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About us

The voice of Slovak clusters.
Since 2010.

The Union of Slovak Clusters is the only organisation representing clusters in Slovakia. We connect them with local government, academia and research, and champion their interests at home and in Europe.

ÚKS leadership Our members
since 2010
representing clusters
18
member organisations
9
international projects

Mission and vision

A competitive Slovakia is built on cooperation.

To create a high-quality, competitive business environment through close cooperation between regional government, academia and research and the business community, especially in innovation.ÚKS vision
Modern glass building against a blue sky

Who we are

The only organisation representing clusters in Slovakia

The Union of Slovak Clusters was founded in 2010 as an association of legal entities based in Nitra. It brings together technology clusters, regional development clusters, ICT, energy and bioeconomy clusters as well as professional organisations.

Several of our members hold European cluster management quality labels (Bronze, Silver and Gold Label) awarded by the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis.

ÚKS leadership

The people who lead the Union

The Union is led by its President together with the Presidium, made up of representatives of member organisations.

ÚKS Presidium

Presidium members

  • Presidium member

    Katarína Blicklingová

    Bioeconomy Cluster

  • Presidium member

    Viliam Bošiak

    House of Events Innovation

History

More than fifteen years of cluster cooperation

Since our founding in Nitra we have partnered in nine international projects and become the voice of Slovak clusters in European networks.

  1. 2010

    The Union of Slovak Clusters is founded

    Clusters establish an association based in Nitra to jointly promote cluster development and cluster policy in Slovakia.

  2. 2011 – 2014

    First international projects

    As a consortium partner, ÚKS joins CluStrat (Central Europe), ClusterPoliSEE (South East Europe) and V4Clusters (International Visegrad Fund).

  3. 2013 – 2016

    Research and practice in energy

    In NoGAP, funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme, we connect research, innovation and business in clean and efficient energy.

  4. 2016 – 2021

    The Danube region and V4

    V4ClusGO, Made in Danube, DanubeChance2.0 and Finance4SocialChange strengthen cluster internationalisation, the bioeconomy and support for entrepreneurs.

  5. 2023

    National Cluster Conference

    ÚKS co-organises the National Cluster Conference in Košice and, with other national cluster associations, signs the Memorandum on Cluster Partnership for Ukraine.

  6. 2024 – 2025

    Artificial intelligence for clusters

    The DanubIA Clusters project creates an AI-supported platform for cooperation between clusters and SMEs in the Danube region.

Representatives of national cluster associations meeting at the National Cluster Conference in Košice, 2023

Areas of activity

Where we champion cluster interests

We sit on working groups and committees where innovation and cluster policy is shaped – in Slovakia, in the Danube region and at EU level.

EU Strategy for the Danube Region

  • Member of the Steering Group of Priority Area 8 – Competitiveness and cluster development, “Clusters of Excellence” working group
  • Member of the national committee of Priority Area 7 – Knowledge society
  • Signatory of the memorandum on cluster development in the Danube region countries

Slovakia

  • Coordination Platform of the Government Council of the Slovak Republic for Science, Technology and Innovation
  • “Partnership for Cohesion Policy” working group
  • Monitoring Committee of the Research and Innovation Operational Programme 2014 – 2020

Europe

  • Took part in founding the European Clusters Alliance and drafting its position paper
  • Expert in the SCAR AKIS working group (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems)
  • High-performance computing (HPC) ambassador for SMEs

Documents

Key documents

Statutes, founding documents and the ÚKS logo to download. The documents are in Slovak.

Contact

Get in touch

We are happy to discuss cooperation, membership or getting involved in our projects.