Staff Exchange is an important and enriching part of the DA-SPACE project for the parties involved. Based on the discussions about the knowledge and experience needs of the Slovak and Czech solvers of  DA-SPACE challenges the Slovak and Czech partners of the project agreed on the most appealing topics. Czech Technical University in Prague was interested in the business modelling, lean startup and marketing issues withing the business plan development presented by the Slovak colleagues whereas the Slovak Tech in Bratislava preferred the  issues of the customer interviews within the Design Thinking framework. Because of the proximity of Czech and Slovak languages and decades of history of living in the common state (1918 to 1992) there has been neither barrier for the Czech solvers to follow presentations in Slovak and nor for the Slovak solvers to follow the Czech presentations. Both parties took this presentation exchange also as their modest contribution to the 100th anniversary of the origin of common state of Czechs and Slovaks this year.

On 22 March 2018 Dr. Marian Zajko from the STU presented to the members of the CTU solver teams at the CTU Faculty of IT his interactive lecture in Slovak an informal way. First, he explained the key relevance of business modeling in business plan development and then concentrated on the value proposition design within the Business Model Canvas method and example of its implementation in a software company.

However, since the startupers might prefer Maurya´s modification of this method, the Lean Canvas instead, he outlined its application. In the conclusion he summarised some widely used business models in the ICT projects, such as„ Bait and hook“, „Subscription“ and „Freemium“. During and after the presentation took place Czech-Slovak discussion with the participants mostly on practical aspects of business modeling. The participants could use the knowledge on business modelling in their work on business solutions of their challenges.

On 25 April 2018 Dr. Hana Janakova from the STU gave to the members of the .CTU solver teams at the same faculty her presentation on the key concepts and tools of market research and marketing from the practical point of view in English and Slovak.

She used selected case studies to demonstrate the development of the 4Ps of the marketing mix highligting the potential failures there. She concluded her interactive presentation with short cases on selected current marketing trends in marketing: on-line marketing, role of four distinct stages of perception during consumer information processing, in-game marketing, viral marketing and guerrilla marketing. The audience found appealing and inspiring for further work especially her use of case studies in the presentation.

Finally, Dr. Zajko was invited as an informal member of jury panel to the 1st round of business idea contest related to the challenges solved in the CTU OI Lab. It took place at the CTU Faculty of IT on 3 May 2018 and showed considerable maturity of business idea solutions as well as improved level of presentation skills of the solver teams compared with their performance during the solution cycle (Fig. 3). The preliminary winner was the team Spolubydla developing an application for easier sharing of accommodation by several persons. The final round of the contest that will determine the team presenting the CTU OI Lab in the First International Demo Day in Pula is to be held on 15 May 2018.

Many thanks to our Czech colleagues and friends in the DA-SPACE project for the efficient and pleasant staff echange.