BGK, together with partners, establishes 3W Interdisciplinary Innovations Center

3W Interdisciplinary Innovations Center is the realization of 3W initiative that Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego announced in 2021. The initiative is the response to the civilization challenges regarding sustainable socio-economic development. On the one hand it is about the issues regarding climate and environment protection, and on the other hand it is about the increase of the competitiveness of Polish economy. 3W Idea’s objectives fit into the challenges regarding new geopolitical situation.

Help in commercialising inventions

3W Interdisciplinary Innovations Center is to facilitate the launch of new water, hydrogen and carbon technologies on the market. The Center will work out the assessments of potential and prepare strategies of technology development in 3W areas. It will also offer consulting services.

The agreement on establishing the 3W ICI was signed by the representatives of eleven Polish universities and technical universities: Poznan University of Technology, Cracow University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszalin University of Technology, Rzeszow University of Technology, Opole University of Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, UMCS in Lublin, University of Zielona Góra, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin and the representative of The Łukasiewicz Research Network.

Common areas that join these solutions – e.g. water with carbon, will be particularly important. The entities interested in commercialising the inventions from 3W sector will be additionally able to request the Center for relation support in seeking partners for commercialization as well as obtaining funds – Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, the president of BGK and the initiator of 3W Idea, said. – All these actions will influence marketing of many projects that did not have possibility for it before.

3W ICI will support scientific centers and Polish scientists that:

• solve the problems with access to water
• develop ways how to use hydrogen in energy transformation
• create innovative technologies connected with various carbon content: graphene, nanotubes, fullerenes and others.

3W ICI will also promote implementation doctorates, create curricula of studies and training courses related to 3W, among others.

Universities have the intellectual and technical potential to develop issues related to water, hydrogen and carbon. We also need the integration of the environment so as not to compete with each other - said Prof. Eng. Teofil Jesionowski, the rector of the Poznań University of Technology. -We know that new technologies are costly, but they are very beneficial from the point of view of further economic development. The earlier investment will pay off with more creating jobs, know-how, as well as new, environmentally friendly solutions because we should not forget about climate change”, added Prof. Jesionowski.

Supporting best technologies

3W ICI will support the best solutions from 3W sector. Members of the Center will provide opinions on projects regarding their innovativeness and compliance with 3W idea, and also verify their TRL - technology readiness level.

3W Interdisciplinary Innovations Center will create new and network the already existing incubators. The goal of the Center will also be effective support of start-ups or spin-offs that specialise in 3W subjects and applications.

I am very happy that the Łukasiewicz Research Network i.e. 26 institutes and 4.5K engineers and scientists can be a part of this initiative, the leader of which is BGK. This is not a typical situation that a bank mobilises scientific world to develop modern technologies, so this is good news to all scientists in Poland – Dr Piotr Dardziński, the President of the Łukasiewicz Research Network, said. – Joining forces, not competing, is needed, so we hope that in 3W ICI we will build consortia for filing projects that will develop technologies useful for Polish entrepreneurs.

3W Idea popularisation

The Center is a crucial element popularising 3W Idea. In 3W ICI seminars, scientific workshops and conferences will be held, among others, that will raise awareness on the 3W initiative and present good practices.

The Center wants to build social awareness on the importance of everyday consumer decisions, in the spirit of sustainable development. Thanks to 3W innovative technologies Polish economy stands a chance to accelerate the transformation towards zero footprint, which will allow it to become more competitive. 3W ICI was established to create a friendly ecosystem that will facilitate knowledge exchange, help establish relations and obtain support for projects with the highest development potential. For the founders it is also important for the native ideas to obtain grants more often – not only in Poland, but also abroad.

3W on ImpactCEE’22

Impact is one of the biggest and most prestigious economic and technological events in Central and Eastern Europe. It is attended by top managers from the largest global companies, politicians, regulators, scientists and experts. This year there was also the discussion regarding 3W: “New model of cooperation between science and business as part of 3W Idea”. Whereas during workshops rectors and representatives of universities could talk about the coming tasks of 3W Interdisciplinary Innovations Center.