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The Prague-based property technology company Spaceti took top honours this year at MIPIM, the world’s biggest real estate industry fair, held in the glitzy French resort town of Cannes. Co-founder Aakas Ravi spoke to Radio Prague about the start-up’s evolution from focusing on safety to its pioneering work making “smart buildings” even smarter.

The Czech military aircraft producer Aero Vodochody is marking the company’s 100th birthday with an exhibition documenting the development of its aircraft over the years. Titled “A century with Aero”, the exhibition showcases veterans – from its very first Aero A-1 which took to the skies in 1919 to its latest L-39 NG model launched in December of last year.

Scientists from the Technical University in Brno have responded to an appeal to help albinos in Ghana, creating an affordable, high-factor sun protection cream that can be produced cheaply in local conditions from easily available ingredients. Money for the start-up was raised through the biggest Czech crowdfunding site HitHit which supports young artists, scientists and designers.

The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry on Monday announced its plan to increase the total parental leave benefit from 220,000 to 300,000 crowns. Despite the increase, the real value of the allowance will be lower than twelve years ago, Czech Radio’s data journalism team reported on Wednesday.

Things have improved dramatically in the past 30 years as far as service in restaurants goes, but you still come across irritable waiters, with long faces who make a good job of ignoring guests for as long as possible. According to a recent survey by the STEM/MARK agency two out of three Czechs say waiters must earn their tip, but only one in five people leave the customary ten percent of the bill. So are waiters rude and unwilling because Czechs are skimpy or are Czechs skimpy because waiters don’t give proper service?

Czech travel agencies have noted a steady rise in clients over the age of sixty, reflecting increased spending power among seniors looking to enjoy – in many cases –a long overdue foreign holiday. With the population rapidly ageing, this demographic will be an ever-greater part of agencies’ clientele. And a demanding one, at that.

More and more Czechs are booking private flights, according to a report released by the website e15 this week. The number of private flights at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport has been steadily growing over the past few years. Since 2014, their volume increased by nearly ten percent.

Viewing the sights of Prague from a beer bike with a cold lager in hand and fifteen friends around you may seem like the perfect tour of the city, but “partying while you pedal” may soon be a thing of the past. Following the example of cities like Amsterdam, Prague City Hall wants ban to beer bikes from the historic city center and, if possible, other areas as well.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says he will receive information within the next week from the country’s operators pertaining to mobile data prices in the Czech Republic. The relative high cost of data in this country has become a political issue in the last few weeks.

Budějovický Budvar last year recorded the highest exports in its history. The brewing company – whose products are sold under the Czechvar brand name in some states – exported 1.07 million hectolitres of beer in 2018, a rise of 8.5 percent on the previous year, according to figures it has just released.