A cooperation agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Boston, USA) was signed today at the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania. The agreement with this world leader in science and innovation was signed by a consortium for implementing the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) programme in the country. It includes Lithuanian universities and other higher education institutions, public enterprises and organisations, and private companies – among them Novian.
The programme is seen as an important strategic investment in Lithuania’s future. It offers the country an opportunity to become a regional leader in science and innovative solutions, while partnership with MIT and participation in the MISTI programme will strengthen Lithuania’s image as an innovation and technology hub.
Collaboration with MIT will open up a wide range of opportunities for Lithuania – from technology and business projects, innovation development, and joint scientific and artistic research, to two-way mobility for international exchanges and training of researchers and students, internships by MIT students in Lithuania, and more. Programmes in artificial intelligence (AI), climate change and other areas are also planned. Just over 30 countries worldwide have signed agreements with MIT as a world leader in science and innovation.
“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an exciting global laboratory for science and business ideas. We are honoured to be a part of this programme and believe that this partnership will generate significant new insights and opportunities, especially for effectively developing and applying innovations in the areas of programming and IT infrastructure,” said Tomas Vitkus, the group CEO at Novian.
In the words of Gytis Umantas, the CEO of the IT services company Novian Technologies, the new partnership is a huge step forward for leveraging innovation to address global challenges. “We have experience in the use of high performance computing (HPC) solutions in the battle with climate change, and this collaboration will allow us to augment that work with quantum computing capabilities as well. We believe that cutting-edge technologies will help in the development and deployment of new solutions for tackling climate change and other global challenges,” Umantas said.
The chance to work with MIT is also important for Novian in the area of AI. Paulius Vaitkevičius, Head of Innovation at Novian Pro, said the agreement will unlock opportunities to apply the latest AI technologies and take the development of new AI technologies to a new level. “We believe that in working with MIT’s scientists we’ll be able to more rapidly develop innovative AI solutions relevant to both the Lithuanian and the global context,” Vaitkevičius said. Among other solutions, the software services company Novian Pro is developing AI-based natural language recognition technologies to enhance public safety and resilience.
The new partnership will enable top MIT researchers to come to Lithuania and share their expertise. Lithuania is also expected to join the MIT Entrepreneurship Network, providing access to the institute’s resources, training, events and collaborative opportunities for promoting the development of an entrepreneurship ecosystem.
MIT is a steady leader among the world’s best universities, consistently No 1 in numerous rankings. Its alumni have founded more than 30,000 companies which generate about USD 4.6 trillion in annual revenues and create more than 3.3 million jobs around the world.
Among MIT alumni, there are more than 100 Nobel Prize laureates and winners of many other prestigious awards. The institute’s alumni are globally renowned leaders in fields ranging from artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, computing and biotechnology to robotics, energy and economics.
The signing event was attended by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Kara C. McDonald, Prof. Gediminas Urbonas of the MIT Arts, Culture and Technology Program who is currently a visiting professor at Vytautas Magnus University and the Vilnius Academy of Arts, MIT Ukraine Programme Founder and Director and MIT Eurasia Programme Director Prof. Elizabeth Wood, and MIT’s vice provost for international activities Prof. Duane Boning. A presentation was given by Vladimir Bulovic, the director of MIT.nano and a professor of electrical engineering and computer science.
The event concluded with a panel discussion among science and business representatives titled “The Lithuanian-MIT partnership: our readiness to play in the top league”. Participants included consortium partners and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Science Council Dr Gintaras Valinčius.
The discussion touched on the significance of the agreement for science, business and innovation in Lithuania, its role in the overall context of the country’s strategic international agreements, the partners’ expectations and goals, and specific cooperation projects and challenges.
The partners in the MIT MISTI consortium are Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology, Klaipeda University, Vilnius University, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, the Vilnius Academy of Arts, the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, the Lithuanian Energy Institute, Ignitis Group AB, Lietuvos Geležinkeliai AB and Novian UAB, and Euromonitor International – Eastern Europe UAB.
The Novian group’s companies operate in the fields of IT infrastructure, software development and digitization services. They are active in such innovation-intensive areas as artificial intelligence and big data, deploy high performance computing (HPC) clusters, and promote the development of quantum technologies in the country. In 2023, the Novian group had aggregated revenues of EUR 40.3 million, or 21.9% more than in 2022. Its companies’ operating geography covered 37 countries.
