AmCham Slovenia has declared pharma company Novartis Slovenija and the University of Ljubljana this year’s winners of its best business practice award as part of the Best of the Best project. They have earned the accolade with their joint project Industry and University - Together We Build Society of Knowledge and Prosperity.

The project linked the world of academia with business in an effort to develop new skills, experience, competences, practices and talents, heard participants of an AmCham business breakfast in Ljubljana on Tuesday.

As part of the project, online festival UNI.MINDS was created to offer a space where researchers, students, start-ups, corporations and other companies can meet and start collaboration.

According to Klemen Kreft from Novartis Slovenija, this is an open platform where researchers and companies can connect and discuss possibilities for cooperation. “We haven’t had that so far, so I’m very proud,” he said, adding that the European Institute of Innovation and Technology had also joined the project.

Darja Ferčej Temeljotov, who is in charge of strategic relations and projects at Novartis Slovenija, said the AmCham award was a recognition and an encouragement for the future.

She said the project was more of an “initiative that is not an initiative but a way of life”. “We are living it on a daily basis, creating a space in line with our values and beliefs, with great motivation that doesn’t stop even when things get stuck. Here, new ideas are born, innovations are created, all generations network, young talents are nurtured, and many of them eventually become our collaborators and ambassadors of a progressive society that shares knowledge across disciplines, nations and regions,” she stressed.

The other two companies shortlisted for the award were employment company Manpower, which cut its eight-hour working day to a a four-hour to boost efficiency, and the company Airnamics from the construction group Kolektor with its intelligent robot worker KoCo.

The winner was decided through a combination of online voting, a jury’s decision and voting at today’s event.

Source: STA