On 14 December, the UMPRUM Technology Centre hosted a launch event to introduce the newly established Technology, Arts, Humanities creative and innovation centre (TAH). This event marked the successful launch of the creative and innovation centre, representing a significant milestone in the promotion of interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration in the Czech Republic, and we are delighted that the Czech Institute can be part of it. Prof. Olga Štěpánková, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Assistive Technology, attended the event on behalf of the CIIRC.
What is TAH and what are its goals?
TAH, or Technology, Arts, Humanities creative and innovation centre, is a dynamic and inclusive platform that was created to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in the fields of new technologies, arts, design, humanities and social sciences across the regions of the Czech Republic. TAH brings together nearly thirty research institutions, including universities, art colleges, technology institutes, and not only humanities and social sciences faculties.
Objectives of TAH:
1) Interdisciplinarity for the development of innovation potential: TAH aims to promote interdisciplinarity as a key condition for the development of the innovation potential of new technologies, arts, social sciences and humanities.
2) Sharing intelligence and research infrastructures: the Centre aims to collaborate and share intellectual potential and research infrastructures in order to enhance the practical impact of its efforts.
3) Establishment of a joint center for vision realization: the TAH will seek to establish a joint center to support the realization of its vision both nationally and internationally.
4) Openness to the challenges of the world: TAH is open to the challenges of the present and future world and plans to address these challenges together with other sectors.
5) Creating new study programmes: together with partner institutions, TAH intends to create new study programmes aimed at meeting the challenges of the future.
6) Active participation in policy making: The Centre intends to actively contribute to policy development and implementation, including debates on key current issues and future challenges.
7) Innovating research methods and developing new ones: In order to develop interdisciplinary academic outputs, TAH is committed to innovating research methods and developing new ones.
8) Dialogue with the public to increase impact: The Centre plans to have an open dialogue with the public to increase the impact of its outputs and to involve society in the design of research questions.
All these objectives have been written into a common Manifesto, which can be read HERE.
CIIRC – proud part of TAH:
We are very pleased that the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) is one of the key components of TAH and can thus contribute to the development of this innovation platform and participate in the interdisciplinary link between technology, arts and humanities. Prof. Olga Štěpánková, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Assistive Technology of the CIIRC, also participated in the launch event at UMPRUM.
„I think we cannot doubt at all that the TAH connection is natural, because the link and tension between technology and art has existed for many years. For example, when the first camera appeared, many feared this technical competition in the depiction of reality. Similarly, when picture books began to be printed, there were doubts about whether such mass production would have a negative effect on art. It turns out that art has always been able to benefit very well from such collaborations, and we all know that cinema and other related fields have become important and popular artistic fields that have inspired artistic progress since their inception. This is exactly how we hope that further art and technology collaborations will proceed. Likewise, collaboration with the humanities is very interesting and natural for us, because we understand that technology has contributed to many of the problems the world is facing now. And therefore we also feel our social responsibility to help find a way out again,“ said Prof. Olga Štěpánková at the opening discussion during the presentation of the newly established TAH.
With this broad vision and ambition, TAH is becoming a key player in promoting innovation, education and research in the Czech Republic, thanks to the cooperation and commitment of its members, delegates and supporters. We look forward to the continued successes that TAH will bring in 2024 and beyond.
Watch the video from the opening of the TAH event:
Photo gallery:
Foto: TAH
