The National University "Kyiv Aviation Institute" (KAI), in partnership with YEP Accelerator, has introduced a new position for Ukrainian higher education - Chief Innovation Officer (CIO). This is the first such experience for public higher education institutions in Ukraine.
The National University "Kyiv Aviation Institute" (KAI), in partnership with YEP Accelerator, has introduced a new position for Ukrainian higher education - Chief Innovation Officer (CIO). This is the first such experience for public higher education institutions in Ukraine.
The position was taken by Anton Betz, whose candidacy was approved by the Supervisory Board of the KAI after an open multi-stage competition. The implementation of the initiative was made possible thanks to the university's participation in the experiment of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to expand the autonomy of higher education institutions.
The new role is part of a pilot project by KAI and YEP Accelerator with support from the international foundation Nova Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF).
Anton Betz has over 20 years of management experience in business and the public sector.
At Vodafone Ukraine, he was responsible for developing the innovation direction and launching new products, and at the Ministry of Digital Affairs, he oversaw e-democracy projects and analytical tools.
He also worked as an advisor to the Ministry of Economy, where he was responsible for the humanitarian demining strategy and data-driven management. In addition, as a member of the board and head of the JSC "Industrial Development Agency "Made in Ukraine", he participated in the launch of the national platform of the same name, as well as the programs "National Cashback" and "Winter eSupport".
The main goal of the Director of Innovation is to unite KAI's laboratories, research teams, and entrepreneurial programs into a single ecosystem, connect them with business, and help commercialize scientific developments through custom research, technology licensing, or the creation of academic spin-offs.
“KAI already has strong research teams, modern laboratories, and students who create their own developments. The next step is to create conditions under which these developments will be transformed into finished products and joint developments with business. That is why we have introduced the position of Innovation Director. He will be responsible for launching the science park, developing academic spin-offs, and collaborating with industry,” notes Ksenia Semenova, President of KAI.
In October, Anton Betz already presented the university's innovation development strategy, identifying several priority tasks. First of all, it concerns an audit of existing developments to create a single map of scientists' and students' projects, which will help attract business and mentors. In parallel, it is planned to launch the KAI science park, announced at the IT Arena, which will look for customers for scientific solutions. In addition, a transparent legal model for academic spin-offs is being developed together with YEP Accelerator and the law firm Axon Partners, and the Center for Entrepreneurship will establish the full path of student teams - from training to attracting the first investments.
"The main strategic challenge for universities today is to go beyond the creation and transfer of knowledge and learn how to systematically transform it into value for the economy and society. This is a product approach that I have been applying for years in business and national-scale projects," emphasizes Anton Betz.
We will remind you that the competition for the position of Director of Innovation at KAI was announced in July.
