Looking back: Open Innovation Topical Workshops in March
The open innovation topical workshops create a thematic space to connect interdisciplinary stakeholders who want to actively shape the energy future. Exciting discussions and a joint generation of ideas were on the agenda.
Based on current opportunities and needs, Green Energy Lab outlined three topical workshops. A total of 45 participants from our partner network contributed their creativity and know-how to the workshops, generating more than 100 new ideas for tomorrow’s innovative energy solutions. Open innovation methods were used to jointly work out and cluster concrete project ideas.
The starting signal was given on March 18, 2019, in St. Pölten—NÖ Energie- und Umweltagentur GmbH (eNu)—on the subject of “Sustainable energy services for a defined target group.” The focus was on system integration and market integration of buildings and building complexes as well as the multiple use of space. In the future, grid operators, commercial enterprises and tourism, for example, are to benefit from new, innovative energy services.
The next day, on March 19, 2019—CAMPUS 02 Fachhochschule der Wirtschaft— in Graz dealt with the topic “Demo projects for a system integration of renewable energy.” Among other things, this involved the optimized use of wind and solar energy through virtual demand-side management, storage power plants (electricity and heat) or smart green low-temperature networks.
Last but not least, on March 26, 2019, in Eisenstadt—Forschung Burgenland GmbH—all participants exchanged views on the topic of “Digitization as an enabler for customer-centered solutions.” How can individual adaptations for end customers be made possible? Front-end applications, gamification, and flexible tariff models are important pioneer methods in this respect. A special highlight was the look behind the scenes of the new Fab Lab of Forschung Burgenland. Here, special IT components are developed and manufactured for various areas of application—including the energy industry; for example, a drone equipped with special sensors to collect measurement data.
