On September 30, the first meeting of stakeholders in Croatia was held under the RegionArts project. The meeting was held as an event "Networking Breakfast at KKC Pixel". Besides stakeholders (important for the implementation of the project), the meeting attracted a large number of participants who exchanged experiences and created new contacts in the informal atmosphere.
Mateja Horvat, from Koprivnički poduzetnik, held a presentation to the auditory to introduce them RegionArts. In the presentation, participants of this event were introduced with objectives of the project (gathering artists, young creators and associations from Koprivnica and ICT companies, sharing experiences, presenting good practices of such co-operation from foreign partners in order to influence on this kind of collaborations in Croatia).
"EU has recognized that ICT companies become more competitive if their projects are involved in the creative sector, so we will organize workshops to encourage this type of cooperation, and we will endeavor to support the existing programs to enable our entrepreneurs for getting additional funding." - Mateja Horvat.
Director of Koprivnički poduzetnik Martina Golčić highlighted mapping as an important part of this project, so the participants of this meeting got questions on which they responded. Questions were related to the ideas and the cooperation between the IT and the creative sector. Mr. Neno Rakić, (Head of Department, HAMAG BICRO, Grant Supporting Sector - Research, Development and Innovation) held presentation about information on the possibilities of financing projects related to ICT and the creative sector, announced call for proposals in future and gave participants information about program “Creative Europe”. Ksenija Ostriž, Deputy Mayor of the Town of Koprivnica, held a presentation on "Did the City of Koprivnica Recognize the Importance of Creative Industries?" And discussed the creative industries in Croatia and the situation in Koprivnica.
This was the first meeting on this topic, where key stakeholders met and where project RegionArts was presented. Enjoying breakfast and coffee participants exchanged experiences and talked about future opportunities for the creative industry and the ICT sector. Connecting the IT and creative sector seeks to achieve the competitiveness of both sectors by creating of innovative products and services. It also strives to present good results (on example of Koprivnica and foreign partners) to the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and decision-makers to finance similar projects in future through EU and Structural funds.
