Tech Park & Regional Innovations Hub Under Construction in Telavi
Atech park is being built in Telavi, the largest city in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region. The park will be constructed within the framework of the “National Innovations Ecosystem Project” (GENIE), funded by the World Bank and the Georgian Innovations and Technologies Agency.
The Head of the Innovations and Technology Agency, Avtandil Kasradze, visited the site of the planned center along with Telavi Mayor Shota Nareklishvili. Construction has already begun on a site located in the historic center of the city, between King Erekle II’s Palace and the Giant Plane Tree estimated to be 900 years old.
Telavi Tech Park is envisioned as a future regional hub of innovation and technological creativity. It is currently on track to open in September of this year.
A tech park promotes the creation and development of innovative technologies and connects creators from different backgrounds and with different skillsets. It encourages start-up companies and ideas by offering technological infrastructure that people can use without investing in it themselves.
The Innovations and Technologies Agency hopes that the tech park concept will encourage Georgian entrepreneurs to build innovative companies that are competitive on the global market. The Telavi park will offer the Kakheti region the services and opportunities already available at the Tbilisi Tech Park. Located near Mtatsminda Park in the Okrokana district, Tbilisi Tech Park opened at the beginning of 2016, and offers a variety of services, including a business incubator with training centers, a conference hall, and a co-working space. For companies who want to operate from within the tech park, there is office space, laboratories, showrooms, and recreational space available.
At its opening, then-Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said, “This is a space for unique possibilities, as well as the formation of future professions and platforms for expanding the innovation market. It will play a special role in terms of business development, the creation of new business and companies as well as new jobs.”
The Innovations and Technologies Agency wants the tech parks to be used principally for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, but they also provide opportunities for international companies to open offices in Georgia.
There are tech parks all over the world, including in South Korea, England, Morocco, Tunisia, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Russia, Canada, and the United States. Developing tech parks is a major component of the Innovation and Technology Agency, which works to develop an innovative ecosystem in the country. The tech park concept brings together people with different ideas and initiatives and encourages them to develop new technologies based on technological infrastructure.
The Governor of Kakheti, Irakli Kadagishvili, welcomes the Telavi Tech Park to his region, saying there are plans to open smaller tech parts in other towns in Kakheti in early 2019, including the Akhmeta Innovations Center, which will also open this September. The Akhmeta Innovations Center will work closely with the Telavi Tech Park/Innovation Hub, which will serve as the Kakheti Regional Center. He emphasized the importance of Kakheti’s involvement in modern technological education and creation, and the value of spaces that foster cooperation and sharing. He anticipates that the tech park will encourage positive economic outcomes in Telavi and all of Kakheti.
By Samantha Guthrie