On December 18, 2024, a significant and important event took place at Khmelnytskyi National University - the grand opening of the European digital innovation hub CLOTEX-HUB, which was the first in Ukraine to join the ECIH network.
Khmelnytskyi National University is the coordinator of the consortium (comprising KhNU, NGO "ASTAR", Public Organization "Podilskyi Fashion Cluster", Public Organization "IT Cluster of Khmelnytskyi"), which will implement the European Digital Innovation Hub of Clothing Technology and Textile (CLOTEX-HUB) project during 2025-2028. Clotex-Hub is co-financed by the European Union through the Digital Europe Program.
We would like to remind you that on November 1, 2024, CLOTEX-HUB was the first in Ukraine to officially join the EDIH (European Digital Innovation Hubs) network. CLOTEX-HUB seeks to increase the competitiveness of clothing production products of small and medium-sized enterprises of the Khmelnytskyi region. Its activities are aimed at the digitalization of clothing production and the introduction of innovative technologies, which contribute to the entry of products into the European market and integration into international value chains of products and services. CLOTEX-HUB operates in the ecosystem of a clothing factory, which provides the high-added value of experimental services, access to innovative training, technological infrastructure and financial support.
The following welcomed the participants of the event in offline and online formats: Antonio José Castro Area, consultant, FundingBox; Vladyslav Kavelin, senior advisor, Lviv office, GIZ; Volodymyr Honcharuk, first deputy head of the Khmelnytskyi regional council; Serhiy Matyukh, rector of Khmelnytskyi National University; Oleksandr Yurchak, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance, EDIH Kyiv HightTech; Olha Shapoval, EASTERN-UKRAINE EDIH; Oleh Demchuk, chairman of the board of the NGO “ASTAR”; Vyacheslav Askerov, representative of the NGO “IT Cluster of Khmelnytskyi City”; Oleksandr Sukhovirskyi, chairman of the board of the public organization “Podilskyi Fashion Cluster”.
Oksana Zakharkevych, project coordinator, presented the CLOTEX-HUB project and spoke about the key areas of its activity.
Evridiki Papachristou, coordinator of the 3D4U project, spoke about the synergy between the EDIH CLOTEX-HUB and 3D4U projects “3D Concepts for Fashion Education in Ukraine”.
Tomasz Buratowski, professor at the AGH University of Technology in Krakow, VISBROKER company, spoke about the features of designing a sliding mannequin for garment production.
As part of the grand opening, a combined fashion show, "Virtuality VS Reality", and a demonstration of EDIH capabilities also took place.
In addition, an interactive exhibition of digital technologies in the clothing industry was running in parallel.
The participants of CLOTEX-HUB express their sincere gratitude to all who helped supported, advised and contributed to the preparation of the project - foreign partners, Ukrainian government organizations and local authorities. We hope for further fruitful cooperation and successful implementation of all the tasks set.