Twin City Hub: Connecting innovation, talent and industry in the cross-border Bratislava – Vienna area

The SAPIE Forum 2026 confirmed that Slovakia has a strong potential to build a modern innovation ecosystem based on cooperation between startups, schools, industry and the public sector. For the Interreg SK-AT Twin City Hub project, the event was an exceptional opportunity to present concrete activities that support the development of innovation and connect stakeholders in the Bratislava-Vienna cross-border area.

The Twin City Future Innovation Manufacturing Hub project aims to support the innovation environment in the cross-border area of Slovakia and Austria. It aims to create a strong community of stakeholders who will jointly shape the future of industry, education and technology entrepreneurship.

During the SAPIE Forum 2026, the Twin City Hub presented several initiatives in the Expo Zone:

Sprint & Roadshow series: from the idea to the prototype

One of the activities presented was the Sprint & Roadshow Series, an initiative aimed at promoting and accelerating the development of hardware prototypes. The program supports teams and innovators in turning their ideas into working solutions that can be tested and further developed.

Such activities are key to achieving the goals of the Twin City Hub project, as they help to:

accelerate the transfer of innovations into practice,
promote technological entrepreneurship,
connect start-ups with experts and the industry,
develop cross-border cooperation between Slovakia and Austria.

provide practical mentoring, workshops and networking activities so that innovation can expand more effectively and with real impact.

Impressions

Photo credit: Jaroslav Repta

Twin City EdTech Testbed: Innovation directly in schools

The Twin Cities EdTech Testbed Program enables pilot tests of EdTech prototypes directly in schools.

This initiative combines education with technological innovation and promotes at the same time:

the modernization of the learning environment,
the involvement of schools in innovation processes,
collaboration between start-ups, educators and students,
the development of young people’s digital skills.

Promoting talent and building a culture of innovation among young people is one of the strategic priorities of the Twin City Hub project. The Bratislava-Vienna region has the potential to become an important center for technological education and experimentation with new forms of learning.

Industry meets Makers: open innovation in practice

An important part of the presentation was also the Industry meets Makers format, which creates a space for open innovation and collaboration between companies, start-ups, students and the technology community.

Planned events were also part of this initiative:

Twin City Future Tech Bootcamp in Hainburg.
Best of Industry meets Makers Presentation of tech solutions in Vienna.

These activities show how cross-border cooperation can deliver concrete results:

new technological solutions, ideas and other perspectives
cross-sector and cross-border partnerships,
innovative approaches
linking talent with the needs of the industry,
opportunities for young people and budding entrepreneurs to work in a real environment with real tasks and company teams

The Twin City Hub thus actively supports the emergence of a community in which innovations are not created in isolation, but in collaboration.

A strong community as the basis for innovation

One of the biggest benefits of the SAPIE Forum was the opportunity to meet people who are shaping the Slovak innovation ecosystem. Building a community is one of the cornerstones of the Twin City Hub project.

The cross-border region Bratislava – Vienna has a unique combination of: