The aim of the conference co-organized by the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius and the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA) is to encourage a long-term dialogue, initiatives and cooperation in the sphere of innovation.
"Innovators have no borders. Two innovation driven nations meet in Vilnius today. The United States, a world recognized leader in innovation, and Lithuania, an ambitious, creative and hard-working start-up in the innovation world. We have a lot to offer each other. We are ready to benefit from American expertise and to offer high quality research, services and products in return," the President said in her welcome address.
According to the President, we have all that is needed to position Lithuania as an innovation driven European economy. Lithuanians are already among the world leaders in the fields of scientific lasers, bio-technology, and medical devices. We are investing into five science and technology valleys. Young innovators have set-up a number of smart start-ups that are known for their amazing success stories, like the GetJar, VINTED, Pixelmator or Biotechpharma.
The Lithuanian head of state also underlined that the world's largest economic agreement - free trade agreement planned to be signed between the European Union and the United States - will play an important role in further advancing our bilateral cooperation in the fields of research and high technologies by easing trade in innovative products and services and by creating internationally agreed-upon product standards.
The signature of cooperation agreement between MITA and SRI International, an independent research and innovation center in California, is also expected at the conference. Taking part in the event are representatives of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kaunas Technological University, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Stanford Research Institute and other research centers.
