"OK TOWN tries its hand at the Science and Business Startup Bootcamp

On October 30-31, 2021, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv hosted an intensive offline event - Science & Business StartupBootcamp for scientists, startups and entrepreneurs in the field of knowledge-intensive innovations and technologies. The event was co-organized by the following institutions:

• Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine;
• Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
• Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine;
• Ukrainian Startup Fund.

The event was held with the partnership support of the Ukrainian commercial sector. The interests of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv were represented by Rector Volodymyr Buhrov, Vice-Rector for Research Hanna Tolstanova, Head of the Patent and Licensing Department Taras Kompanets, Director of the Business School of the University Volodymyr Zubchenko, and representatives of the University's Communications Center.

The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Ministers of Education and Science Oleksiy Shkuratov and Artur Seletsky, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Vitaliy Lavrov, Director of the Ukrainian Startup Fund Pavlo Kartashov, Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Volodymyr Bugrov, DTEK Chief Innovation Officer Emanuel Volpe, Deputy Director of the European Business Association Yaroslava Savasteeva, as well as students, startups, scientists, educators, business representatives, experts, investors and the media.

Representatives of the event's co-organizing institutions and partner companies delivered motivational speeches. Oleksiy Shkuratov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science for European Integration, urged the participants to make the best use of all the opportunities offered by the boot camp: from active participation in discussions and trainings to presenting their ideas to experienced experts. Deputy Minister of Education and Science for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization Artur Seletsky said in his speech that the two-day event is designed to "unite science and business to achieve synergy between those who are able to provide quality results of such interaction." Pavlo Kartashov, Director of the Ukrainian Startup Fund, assured the participants that the institution he heads is ready to cooperate in innovation with all stakeholders and individuals. Emanuele Volpe, DTEK's Chief Innovation Officer, urged the participants not to be afraid of obstacles and create socially useful innovations. Yaroslava Savasteeva, Deputy Director of Operations at the European Business Association, encouraged to look for innovative solutions that would meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Executive Director of the 1991 Open Data Incubator Yevheniia Klepa convinced the participants of the training camp that it is important to constantly test their ideas and build a strong team of like-minded people from the very beginning. Vitaliy Lavrov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports for Digitalization and Digital Transformation, assured the participants that the Ministry is ready to support and encourage innovations in the field of sports and healthy lifestyles in every possible way. Oleksandra Antoniuk, Deputy Director of the Kyiv Academic University for Development and Innovation, urged the participants to constantly push the boundaries of what is known and learn how to reduce the potential risks of innovation.

After the official opening of the Science & Business Startup Bootcamp, the registered participants had the opportunity to discuss with experienced experts the legal issues of conducting innovative commercial activities; analyze the best practices of registering intellectual property rights; deepen their knowledge of investment, marketing and financial aspects of business; learn about current opportunities and tools for state support for young people in innovative scientific or commercial activities.

Over the course of two days, more than 100 participants of the event were able to discuss issues related to combining scientific and innovative potential to find innovative solutions, increase their awareness of business, marketing, sales, investment and innovation, attend real-time workshops from leading experts with extensive experience in innovation and investment, discuss their ideas with event partners, including SoftServe, Innovation DTEK, KNU Business School, etc, take part in Q&A sessions where teams asked questions relevant to them, etc.

At the final stage of the Science & Business StartupBootcamp, everyone had the opportunity to present their ideas and developments to industry experts for further professional comments, advice and feedback, where OKTOWN made a presentation.