From 18 to 22 March 2024, Nataly Veremeeva, Director at TechUkraine, had the privilege of joining the large delegation at the invitation of the Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office and its diplomatic representations.
Flanders is a pioneering technology hub, which is open to international cooperation and trade. Rich in its culture, business and technology, Flanders serves as an example of dynamic growth and development.
The five-day Flanders Inspires International Visitors Programme (FIIVP) showcased Flanders’ business and cultural experiences to a group of foreign experts and representatives from companies, governments and international institutions.
The FIIVP Program kicked off in Brussels with an introduction by Jill Suetens, Head of Protocol at the Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office. He was followed by a presentation by Bram Opsomer, Head of the Chancellery Division. This marked the official start of a five-day, memorable tour of numerous pioneering tech projects in Flanders.
A brief overview of the program:
- On Monday, the delegation visited the VUB’s Green Energy Park and Smart Village Lab in Zellik. The Minister-President of Flanders delivered the welcome address, which was followed by a series of captivating keynotes.
- On Tuesday, the programme included a visit to FTI Ghent and the newly renovated Winter Circus, where the current trends in the use of data and AI were shown.
- On Wednesday, the international delegation visited FTI Kortrijk and the Learning Bytes Festival on Buda Island.
- On Thursday, participants visited the discussion panel at FTI SuperNova, Belgium’s tech summit for influential thought-leaders, tech entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, and investors.
- On Friday, the delegation went to FTI Brussels and the Fari Institute. With an extended breakout session on AI and GovTech as the final highlight. The closing speech was given by Julie Bynens, Secretary General of the Flanders Chancellery and Foreign Office.
Opportunities for Ukraine
“Flanders really have a lot of things that inspire:
- I was personally very pleasantly surprised by the level and quality of dialogue between different ethnical groups, resulting in shaping three regions with its own governments, parliaments, regulations and tools of influence. The visit to Flanders Parliament was very memorable and gave a lot of inspiration.
- Flanders invests record numbers of its GPD to its innovation and research. It brings good results: supercomputers and quantum computing, bright SuperNova conference and 10-day festival, celebrating innovation and tech achievements.
- AI, gaming and smart and resource efficient data centers are the memorable highlights of my visit to Flanders.
Generally, I was amazed by the level of organization, hospitality and richness of Flanders’s tech sector. I believe this region and Belgium in general has a lot to offer both in technology and in the areas of educated and mature dialogue. It is not just a coincidence, that it is Brussels, that was chosen as the capital of the EU. And in my opinion, this inspires the most.
There is a lot of potential in building bridges and exchanging knowledge and insights between Flanders and Belgium in general and Ukraine. We at TechUkraine are very motivated to develop this very promising collaboration further.”
