Hi-Tech-TEX – New sustainable and cross-sectorial value chains towards excellence in Hi-Tech Textiles to foster the uptake of innovation and increasing competitiveness.  

Hi-Tech-TEX main objective is to strengthen cluster management excellence and facilitate exchanges and strategic partnering between clusters and specialized eco-systems and cities across Europe, including through implementation of the ClusterXchange mobility scheme.   Hi-Tech-TEX partnership integrates Portuguese Textile Cluster/ CITEVE (the coordinator), from Portugal, AEi TÈXTILS, from Spain; ATEVAL, from Spain; NTT, from Italy; DCC TTC, from Turkey; CLUTEX, from Czech Republic.   Joint learning events are in progress as part of the project. The learning visits as one of the joint learning events, consisted on the visit of several organizations to identify which services and how are they targeted to SMEs. Those meetings allowed cluster managers to compare the services offered by each partner in comparison with the leaders, as well as to learn and identify potential new services to be added to each cluster’s portfolio.  Each partner in Hi-Tech-TEX visited the selected hosts for the learning visits to get useful and practical information on good management practices and better understand on how to develop such new professional services on the transfer plans. 

DCC TTC was at Bursa Textile Show for Learning Visit of Hi-Tech-TEX, between 28th February to 2nd March 2023. The Bursa Textile Show learning visit included the participation in a round table (dia-logs) and the visit to KFA Global Fair Agency established by Bursa Chamber of Commerce, the organizer of HOMETEX, international Home Textile Fair. These activities allowed the participant to discuss the challenges, gap and opportunities for SMEs, particularly in technical textiles and contact with good management of a fair including seminar sessions and involving in university, R&D centre, textile engineers association and EU Project team.

PTC/CITEVE and NTT were at iTechStyle Summit and ETP annual conference for Learning Visit of Hi-Tech-TEX, between 10th to 12th May 2023. The iTechStyle Summit and the annual ETP conference focus in three big themes: green and digital transition, smart local production and high-performance materials, addressing the four most relevant topics for the textile and clothing sector: ecodesign, digital product passport, smart manufacturing and performance materials for future products. The iTechStyle summit and ETP annual conference provided a forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, promote collaboration and networking, and showcase the latest developments and innovations in the textile and clothing sector, with the ultimate goal of driving sustainable growth and innovation in the industry.

PTC/CITEVE and CLUTEX were at ITMA 2023 for Learning Visit of Hi-Tech-TEX, between 11th to 14th June 2023.  ITMA 2023 is the world’s most influential textile and garment technology exhibition. It is where the industry converges every four years to showcase the latest textile and garment processing technologies, machinery, and materials, promote collaborations and forge partnerships. This learning visit include technology demonstrations on the fields of non-wovens, high-tech sorting and baling solutions, recycling and blending, dyeing, and finishing processes and automated real-time inspection, as well as meetings with ITMA exhibitors and networking activities.

PTC/CITEVE, ATEVAL and AEi Tèxtils were at 6th International Conference on Natural Fibers – Nature Inspired Sustainable Solutions conference (ICNF2023) for Learning Visit of Hi-Tech-TEX, between 19th to 21st June 2023.   The 6th International Conference on Natural Fibers (ICNF 2023) focus on nature inspired sustainable solutions, aiming to explore the potential of natural fibers as key materials to smart design and sustainable solutions for the future generations. The ICNF 2023 allowed the participants to keep update the state of art on textile fibre developments and therefore bring relevant information to potential new services to support SMEs in foster the uptake of innovation and increasing competitiveness as well as accessing new markets and cross-sectorial value chains.