The trust model on the Internet is broken. Security-wise, today’s password-based authentication system is dead - more than 90% of current passwords are vulnerable to hacking. What’s worse, the user experience today is a really bumpy ride – registrations, logins, CAPTCHAs, and verification emails present significant obstacles for both the users and the service providers, and contribute to very low conversion rates. We at EXC Sp. z.o.o. (https://getexcalibur.com), a team of young enthusiasts are developing a revolutionary platform for secure and seamless authentication of Internet users – Excalibur Cloud Password Manager powered by our proprietary distributed cryptographic scheme. Excalibur utilizes mobile phones or a wearable computer – user’s most personal device – to act as a universal security token for the digital world. Using our unique scheme we create a strongly authenticated state on the phone and project it to any device you want to use so that you don't have to authenticate on that device again. Such as your PC, mobile device, or any other Internet connected device. All that while providing a seamless user experience – making authentication invisible for the user. Although our solution reached the private Beta version stage, our development is not yet completed – we continue its evolution focusing on enhancing its core components such as proximity detection, behaviometrics and browser sandboxing. Excalibur 2.0 is of strategic importance to our company as it helps harden and enhance our existing platform as well as to establish technological leadership. In order to do so, we are applying for SME Instrument Phase 1 funds to: (i) elaborate an exhaustive technical feasibility study focused on scale-up beyond our current Beta version of the platform; (ii) elaborate a detailed business plan for the commercialization of Excalibur 2.0 at the conclusion of the envisaged Phase 2 project.

The exploitation of fossil fuels brought our ecosystem on the edge of catastrophic changes. Mankind’s current challenge is to reverse the increase of greenhouse gases emissions to mitigate the serious consequences on the global climate. In this scenario, the transition of modern society to a more sustainable and circular economy must be accelerated. One of the key pillars of this transition is the implementation of a sustainable CO2 cycle, based on net-zero emissions Carbon Capture and Utilization processes. Membrane-based technologies could play a pivotal role to bring this vision closer to reality. Indeed, thanks to their high efficiency, scalability, easy operability, they are candidates for the efficient capture and use of CO2. The goal of DAM4CO2 is to develop a novel membrane technology for the simultaneous CO2 separation and its photocatalytic conversion to C4+ molecules, as renewable fuels. DAM4CO2 will overcome the conventional membrane technologies by developing double active membranes (DAMs) with a durable and highly selective gas separation layer and a photocatalytic layer able to simultaneously combine in one pot reverse water gas shift (RWGS) and Fisher-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) to obtain C4+ molecules. The project will deliver a prototype, designed using the design-build-test-learn approach, for a proof-of-concept validation in lab-conditions. Close attention will be paid to the use of non-critical raw materials at every stage of the process, and the carbon-neutrality of the entire process will be certified by a full life cycle analysis. DAM4CO2 brings together the complementary expertise of our team in the areas of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry, materials science, and chemical engineering for the development, synthesis, and characterization of the starting materials, and for the design, construction, and application of membrane modules. DAM4CO2 will implement a sustainable, cost and energy effective net zero carbon CO2 cycle.

Recognised as the driving force behind sustainable economic growth and job creation, innovation remains at the forefront of development plans. However, Eastern European countries, notably Poland, Hungary and Croatia, lag behind their EU peers in almost all aspects of innovation. Moreover, while the majority of European/national innovation programmes focus on increasing R&D spending and technology absorption, the World Bank points out that, “This will be a long and difficult process because technological innovation does not yet seem to be a part of Poland’s economic DNA.” (Toward an Innovative Poland 2015). More generally, a hi-tech, high investment innovation approach is risky given the financial constraints faced by small businesses today, high levels of market saturation and the low consumer spending in the age of austerity. Frugal innovation, in contrast, is a low tech, cost effective approach which employs design thinking and problem solving skills to generate innovative and value-maximizing products and services. Frugal innovation can enable businesses across Poland and Europe to grow in spite of current economic conditions, by better meeting the demands of local price-sensitive consumers, solving unmet needs and opening up exports to global base-of-the-pyramid markets. OUR OBJECTIVES Our overall goal was to introduce the frugal innovation education to our enterprise-oriented VET institutions and universities and by extension, our economies. In order to do so, we have produced the following: i. Created 4 FRUGAL INNOVATION REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP PLANS (IO1), convening actors from across the public, private and education sectors. ii. Develop 2 CLASSROOM CURRICULUMS, TEACHERS’ PACKS AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS (IO2) to introduce effective Frugal Innovation teaching in classroom settings in the VET and HE sector iii. Develop 1 OPEN ONLINE TRAINING COURSE WITH SELF ASSESSMENT (IO3) to widen access to frugal innovation for existing entrepreneurs and SME owners; iv. Rigorously test and improve the resources with the target groups, then disseminate to maximize the uptake of the resources. The project involved participants at all stages, from design to execution to evaluation, specifically: - 50+ enterprise focussed VET & HE institutions and wider stakeholders participated in the REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP PLANS - 6+ SMEs or other organizations have their CASE STUDIES developed for use in the course materials - 24 teaching staff from VET institutions and HEIs have participated in the USER TESTING - 60 HE students, VET students and existing entrepreneurs/SMEs have participated in USER TESTING Altogether in the user testing there was 138 participants. - 226 VET institutions, HE institutions and wider stakeholders have participated in MULTIPLIER EVENTS Using a careful theory of change analysis, our tangible outputs have been designed to serve as catalysts and tools to enable broader and deeper outcomes which are both: a) knowledge outcomes (changes) b) behaviour outcomes (changes). These are more “intangible” in nature, but since they are crucial to the ability of the project to achieve its final goal, have also been monitored closely and measured throughout the project. The following tangible results have been produced by the project: a) 1 Project Management Handbook b) 4 Frugal Innovation Partnership Plans c) 2 Classroom course Curriculums, Teachers’ Packs and Assessment Guides d) 1 Open Online Training Course. e) 1 User Experience Test and Feedback Report f) 1 Integrated Dissemination Strategy h)1 Impact Evaluation Strategy i) 1 Dissemination Record and Report j) 1 Internal evaluation report k) 1 sustainability trategy l) 4 newsletters in all partner languagesm) 4 promotional videos in all partner languages n) 1 Impact Evaluation and Quality Monitoring report The tangible results will led to the following outcomes and impacts: - HE AND VET INSTITUTIONS AND WIDER STAKEHOLDERS acquired working knowledge of frugal innovation and will demonstrate greater commitment to support it - TEACHING STAFF in HE and enterprise focussed VET institutions in 4 regions expanded their knowledge and skills, being able to integrate frugal innovation into their teaching services. - HE STUDENTS, ENTREPRENEURS AND SMEs have developed Frugal Innovation mind-set and skills for application in their professional lives to help them create new services and/or address new markets and grow their businesses. - WIDER STAKEHOLDERS AND POLICY MAKERS gained greater awareness, & knowledge of frugal innovation as a new and important aspect of innovation education. In addition, the impact of the project has been felt at local and regional level through the strengthening of innovation teaching and the ability of thousands of entrepreneurs to engage in low-tech, practical innovation on the ground. .

Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide and ever-growing health crisis in which end-stage patients largely depend on intramural dialysis, placing a heavy burden on their life and on European health care systems. KIDNEW develops groundbreaking and modular technology to enable an implantable artificial kidney with better functional kidney replacement therapy (KRT) than currently available, without need for immunosuppressive drugs and at reduced costs. It provides proof of concept on three breakthrough technologies: 1. Solid-state miniature ultra-high flux silicon (Si)-based filter with a high-density of uniform nanopores through novel block copolymer self-assembly, and with novel hemocompatible biomimetic polymer polymer brush coating connected to a photonic clotting monitoring sensor and (thrombolytic) cleansing tool; 2. Solid-state bioreactor-grown kidney tubule cell monolayers on novel biomimetic Si-wafer based membrane with bioimpedance-based monolayer integrity monitoring and monolayer repair functionality using growth-factors; 3. Solid-state integrated functional biohybrid filter and tubule exchange units stacked in parallel in a multichip to demonstrate functional implantable KRT in goats. An implantable bioartificial kidney will provide more effective, more physiological, and economical sustainable KRT than dialysis. Eco-friendliness of proposed technologies, in line with the EU Green Deal, has recently been highlighted by the European Kidney Health Alliance. On the short to mid-term, the filter and/or tubule unit may enter niche-markets for extracorporeal use, in complementing rather than replacing current dialysis solutions. KIDNEW brings together scientists from the fields of clinical and regenerative nephrology (UMC Utrecht, NL), regenerative pharmacology (University Utrecht, NL), chip technology (Imec NL and Imec BE), optical sensing (Optofluid Technologies OÜ, EE), blood compatible coatings (CNRS, FR), and membrane technology (Me-Sep, PL).

Products which require complicated material systems and nanoscale structural organization, e.g. third-generation solar cells, are often difficult to develop. This is because electronic properties of bulk semiconductors are often masked or at least strongly superimposed by material interface properties. Additionally these interface properties are also complex and thus make product design difficult. This project aims at solving this problem by offering a nanoscale characterization platform for the European manufacturers of coatings, photovoltaic cells, and semi-conductor circuits. It is proposed to use a combination of scanning microwave microscopes, dielectric resonators, and simulation to measure the material and interface properties of complicated material systems and nano-structures. A metrological system of cross-checks between different instruments, models and simulations with associated error bars is indispensable for obtaining trustworthy results. Scanning microwave measurements will be directly used for three-dimensional characterization of electrical properties of nanostructured semiconductors used in organic and hybrid photovoltaic cells. The objective is to accelerate the development of high efficiency cells and to have measures to predict performances in early stages of prototype production. Where process monitoring of materials with nanostructures is necessary, a dielectric resonator is used to translate insights from scanning microwave microscope measurements to fabrication environments. Such dielectric resonators could be directly integrated in production lines for monitoring thin film deposition processes. An open innovation environment will make the uptake of the results easier for European industry. A database containing exemplary measurement datasets of scanning microwave microscopes will be available in calibrated and raw versions. Simulation results of tip-semiconductor interactions will be made available on the EMMC Modeling Market Place.