US-Slovak fund to support smart city innovations in Slovakia

An American-Slovak Innovation Fund will be created in Slovakia to support innovative solutions for smart cities, TASR has learnt from the Office of Vice-premier for Investments and Informatisation Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD). The fund is slated to start operating as of 2017 with an initial budget of $2 million (€1.9 million). It's the result of a joint initiative of Pellegrini and Slovakia's Embassy in the United States. "Innovations that will see the light of day with the financial support of this fund are to be tested in selected Slovak cities in the form of pilot projects," said the office. As already stated, the initial allocation for the fund will be $2 million, with the Slovak Government providing one half of this sum and US business the other half. The Slovak and US Governments will sign a Memorandum on Cooperation to govern fund-related issues. "The grant recipients will be Slovak firms working on smart city solutions that are capable of securing the cooperation of American companies," stated the office.