The first facilitation session of stakeholders of the hardware industry of Ukraine

On October 26, the first facilitation session of stakeholders of the hardware industry of Ukraine took place in Kyiv, held within the framework of the USAID program «Competitive Economy of Ukraine» in partnership with YEP.

During the session, in particular, the following topics were discussed:

• Talent: challenges and solutions for training personnel that can ensure the growth of the industry
• creating products: prerequisites and barriers to creating technologically successful products
• companies: problems and opportunities of scaling, internationalization and development
• public policy and industry: necessary support from the state and removal of obstacles

More than 30 representatives from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, polytechnic universities and non-formal education providers, the maker movement, regional clusters and national associations, companies and startups, venture capital funds and experts in the technology industry took an active part in the event, testifying to their openness to cooperation and coordination in the development of strategies for solving problems and discovering potential ways of growth of the hardware industry. Pavlo Sheremeta was the moderator of the event.

Valerii Dobrovolskyi, head of the team for the development of IT, engineering and creative industries, expressed interest in the active development of engineering companies and hardware production in Ukraine. He noted that further regular meetings aimed at the development of specific initiatives in cooperation with companies, regions and the state are planned.

During this event, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University and YEP.

YEP is an ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship. Incubation and acceleration program, mentoring and grants for early-stage startups. Since 2016, they have pumped 500+ startups, develop entrepreneurship education in 95 universities across the country, teaching 3000+ students each semester.

In 2023, our university launched a practical course «Technological leadership in hardware startups» for future founders of hardware products. The program includes basic topics for each service station: artificial intelligence, machine learning, manufacturing technologies, prototyping and 3D printing. The goal of the course is to inspire Ukrainian students to become founders of hardware startups, to give them the necessary skills and tools to create the next Petcube.

“This event is a powerful step towards the development of interaction between the academic educational environment, business and the state in the context of the development of our hardware industry. The first stakeholder facilitation session, organized in partnership with the USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine Program and YEP, opened a dialogue on critical aspects of our sector. Education sector.

Talent is the main component of any successful production, and the discussion of problems and solutions in the field of personnel training was an integral part of our discussion. We have identified the key aspects that will allow us to ensure the growth of the industry through the appropriate training of talented specialists.

The creation of technologically successful product startups in collaboration between universities with industry, business and the state is an urgent joint task. At the session, we considered the prerequisites and obstacles that may affect this process. Understanding and solving these issues will determine our competitiveness on the world market.

Problems and possibilities of scaling companies, their internationalization and development were also discussed. This became a key aspect of our conversation, as large and innovative companies have the potential to become important players in the global market. No less important was the discussion of state policy and its interaction with industry. At the session, specific areas where support from the state and removal of obstacles are needed to ensure the stable development of the hardware industry in Ukraine were identified. This session opened the door for further discussions and cooperation, which will help us jointly build the future of a successful and competitive hardware industry in Ukraine« – representative of the National University »Zaporizka Polytechnic«, head of the department »Electric drive and automation of industrial production”, candidate of technical sciences, associate professor Andriy Pyrozhok shared his thoughts and impressions.

The first facilitation session for Ukrainian hardware industry stakeholders

On October 26, Kyiv hosted the first facilitation session for Ukrainian hardware industry stakeholders, held under the USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine program in partnership with YEP.

The following topics were discussed during the session:

• talents: challenges and solutions for training personnel to ensure industry growth
• product development: prerequisites and obstacles to creating successful technological products
• companies: challenges and opportunities for scaling, internationalization and development
• government policy and industry: necessary support from the state and removal of obstacles

More than 30 representatives from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, polytechnic universities and non-formal education providers, the maker movement, regional clusters and national associations, companies and startups, venture capital funds and technology industry experts actively participated in the event, demonstrating their openness to cooperation and coordination in developing strategies to solve problems and discover potential ways to grow the hardware industry. The event was moderated by Pavlo Sheremeta.

Valeriy Dobrovolsky, Head of the IT, Engineering and Creative Industries Development Team, expressed interest in the active development of engineering companies and hardware production in Ukraine. He mentioned planning further regular meetings to develop specific initiatives in cooperation with companies, regions and the state.

During this event, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University and YEP.

YEP is an ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship including the incubation and acceleration program, mentoring and grants for early-stage startups. Since 2016, they have nurtured 500+ startups and are developing entrepreneurial education in 95 universities across the country, teaching 3000+ students each semester.

In 2023, our university launched a practical course Technological Leadership in Hardware Startups for future founders of hardware products. The program includes basic topics for each STO: artificial intelligence, machine learning, production technologies, prototyping, and 3D printing. The aim of the course is to inspire Ukrainian students to become founders of hardware startups, giving them the necessary skills and tools to create the next Petcube.

‘This event is a powerful step towards the development of interaction between the academic educational environment, business and the state in the context of the development of our hardware industry. The first stakeholder facilitation session, organised in partnership with the USAID Competitive Economy Programme and YEP, opened a dialogue on critical aspects of our sector – education sector.

Talent is a key component of any successful production. discussing the challenges and solutions in the field of training was an integral part of our discussion. We identified the key aspects to ensure the growth of the industry through the appropriate training of talented professionals.

The creation of technologically successful product start-ups in collaboration between universities, industry, business and government is an urgent common task. At the session, we looked at the prerequisites and obstacles that can affect this process. Understanding and addressing these issues will determine our competitiveness in the global market.

We also discussed the challenges and opportunities for scaling up companies, as well as their internationalization and development. This was a key aspect of our conversation, as large and innovative companies have the potential to become important players in the global market. Equally important was the discussion of government policy and its interaction with the industry. The session identified specific areas where state support and removal of obstacles are needed to ensure the stable development of the hardware industry in Ukraine. This session has opened the door for further discussions and cooperation that will help us build the future of a successful and competitive hardware industry in Ukraine together,’ Andrii Pyrozhok, representative of the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, Head of the Department of Electric Drive and Automation of Industrial Production, PhD, Associate Professor shared his thoughts and impressions.