Nicosia 20th July 2016

On 20th July, the Presidents of the Cyprus Institute and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding today, which will provide them with a launchpad for new cooperation efforts. The President of the Cyprus Institute, Prof. Costas N. Papanicolas noted: “This is an ideal opportunity to formalise the already well-established cooperation between our two organisations, and will enable us to focus on bridging the divide between research, innovation and commercialisation”.

The signature took place in the presence of Ms. Androulla Vasiliou, former EC Commissioner and member of the Cyprus Institute’s Board of Trustees, as well as Mr. Petros Kareklas, Mayor of Kythrea and honorary trustee of the Cyprus Institute.

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI, see http://www.ccci.org.cy) is the leading business representative organisation in Cyprus with a membership that exceeds 8,000 enterprises. It represents more than 95% of the business community of the country, while more than 150 Professional Associations are also affiliated to the Chamber. The Cyprus Institute (CyI, see http://www.cyi.ac.cy) is a non-profit research and educational institution with a scientific and technological orientation, aiming at issue-oriented cross-disciplinary research and education, and emphasizing international collaborations.

Although both organisations have already cooperated on a range of activities and projects (most recently the STS-MED project, which led to the creation of a pilot Linear Fresnel solar energy system for solar cooling), both organisations want to create a framework for cooperation to enable more rapid technology transfer from the research community to the private sector, and thus stimulate innovation and contribute to the development of a knowledge economy in Cyprus.

In concluding, Mr. Pillides stressed that “combining the business with academia can bring significant results in various sectors of the economy”.