Czech Investment Forum

Speakers

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  Jana Vlčková University of Economics in Prague
  

  Jana Vlčková

  University of Economics in Prague

  Doc. Mgr. Jana Vlčková, Ph.D. has been working at the Department of International Economic Relations in the Media at the University of Economics in Prague since 2012. In 2019, she was appointed associate professor in the field of International Economic Relations. In 2014, she defended her dissertation on Global Changes in the Distribution of Technology and Innovation with a Focus on the EU. At the department, she lectures on Geography of the World Economy in English, Economic Geography of China, and Economic Geography of Europe, and leads seminars in the subjects World Economy and Regional Markets in a Global Perspective. In 2019 and 2020, she was a member of the research team for the TA ČR project entitled Targeting Investment Support in the Czech Republic with Regards to the Expected Impacts of Technological Change, and she is implementing a number of contract research projects on innovation and global value chains.

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  Viktor Květoň Charles University in Prague
  

  Viktor Květoň

  Charles University in Prague

  doc. RNDr. Viktor Květoň, Ph.D. works at the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. Doc. Květoň is an evolutionary economic geographer whose professional focus is on measuring and evaluating the development and barriers of regional innovation systems, mechanisms and factors of regional development, regional disparities and competitiveness of regions, evaluation of the impact of EU regional policy in the Czech Republic, regional impacts of sectoral policies, company mergers and acquisitions, the development trajectories of industrial sectors in regions, and the role of related diversity in regional development. In his research activities, he has long been involved in national and international projects, such as the Supply Chain Resilience Center, and also cooperates with major foreign institutions, such as the Joint Research Center – European Commission, World Bank, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Doc. Květoň is a member of the national expert advisory body (EPO) for setting priorities and support from EU funds after 2028, acts as an external advisor to the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic in the field of regional policy, and also cooperates with the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic.

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  Tomáš Bort Mycroft Mind
  

  Tomáš Bort

  Mycroft Mind

  As Director of Innovation at Mycroft Mind, Tomas Bort aligns the strategic development of technological advancements with the world of public and research institutions. His role is to ensure that cutting-edge Czech R&D finds its application within strategic national and European initiatives.
  As a Program Manager, he oversees the SLAID project under the IPCEI ME/CT program. This project focuses on the practical deployment of autonomous Edge AI in the energy sector, enabling devices to independently analyze data and optimize their operations.

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  David Uhlíř South Moravian Innovation Centre (JIC)
  

  David Uhlíř

  South Moravian Innovation Centre (JIC)

  David Uhlíř holds the post of Innovation Ecosystem Architect and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and at JIC (South Moravian Innovation Centre), located in Brno, Czech Republic. From his position he is involved in developing new strategic initiatives in South Moravia, typically involving multiple innovation actors: public sector, academia, businesses. David developed the first generation of RIS of South Moravia in 2002 and was also instrumental in establishing JIC in 2003.
  Over the last 20+ years he worked at different positions in the field of regional policy and research and innovation policy (Czech ministries responsible for regional development and for research, Regional Development Agency) and also spent four years as a seconded national expert at the European Commission, DG Research. He participated in a number of international assignments and advisory roles related to design and evaluation of innovation and research policies for OECD, the European Commission and several countries (Romania, Croatia, Slovakia)
  His professional interests revolve around regional development theory and practice, science and technology and innovation policies.
  Between 2013-2021 David represented Czech Business Innovation Centres in the Board of Director of European Business Innovation Centres Network (EBN), between 2019-2021 he acted as its President.

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  Petr Slobodian Tomas Bata University in Zlín (UTB)
  

  Petr Slobodian

  Tomas Bata University in Zlín (UTB)

  Prof. Petr Slobodian, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlín (UTB) and is also affiliated with UTB’s Centre of Polymer Systems, where he leads a research group focused on systems with sensoric properties, particularly sensor material components for hybrid and programmable materials. His current work explores polymers and nanomaterials and pathways to turn polymer-based systems into conductive and functional semiconductor materials, including research directions connected to soft semiconductors for wearable electronics; he also contributed to the preparation of a new study program on semiconductor materials at UTB.

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  Stanislav Černý Czech National Semiconductor Cluster
  

  Stanislav Černý

  Czech National Semiconductor Cluster
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  Jiří Stružka onsemi
  

  Jiří Stružka

  onsemi

  Jiří Stružka is Director of Chip Manufacturing at onsemi in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (Czech Republic), responsible for chip manufacturing operations. He also represents onsemi in university outreach and talent-facing activities, including presentations that explain onsemi’s work and opportunities to students.
  Expertise topics: semiconductor chip manufacturing and production operations; fab/cleanroom manufacturing environment; industry–academia engagement and talent pipeline.

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  Jiří Háze Advanced Chip Design Research Center
  

  Jiří Háze

  Advanced Chip Design Research Center

  Is an associate professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, where he serves as Head of the Institute of Microelectronics and Director of the Advanced Chip Design Research Center (ACDRC). His research focuses on the design, modeling, and fabrication of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, with a strong emphasis on sensor and biomedical applications. He is actively involved in major European and international initiatives, including the CHIPS of Europe project aimed at strengthening higher-education–industry cooperation in the semiconductor sector, and long-term collaboration with partners in Taiwan through ACDRC. He has led or co-led more than 15 national and international research projects, published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, and is a frequent invited speaker in the field of chip design and semiconductor technologies.

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  Karel Masařík Czech Semiconductor Centre
  

  Karel Masařík

  Czech Semiconductor Centre

  Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Codasip and Director of the Czech Semiconductor Centre, one of the European semiconductor competence centres established under Pillar I of the EU Chips Act.
  Karel received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Brno University of Technology, where he led the development of key processor design technologies within a university technology incubator before founding Codasip in 2014. Under his leadership, Codasip became one of the early commercial pioneers of the RISC-V ecosystem, delivering processor EDA and IP products adopted across automotive, industrial, security, and high-performance computing domains.
  As CEO, Karel led Codasip through multiple international funding rounds and global expansion. He later transitioned to the role of Chief Innovation Officer, focusing on long-term technology strategy and the development of advanced programs in processor architectures, functional safety, security, high-performance computing, and AI-enabled systems, while continuing to promote the adoption of the open RISC-V standard.
  Since 2025, Karel has also served as Director of the Czech Semiconductor Centre, where he focuses on strengthening collaboration between academia, industry, and government, accelerating talent development, and translating advanced research into industrial capabilities. In this role, he actively contributes to aligning the Czech and European semiconductor ecosystem with broader EU strategic objectives, bridging research excellence with sustainable industrial impact.