Technical University in Prague, the University of Economics in Prague, the University of Mining and Technology - Ostrava University of Technology, Masaryk University, the South Moravian Agency for Public Innovations JINAG, association, the National Network of Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic , Innovation Center of the Ústí Region, zs. STEM/MARK, as, and Obce v datach, sro

Innovative solution for the Czech Republic 

The aim of the project is to support the qualitative development of the company so that it can better and more effectively use innovative solutions, i.e. to increase awareness, acceptance, coordination and effectiveness of their implementation among all target groups (state administration and self-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, amendments to legislation and strategies will be proposed, and methodological support will be provided for the planning and effective implementation of SMART solutions, especially for cities, rural municipalities and associations of municipalities. 

"At the same time, the project will draw attention in a significant way to the necessity of education and raising awareness of the SMART issue among the interested public. The involvement of universities allows us to effectively devote ourselves to 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 various life situations of target groups will be based on the support of networking, exchange of experiences, sharing of good practice, and support of specific entities in the planning and implementation of SMART measures, or living labs directly. 

At the same time, special software will be developed which, using current information (in real time), will serve as a supporting tool for the application of evidence-based policy and quality evaluation. 

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

Contacts to the coordination team of the CESMOD project 

Media contact: M.Sc. Jana Kasaničová, press spokesperson, UJEP

Project "RESEARCH CENTER FOR A RESILIENT, SMART, INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY" (CESMOD" No. TQ12000017) is supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic as part of the 5th public competition of the SIGMA Program for the Support of Applied Research and Innovation.