The European Commission’s Innovation Radar Prize will be awarded this week, rewarding high potential EU-funded research and innovation.
20 Innovation Radar Prize finalists, voted for by the public, will present their innovations to a jury of experts at the ICT 2018 event in Vienna between December 4 and 6. They will receive help and support in preparing their pitches from experts and professionals in the European Enterprise Network, the world’s largest network for small to medium enterprises.
Innovation Radar Prize winners will be chosen in five categories:
- Tech for society – acknowledging technology’s potential to help society and citizens;
- Industrial and enabling tech – for technology and components supporting industry;
- Best early stage innovation – recognising innovations in the early stages of development;
- Best young SME – for small to medium enterprises established after 2012; and
- Excellent science – rewarding cutting edge science behind technology developments.
A “Grand Prix” prize will also be awarded for the most impressive innovation of any Innovation Radar Prize category; the winner will be given the chance to appear on a euronews programme to promote their product.
2017’s Grand Prix prize was won by CATEC, a Spanish research centre specialising in aviation, for revolutionary developments in drone technology. CATEC’s Innovation Radar Prize winner was an industrial drone project producing drones with robotic arms and state of the art sensors, enabling them not only to “see”, but also to “feel” their environment.
This year’s Innovation Radar Prize finalists include:
- The University of Zagreb’s Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies – for development of autonomous unmanned surface maritime vessels (excellent science);
- Sygix – for developing a globally optimised intelligent online navigation system (best early stage innovation);
- Glassup – for creating augmented reality goggles to optimise industry and professional productivity (industrial and enabling tech);
- Gr3n – for a new depolymerisation process which promotes circularity in polyesters (tech for society); and
- Spazoidati – for an online tool providing detailed, easy to access information about millions of businesses and small to medium enterprises (best young SME).
