Zlín University wants to build a science and technology park

Zlín - Tomas Bata University in Zlín aims to attract companies focused on information technology to the city. Within two years, it plans to build a science and technology park primarily focused on software development and security issues. The project will cost more than 300 million Czech crowns, and the university intends to obtain funding from the European Union. Jan Malý from the university's rectorate informed ČTK about this.
    Zlín University educates specialists in the field of computing; however, according to the bursar Alexander Černý, there are few opportunities for such specialists in Zlín. This unfavorable situation is to be addressed by the science and technology park. The university's management intends to offer new spaces to IT companies, which will then benefit from collaboration with experts and doctoral students from the Faculty of Applied Informatics.
    The building is set to rise in the Jižní Svahy housing estate in close proximity to the Faculty of Applied Informatics. If everything goes according to plan, construction will begin next year, and the grand opening will likely take place a year later.
    This year, the university opened a science and technology park focused on businesses involved in the development and innovation of plastics as well as food technology. The total reconstruction of the building, which Tomáš Baťa once built as a dormitory for his students, cost 225 million crowns, with the university receiving a grant of 142 million from European funds. The building received an award in the national competition Entrepreneurial Project of the Year 2007 in the category of Science and Technology Park.