The 9th edition of the Innovative Aviation Forum, together with the Defence and Space Conference, was held at the Convention Centre in Montréal, the capital of the largest and only fully francophone province of Québec, Canada's most important aviation hub. The event was successfully implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic as an economic diplomacy project in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa and the CzechInvest agency.

The Forum brought dozens of innovative companies from around the world to Montreal to showcase cutting-edge technologies in aviation, transport and defence. The goal of sharing ideas and advances in software, infrastructure and technology was and is to rethink travel in the 21st century. The Innovation Forum is a great platform to reach out to local partners and tap into Quebec's $18-billion aerospace market.

The aviation sector is very competitive and, especially in dealing with Canadian companies, often requires immeasurable patience and, above all, persistence in presenting interest in cooperation. Czech companies are aware of the potential of the local market for establishing contacts with global players in this sector, and after participating in the virtual event in 2020, they came in person this time, knowing that business simply has to be done locally and in person. As the only foreign non-US delegation, they benefited from the fact that after two virtual years, there is an outright hunger in the aviation community for networking and, above all, finding new technologies.

Czech companies who participated include MGM Compro, a manufacturer of complex electric drive systems, Radalytica with its unique non-destructive testing technology, Uptim. ai as a provider of a new standard for engineering simulations and data analysis, PBS, among others, cooperating with the world's leading manufacturers of cryogenic technology, and last but not least the Moravian Aviation Cluster representing dozens of other great Czech companies and actively trying to connect with Canadian partners have done their job well and left a great impression in Montreal. The Czech companies met with Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier and Bell, or with representatives of academia and research centres, and after returning home they have a lot of follow-up communication to do with the negotiations.

Among the main themes of Aviation Week, was the importance and inevitability of sustainable aviation through green energy. Throughout the programme, it was also noted, among other things, that the long-term goal of achieving zero emissions by 2050 is changing the entire dynamic of the aviation industry, and that the net-zero imperative will prospectively slow down travel, and the industry's projected five percent annual growth may be threatened unless there is strong investment in sustainable aviation fuels. Czech companies have much to offer in this regard as well.

In addition to the B2B meetings that took place throughout the two conferences, there were also meetings with traditional partners, the largest aviation association Aero Montreal or the CRIAQ aviation consortium, which for the third year now has announced together with the agency TAČR a public competition under the DELTA 2 programme to support applied research, experimental development and innovation. In cooperation with the CRIAQ consortium, in recent months there has been an increased interest in cooperation and an active search for potential cooperation projects with Czech partners. Based on the excellent relations and also on the successful proposal for the implementation of a joint project within the DELTA 2 programme, the Czech side has recently been approached to participate in the next edition of the RDV Forum 2023, where major aeronautical projects will be presented in which Czech companies can also participate.

A productive meeting was also held at the stand of Bell Flight, a subsidiary of Bell Textron, with whose representatives Czech companies had the opportunity to meet during the April mission to Canada, and with whom they are negotiating the organisation of a possible incoming mission to the Czech Republic in 2023.

Government and private investment in Canada is flowing into support for research and development of new technologies, especially in the areas of carbon-neutral aviation, digital technologies and unmanned aircraft. Across the sector, there are opportunities to supply aerospace components or advanced AI technologies. The aviation market environment is obviously changing very quickly, which was also evident in the participation of many new companies at this year's forum, and it is great that Czech companies are still at it and trying to respond flexibly to changing conditions and trends.

Jan Kubačka, Economic Diplomat
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa