3W water, hydro, coal - a platform to support innovation
Innovation and rapid technological development are currently crucial to the success of various ventures. History shows that in countries that base their economies on innovation, public institutions have played a decisive role in creating platforms for technology development. The 3W idea is just such a platform, and innovations from under the 3W label have the potential to become a "gamechanger" for the Polish economy and accelerate its development. But let's start with the past.
In 1907, the American company AT&T faced a crisis. The new CEO decided to take a step that would give the company new life: he commissioned the construction of a system that would enable a voice connection across the entire US - between New York and San Francisco. It seemed impossible, but the company created a science and technology complex where it gathered dozens of scientists: theorists, practitioners, engineers. The team worked on inventions that overcame various limitations, and within eight years they had created signal amplifiers that allowed the first conversation across the continent to take place in January 1915. It was attended not only by company founder Alexander Graham Bell, but also by then US President Woodrow Wilson.
Work on this ambitious goal resulted in the establishment of Bell Labs, an organization that became the forge of innovation in the American economy. It was there that computer and digital technologies were perfected in later years. Bell Labs headquarters was home to theoreticians, materials specialists, engineers and even telephone pole repairmen. They were people of many talents who simply worked closely together. Bell Labs is a model description of what it takes to create a culture of innovation.
3 steps to create a culture of innovation
A real need, talented people and a welcoming ecosystem are the elements necessary for technologies to emerge that will change our future. Today, we too are facing a historic opportunity when this magical combination of factors occurs. The 3W idea is just such a platform, and 3W innovation has great potential to accelerate the development of the Polish economy, thanks to, among other things, the synergy of various resources - both those related to the involvement in the cooperation of bold entrepreneurs and talented scientists, but also the synergy of water, hydrogen and non-energy coal, i.e. resources that are the basis of new technologies used in industry, medicine or agriculture.
We are currently facing serious challenges, such as limited access to drinking water and food, the need for an energy transition towards zero-carbon, or the need to ensure economic and physical security - (a particularly socially relevant aspect in the context of the events in Ukraine).
Our country has no shortage of talented people who are not indifferent to the future of the next generation and want to change the world for the better. An example of a company from the 3W world, which will present at the Impact'23 conference, is Naiad Water Investments. Its founders have turned to artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics to determine from data how much water individual crops in agriculture need to grow most efficiently. The second - a company called WTT - has developed a technology for the total disposal of waste. Gas, hydrogen and basalt rocks - products that can be reused - are left from the trash after processing. Another example is Nanonet and their carbon nanomaterials, which have specific applications in medicine as nanotattoos that monitor body parameters, or in electronics (in printed flexible devices) and renewable energy technologies, among others. The 3W ecosystem brings together a variety of environments that work together. It is both business and scientists from the 3W Interdisciplinary Innovation Center, whose goal is to combine Polish intellectual potential with the needs of business.
- The 3W idea is an objective center of competence and a platform for synergy - both in terms of resources and potentials. This is the first ecosystem of its kind in Poland, which combines business, science, the public sector in a real way and opens up completely new opportunities for cooperation, implementation and commercialization of more ambitious projects than would be possible with dispersed resources. We are bringing together companies that create innovative solutions related to water, hydrogen and coal, so that they can build partnerships together and jointly develop added value, develop their products in innovative technological and business formats with useful and effective support from the world of science," said Maciej Przybyła, managing director of the strategy division of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego.
This and many other issues will be discussed at the upcoming prestigious economic and technological event Impact 2023, which is attended by executives of the world's largest companies, as well as politicians, scientists and experts.