István Ádám Kiss, President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDIO) visited the ZalaZONE Automotive Proving Ground in Zalaegerszeg on Saturday, January 11.
The guest was welcomed at the ZalaZONE Conference Center by Prof. Dr. László Palkovics, Managing Director of Automotive Proving Ground Zala Ltd. Dr. András Háry, CEO of ZalaZONE Industrial Park, and Zoltán Hamar, Managing Director of AVL-ZalaZONE Ltd.


In the first part of the visit, the President of the NRDIO received an overview of the technical and business operations of the ZalaZONE Industrial Park and the test track, the current development trends in the automotive industry and their impact on Hungary in the form of short presentations. In the second half of the program, he visited the high-speed oval track, which is to be opened in the spring and is the first facility of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe. He also got to know the special track elements for testing self-driving vehicles, as well as the first-class equipment park (robots, dummies, self-driving vehicles) and the test track control center, which together represent the latest and currently most modern test ecosystem in Europe.


The program ended with a detailed presentation of the innovation ecosystem developed at ZalaZONE.
At the meeting, special emphasis was placed on the introduction of research projects for the development of automotive, energy and cooperative technologies, as well as the presentation of further plans.
During the consultation, the parties emphasized the good relationship that has been existed for several years between the NRDIO and ZalaZONE and agreed to intensify the cooperation.