Panevėžys City Municipality has hosted the international conference organized by Lithuanian innovation centre "The innovation system of Lithuania. Experience of Panevėžys". Conference was organized as a part of the project "The establishment of the innovation system in order to achieve economic development".

The participants of the conference were welcomed by the mayor of Panevėžys City Vitalijus Satkevicius. Announcements were  made by the government representative for Panevėžys region Rasa Šošič, Panevėžys territorial jobcentre director Viktoras Trofimovas, Panevėžys industry and crafts house president Sigitas Gailiūnas and the dean of Panevezys institute of KTU university Žilvinas Bazaras. The speeches covered a variety of topics ranging from Panevėžys business companies' expectations for the government to education and inovation in the city.

The project that is sponsored by EU and organized by Grodno Janka Kupala State University (Grodno, Belarus), Polotsk State University (Novopolotsk, Belarus), Innovation association "Akademtechnopark" (Minsk, Belarus), Panevėžys Science and Technology Park (Panevėžys, Lithuania), South Lithuania business cooperation centre (Alytus, Lithuania) and Kaunas University of Technology (Kaunas, Lithuania)

Rimantas Serva, one of the organizers of the conference and representative for the northeast Lithuanian Inovation Centre expects that this conference is going to help to expand the awaraness between business, education and government institutions.

According to the organizers of the conference, the insufficient integration of technology, resources and the limited access to foreign marketplaces is impeding the use of inovation and technology opportunities for small business companies from Lithuania and Belarus. The information exchange is barely present and the network between the inovation partners is lacking cooperation.

According to R. Serva, the main goal of the project is to establish a partnership between academic and innovative companies  that would stimulate the economic development on the local and international level in accordance with inudstrial, economical and social institution needs in Lithuania and Belarus.  The organizers of the project hope that the number of supporting companies is going to increase while establishing an International Innovation network.