Innotek is a technology centre located in Geel

Geel

Geel is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp which acquired the status of a city in the 1980s.It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns : Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum...

, in the Campine

Campine

The Campine is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-western Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands...

 region of Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. It is a public private partnership between the Antwerp province

Antwerp (province)

Antwerp is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp which comprises the Port of Antwerp...

 and several organisations located in the Campine region of the province.

History

The centre was founded in 1987 as a joint initiative of the Regional Development Authority for the Kempen region (IOK) and the local Chambre of Commerce. In 1988, Innotek became a European Business and Innovation Centres (BIC) and is now part of the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN). In 1996 the Technologyhouse of the Kempen, a business incubator

Business incubator

Business incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts...

 building was opened in Geel. Since 2009, Innotek also manages the Milieutechnologiehuis (E: Environmental Technology House) in Mol. Outside the incubator, several companies are located on the Innotek area, such as Genzyme

Genzyme

Genzyme Corporation is a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. Before its acquisition, Genzyme was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2010, Genzyme was the world’s third-largest biotechnology company, employing more than 11,000 people around the world...

 Flanders, CIPAL

CIPAL

CIPAL is an inter-municipal ICT service with headoffices in Geel. Its name refers to the province of Antwerp and Limburg. The organisation is a governmental ICT-agency and inter-municipal association of municipalities, cities, towns, Social Welfare Centers, Provinces and other public authorities...

 (inter-municipal ICT service centre for the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Limburg

Limburg (Belgium)

Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...

) and Fibre Optic Sensing & Sensing Systems, a research centre.

Activities

• Development of new business
• The creation of spin-offs
  Research spin-off
  A research spin-off is a company that falls into at least one of the four following categories:#Companies that have an equity investment from a national library or university#Companies that license technology from a public research institute or university...
  
  
• Virtual and physical incubation
• Projects on regional economical development

See also

• Regional policy of the European Union
• Science and technology in Flanders
  Science and technology in Flanders
  Science and technology in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium , is well developed with the presence of several universities and research institutes...
  
  
• Strategic Plan Campine
  Strategic Plan Campine
  Strategic Plan Campine is a non-profit organisation located in Turnhout, Belgium. Its aim is to promote the social and economic development of the Campine region of the province of Antwerp...
  
  
• Campus Blairon
  Campus Blairon
  The Campus Blairon is a business incubator, education site, local government site, medical post and a seminar centre located in Turnhout in the campine region of the Antwerp province . The general services of the site are being managed by the DienstenCompagnie...
  
  

Source

• Innotek (EBN)
• Innotek (Antwerp province, Dutch)

External links

• Innotek
• Innotek 10 years (Dutch)