Category: News

 

European Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States of the European Union, organises the largest hackathon ever held #EUvsVirus to develop innovative solutions to coronavirus-related challenges. Hackathon will be held from Friday, April 24 to Sunday, April 26, 2020.  Those interested can register via the link https://euvsvirus.org/ . Rijeka Development Agency Porin is an official partner of this initiative.

The General Purpose of Hackathon align and connect innovators, partners and customers across Europe and bring them together to solve immediate crisis problems (e.g. rapid production of equipment, increase of production capabilities, transfer of knowledge and solutions from one country to another) in various technological fields. During the 48 hours of the hackathon, the competitors will jointly develop innovative solutions for high-tech, hardware and software solutions using biotechnology, digital technology, social sciences and other domains in the field of innovation. This is followed by an online pitch and selection of the best projects.

The development of prototypes and solutions is envisaged in 6 areas (divided into 37 challenges):
Health and life, Business continuity, Social and political cohesion, Work and distance education, Digital finance and more.

All 37 challenges can be found at the link  https://euvsvirus.org/challenges/.  For each of the 37 challenges, two finalists will be selected and ultimately, one winner for each challenge. The winning projects will be published on the European Innovation Council (EIC Community Platform) and thus become accessible to end-users (e.g. hospitals, schools, ministries), investors, foundations and will focus on the current funding options of the European Commission. This will be the starting point for longer cooperation between the European Commission and the ecosystem of innovators, producers and drivers across Europe on the corona crisis. We invite you to on Thursday at 11 a.m. follow the live EUvsVirus Award Ceremony Winners selected from 2,160 great projects will be announced.

Director of the Rijeka Development Agency Porin, Dario Zorić has been elected by the European Commission as the official ambassador EUvsHackathon virus.

 

#HacktheCrisis #EUSolidarity #StrongerTogether #TogetherWeCan

 

After 48 hours of working the teams, The jury chose The five best. Three of the top five solutions are for children, parents and learning Chatbot Dejana assist parents and teachers in conducting distance learning for children with disabilities. Naucime.online is a platform that helps to master the materials of students, and Stay (in)sane parenting hub helps all parents to better organize time, obligations and fun for children in the days of self-isolation. All parents among you and us will be recognized easily in one of these ideas and solutions! Tilda is a digital donation platform through which help is collected for people in distress such as those who lost their homes in the recent Zagreb earthquake. In exchange for a donation, it offers users a digital call with celebrities. Behind the Name Green community rooftops for a better life hides gardens on rooftops and balconies of residential buildings that contribute to our food self-sustainability, better air quality and quality of life in cities.

 

These winning ideas are the result of a 48-hour Hackathon against the viral crisis #versusvirus.hr this weekend, which brought together 136 participants in a joint “hacking” of problems caused by the SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 pandemic.

VersusVirus is the first hackathon in Croatia held entirely in the virtual world. Since Friday evening, about fifty hackers and hackers gathered in 15 teams worked on the elaboration of their ideas with the help of about thirty mentors who were at their disposal. The task was to come up with innovative solutions to the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Solutions were sought for a wide range of topics, from rapid responses to crisis, economy, education, arts to community empowerment, environment, governance, health, solidarity. Participants and organizers were constantly in contact through online applications Slack and videoconferencing platforms Zoom where they exchanged ideas, praise, criticism and even arranged the exchange of fresh yeast.

In addition to the help of mentors, the teams also had the opportunity to follow virtual lectures and thus further learn or strengthen the knowledge and skills they already possess – on how to maintain mental strength in times of crisis, on what impact it is and how to create projects with a positive impact, on how to prepare a good story for a video, how to present an idea well, and some surprises in selling or bringing mature ideas to the market.

One of the participants, Martina Anišić, summarized her experience: “For the first time, I participated in the hackathon because I liked the idea of working with talented people from various fields to find innovative solutions to the Covid-19 crisis in just one weekend. This has resulted in people being introduced to different skills and experience, but with the same ambition – to make the most of our abilities and come up with solutions that will concretely help our fellow citizens. I am delighted with this organisation and the mentors who have been with us every step of the way – every honour at this excellent event and I look forward to seeing what impact it will have on our community.”

To fight the viruses and deal with this and any other crisis, because they are all connected, we must be united, solidarity, cooperate and act beyond our established frameworks and that is exactly what happened at the national hackathon VersusVirus, concluded on Sunday evening.

 

The organizers of this event, who spent hours of volunteer work to make the event go smoothly, are: Impact Hub Zagreb, Technology Park Varaždin, Green Energy Cooperative, Terra Hub, Northwest Croatia Regional Energy Agency, Lean Startup Croatia, Rijeka Development Agency Porin, EIT RIS Climate KIC Hub Croatia, Ivy Digital and EduNorth.

We would like to thank all the participants and mentors and support organisations who will provide further support necessary for the implementation of the ideas, and the next meeting on this topic was agreed already on Tuesday!

 

For more information on the awarded ideas: https://versusvirus.hr/ or https://versusvirus-croatia.devpost.com/.

 

 

Global map of startup ecosystems - StartupBlink

Have you ever wondered how the power of your local startup ecosystem compares to others? What about the vital factors that help strengthen a growing ecosystem? A comprehensive world map of the StartupBlink ecosystem and a research centre provide users with all the data they need to make a better-informed business decision. Their startup ecosystem scales have the strongest startup hubs in the world, while highlighting smaller cities and countries.

Rijeka's development agency Porin has become a proud partner of StartupBlink.

Important information for entrepreneurs and craftsmen in times of coronavirus

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[The City of Rijeka adopted measures to help entrepreneurs because of the damage caused by the coronavirus epidemic]
As the Government of the Republic of Croatia has announced that the National Civil Protection Headquarters will adopt measures to temporarily restrict the operation or suspend the operation of some activities in the coming days, the City of Rijeka has adopted the first measures to make it easier for entrepreneurs to continue operating and maintain jobs.

These are the first measures of the City of Rijeka aimed at ensuring the liquidity of the business of entrepreneurs, and all subsequent measures will be considered and adopted by the City of Rijeka in accordance with the development of the situation and the measures and recommendations adopted at the European and national level.
https://www.rijeka.hr/grad-rijeka-donio-mjere-za-pomoc-poduzetnicima-zbog-steta-nastalih-epidemijom-korona-virusa

Other updates can be found here: https://www.rijeka.hr/koronavirus/aktualnosti

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[Invitation to submit initial applications to the Fina portal MEASURES]

We invite all economic operators in the Republic of Croatia whose business is endangered due to the COVID-19 pandemic (applicants) to apply for measures of the Government of the Republic of Croatia in order to preserve the level of economic activity and liquidity through a single online portal established for this purpose by Fina (MJERE portal).

https://www.fina.hr/-/poziv-za-podno%C5%A1enje-inicijalnih-zahtjeva-na-fina-portal-mjere

 

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[HZZ - Aid to preserve employment in activities affected by Coronavirus]
The aim of the CES measure is to preserve jobs in employers whose economic activity has been disrupted due to the special circumstances caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Surrender is possible from 23 March 2020 at 00:01.
https://mjera-orm.hzz.hr/ocuvanje-radnih-mjesta

 

Below you can watch a video presentation of RRIF on how to get support of HRK 3 250 per employee: https://youtu.be/dVvSAtycZaw .

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[Tax authority – Notification of tax measures to undertakings for the duration of the special circumstances]

If special circumstances affect your business with the aim of maintaining liquidity, economic activity and maintaining employment, you can submit a request to the Tax Administration for deferment of payment due to special circumstances.

https://www.porezna-uprava.hr/Stranice/Vijest.aspx?NewsID=2879&List=Vijesti

 

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[HOK - Craftsmen can benefit from job retention support]
In addition to detailed information on how craftsmen can obtain support to preserve jobs in activities affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19), you can also find answers to the most common questions and examples of completed forms for the published CES measure.

https://www.hok.hr/koronavirus-novosti/obrtnik-moze-ostvariti-pravo-na-potporu-za-ocuvanje-radnih-mjesta

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[HOK – All craftsmen are exempt from paying the Comorian contribution]

All craftsmen are exempt from paying the Chamber's contribution in the next three months starting from 1 April 2020.

https://www.obrtnicka-komora-rijeka.hr/2-uncategorised/344-hrvatska-obrtnicka-komora-oslobodila-sve-obrtnike-placanja-komorskog-doprinosa

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[HAMAG BICRO - ESIF working capital loans]

The difference compared to the previous ESIF Micro loans for working capital programme is also lower interest rates, a longer grace period and the possibility of settling invoices incurred up to 3 months before receiving the loan application.

https://hamagbicro.hr/novo-esif-zajmovi-za-obrtna-sredstva/

 

Other 8 measures of HAMAG BICRO: 

https://hamagbicro.hr/mjere-hamag-bicro-a-za-pomoc-mikro-malim-i-srednjim-poduzetnicima-uslijed-pandemije-uzrokovane-koronavirusom/

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[E-passes for employers]

Pursuant to the Decision on the prohibition of leaving the place of residence and permanent residence, citizens were issued with physical passes for necessary travel. In order to unburden the headquarters and speed up the process, the Ministry of Administration immediately initiated the digitalisation of the process and, together with the IT sector and the competent departments, produced a secure digital solution for e-passes.

 

epropusnice.gov.hr

 

 

[Online passes for Rijeka citizens]

As of March 25, a simple online form/application for issuing passes for citizens of Rijeka who have to leave the city for specific reasons is in operation. After filling out the form, the citizen receives first a notification of receipt of the request, and then the pass itself, by e-mail that he has entered in the form. The pass can be printed out to show it to the police, or it can be used in the received electronic form and shown to the police on a mobile device.

www.rijeka.hr/online-propusnice-za-građane-rijeke

 

[City of Rijeka – Prohibition on leaving the place of residence and permanent residence in the Republic of Croatia and issuance of special passes]

Since there is a significantly increased risk of transmission of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in certain areas, the Civil Protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia adopted a decision prohibiting the abandonment of the place of residence and permanent residence in order to reduce the possibility of further spread of the disease. Leaving the place of residence or permanent residence is allowed only with special passes and only in exceptional situations.

According to the decision of the said Headquarters, one of such situations is when a person, for vital family reasons such as providing care to children or the elderly or purchasing food and basic necessities, has to leave his/her place of residence or permanent residence. In this case, and only in this case, the passes are issued to the citizens of Rijeka by the Civil Protection Headquarters of the City of Rijeka.

www.rijeka.hr/zabrana-napuštanja-mjesta-prebivališta-stalnog-boravka-u-republici-hrvatskoj-te-izdavanje-posebnih-propusnica/ 

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[Notice to Entrepreneurs from the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts]

With the occurrence of extraordinary circumstances in the Republic of Croatia, caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus and due to difficulties in the supply of medical equipment, disinfectants and other necessary material, we hereby invite all entrepreneurs in the Republic of Croatia, who are able to produce and/or supply specified equipment and material, to contact the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts.

Below is a list of goods that will likely need to be procured for the National Civil Protection Headquarters:
– Protective masks – surgical, FFP2, FFP3
– water, space and hand disinfectants (including concentrated alcohol)
– protective overalls and other protective and medical clothing and footwear
– goggles and visors
– Protective gloves
– protective shoe covers
– ventilators/transport fans
– bed linen and other health care laundry.

https://www.mingo.hr/page/vazno-obavijest-poduzetnicima-rh

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[Notifications from HGK]

Due to the spread of the coronavirus in Croatia and neighboring countries and the possible impacts of the new situation on the domestic economy, the Croatian Chamber of Economy has launched a page where you can find out the latest recommendations for businessmen regarding the Coronavirus infection.

https://hgk.hr/korona

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[Official page for Coronavirus]

On this site you can find all current and valid instructions, recommendations and measures related to health, prevention and everyday life. All information is updated several times a day, whenever news and changes occur, and presents the latest and most up-to-date information and data that you can count on.

https://www.koronavirus.hr

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[Ministry of Agriculture opens new channel of communication with farmers]

In these extraordinary circumstances, with the aim of reducing the consequences of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Ministry of Agriculture opens a website for all farmers and provides a simple channel of communication for all their questions.

https://poljoprivreda.gov.hr/vijesti/ministarstvo-poljoprivrede-otvara-jos-jedan-kanal-komunikacije-s-poljoprivrednicima/3919

 

[Digital Marketplace and other measures of the Ministry of Agriculture]

The Ministry of Agriculture will create a national online platform – a digital marketplace – where agri-food bidders will be listed, making it easier for public buyers to find suppliers and enable the purchase of domestic agricultural and food products.

www.apprrr.hr/nove-mjere-pomoći-poljoprivrednicima

 

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