Horizon4Poland’23 – knowledge and practice
The largest Polish matchmaking event, Horizon4Poland’23, took place in Warsaw on 21-22 November 2023. It was organised by a network of Industry Contact Points, one of which is staffed by Łukasiewicz-PIAP.
The Industry Contact Point Industry 4.0, led by Łukasiewicz-PIAP, was inaugurated in 2022. The aim is to support researchers and industrial entrepreneurs in obtaining funding for innovative research and implementation of cutting-edge technologies from Horizon Europe.
In the second half of November, the second edition of Horizon4Poland took place, connecting Polish entities – companies, enterprises, clusters, scientific and research institutions – with foreign partners. Two days full of people, meetings and networking opportunities – that is how this year’s event can be summarised in a nutshell.
The first day for the Industry 4.0 Focal Point was marked by photonics. Together with the European Partnership Photonics21 Łukasiewicz-PIAP organised Breakout Sessions and Round Tables. Experts discussed, among other things, how and why it is worthwhile to get involved in the Photonics21 partnership, how the development of photonic innovation can be supported using the examples of the Polish Photonics Technology Platform and the Lithuanian Laser Association, and how PhotonHub Europe helps to implement photonics solutions.
Also of great interest were the thematic tables, where attendees could talk to experts about lasers as tools in Industry 4.0 and the PhotonHub Europe collaboration offer. These conversations were so engaging that they turned into more than a dozen one-on-one meetings on the second day of the event. That day also saw several meetings with experts from the Industry Contact Point Industry 4.0, which helped to win over potential partners for Polish entrepreneurs. The second day also featured a session led by Łukasiewicz-PIAP expert Paulina Jasińska-Zielińska, which included a presentation by Fluence, a company that cooperates with the Industry Contact Point Industry 4.0.
Also present at the Łukasiewicz-PIAP stand during the event were representatives of the EIT Manufacturing Hub Poland and representatives of EIT Manufacturing, with whom it was possible to talk about the services offered by EIT-M and the possibilities of joining the partnership. The EIT is an independent body of the European Union, set up to enable the best innovative ideas to be turned into products and services to be developed on a European scale. EIT – Manufacturing is one of the communities in this partnership with an industrial focus. Łukasiewicz-PIAP is the Polish hub of this organisation.