Kortrijk, the city where our headquarters are located, is a vibrant town full of ambition and innovative ideas. Its aspirations are reflected in the many successful companies and leading university colleges - including the world's best game design school! - that chose Kortrijk as their home. Now there's a brand-new initiative to spread the innovation vibe: Hangar K - a creation hub that brings students, start-ups and entrepreneurs together. Barco is a proud partner of the initiative; our CEO Jan De Witte is the chairman.

High-tech ecosystem

Our company is rooted in south West Flanders and has been active in Kortrijk for decades. The brand-new One Campus that we inaugurated in 2016 was proof of our dedication to the region, as is our contribution to the exciting new Hangar K initiative. 'Kortrijk city dreamed of a unique high-tech platform where students, start-ups, academic institutions and established enterprises could get inspired, co-create and connect. As a technology leader committed to boosting the economy in the region, we were enthusiastic to help them create this ecosystem,' explains Guy Van Wijmeersch, Barco's Director Innovation & Design Thinking.

Besides Barco, several educational facilities, as well as Cronos Group, Belgium's largest IT group, and Start it @KBC were excited to get on board too.

Breeding ground for entrepreneurship

The 'Hangar K' co-creation hub was officially presented this morning. It will be located in an impressive building at 'Kortrijk Weide', a former site of the Belgian National Railways which is being repurposed into a 21 century activity hub. We hope to welcome numerous students and businesses to spur creativity and innovation in the field of digital technologies, user experience, industrial design, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, edutech, etc.

'More than just a workspace, we hope this to be a competence center as well as an incubator: a place where students and start-ups inspire existing companies, while experienced entrepreneurs share tips and tricks on turning ideas into real products. Hangar K should become a real breeding ground for entrepreneurship that encourages people to embrace the opportunities of the digital age to build new, successful businesses,' said Jan De Witte during the opening speech.

Interested? Visit the Hangar K website for more details.

Barco NV published this content on 04 October 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 04 October 2017 11:59:03 UTC.

Original documenthttp://www.barco.com/en/News/Post/2017/10/4/Barco-proudly-presents-Hangar-K-a-unique-co-creation-hub-in-its-hometown-of-Kortrijk

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