Up-to-date information, patents, ideas, thoughts, experience and projects from the world of nanofibers can be found at one place - the Nanofibers Gateway portal located at www.nafigate.com. The aim of the project created by experts from the most prestigious international universities and companies is to create a platform which will support the innovation process and the launch of new products utilizing nanofibers onto the market.
The portal was developed by the Czech company Nafigate and the CzechInvest agency acting as partner. The portal was launched in November 2011 with the presence of Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kuba, the Chairman of the Nafigate Board of Directors Ladislav Mareš and the Director General of CzechInvest – the investment and business development agency of the Czech Republic – Miroslav Křížek.
"The Czech Republic is a global leader in the use of nanofibers. I am delighted that a project promoting the commercial application of nanofibers, and one with truly global ambitions, has come into being precisely here. Today the use of nanofibers is growing exponentially throughout the world and a further strengthening of the position of Czech companies on this particular market must surely improve our competitiveness," said Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kuba.
According to CzechInvest, the portal is another step demonstrating the global standing of the Czech Republic in the nanofiber sector. Nanotechnologies are included in the priority sectors of the CzechInvest agency. The number of small and medium-sized enterprises and other entities involved in nanotechnologies in the Czech Republic has been growing for a long time. At this moment there are more than 140. The goal of CzechInvest is to support their development by facilitating subsidies from European funds or by acquiring contacts abroad.
Nanotechnologies primarily engage four distinct worlds: the academic world, students and science talents, entrepreneurs and financial investors. For these worlds the internet logically becomes the most suitable environment of interaction. It is therefore natural that we chosen the most modern communication tool – the Nafigate web portal – to facilitate the development, application and innovation of such modern technology.
The Nafigate portal has been warmly welcomed by a number of foreign institutions involved in nanotechnology and whose experts are members of the portal`s council. "I am confident that much may be gained by removing obstacles to the commercialization of technologies based on the use of nanofibers," said Professor Akihiko Tanioka from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who acts as the coordinator of the Japanese nanofiber platform. "The idea behind the Nafigate portal is unique, especially in its focus on interlinking the business sphere with the research and development of nanofibers. We have been waiting for such an initiative for a long time, and I will be delighted to support these efforts," added Professor Seeram Ramakrishna from the National University of Singapore and the Chairman of the Singapore Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative.
Support to nanotechnology
Nanotechnology presents a massive potential for innovation and contribution to the Czech economy. Support provided towards the application of nanoscience and nanotechnology inventions will speed up the creation of new products and new markets accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises. CzechInvest is ready to promote nanotechnologies within the framework of its New CzechInvest strategy in the form of support for regional innovation centres (similar to its support for the South-Moravian innovation centre and CEITEC), and further through the implementation of bilateral programs for international cooperation between businesses and other institutions, and support for the commercialization of R&D results and investment into innovation, for instance through the use of seed funds.
