Opening the business forum, the first prorector for scientific and pedagogical work Nataliya Prytulska emphasized that innovative development is possible only through combining the efforts of science, education and business, and the use of innovations is a key factor in the efficiency of the Ukrainian business.

This year, a separate thematic direction of the business forum was the small and medium business support programs presented by the first vice-president, general director of the Union of Entrepreneurs of small, medium and privatized enterprises of Ukraine Vyacheslav Bykovets, coordinator of the Unlimit Ukraine project of the European Business Association Olena Ero, assistant of the German Society for International Cooperation GIZ project Olena Lutsenko.

Traditionally, the representative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in the person of the head of the expert group on communications and organizational and methodological provision of strategic planning of the Directorate of Innovation and Technology Transfer, Vitaliy Chernyuk, took part in the business forum.

The participants heard the reports from the permanent partners of the forum: chief scientist of the Institute of Intellectual Property of the National Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine, candidate of economic sciences, professor Gennadiy Androshchuk, deputy director of the Institute of Research of Scientific and Technical Potential and History of Sciences named after G.M. Dobrov of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, doctor of economic sciences, professor Vyacheslav Solovyov, senior researcher of the Department of Economic Growth and Structural Changes in Economics, Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Svitlana Shchegel and new participants: c.b.s., expert on national legislation of the UNIDO / GEF Project “Global Cleantech Innovation Program for Startups and Small Businesses in Ukraine” Mykola Kobets, manager for work with partners “Bitrix24” Kostyantyn Pavlenko.

For the first time in the framework of the business forum, there were online appearances and speeches by representatives of the new partner of the KNUTE from the United States – Key West University - Campus Director Key West University Kathleen Zabelina and Adjunct Professor of Business Management PhD in Economics Natalia Raksha.