Implement IT 4 Circularity 2023: The Winners Have Been Announced

Implement IT 4 Circularity

On the proposal of the Minister of Digital Affairs, Willy Borsus, the government approved the winners of the second edition of this call for projects.The nine selected projects will receive funding to implement a proof of concept (PoC) of digital technologies serving the circular economy.To recall, a PoC aims to test and demonstrate a project's feasibility. In this case, the PoCs or feasibility demonstrators involve implementing digital technologies contributing to circularity within companies.As part of the Digital Wallonia and Circular Wallonia strategies, the Digital Wallonia 4 Circular program aims to leverage digital technologies to accelerate the adoption of the circular economy within Circular Wallonia's priority value chains.This is why the "Implement IT 4 Circularity" call for projects targets sectors such as plastics, construction and buildings, water cycles, metallurgy (including rare metals and batteries), textiles, food systems, and the bio-based economy.This initiative offers Walloon companies the opportunity to join the circular economy dynamic through resources provided by the Walloon Recovery Plan, which has met with significant success.In total, 17 projects were submitted, with a combined budget exceeding €900,000, covering all seven sectors.

The 2023 Winners

The nine selected projects have approximately nine months to implement their PoC. Each winning project has been awarded a grant of up to €75,000.

Project Descriptions

• Hybrid System for Domestic Hot Water Production

  • Beneficiary: Metop Engineering

  • Provider: Quimesis

  • Description: This prototype will store excess photovoltaic energy as hot water. The funding will specifically help develop embedded software for the device that controls heating power adjustment.

• Digital Logistics Solution for Second-Hand E-commerce (Unique Items)

  • Beneficiary: Pinky Chips

  • Providers : KONEKTO, Floriant le Grelle

  • Description: Pinky Chips, a second-hand children's clothing e-shop, will enhance logistics processes using digital optimization. This aims to save time, minimize errors, and improve communication among stakeholders.

• ADAPT

  • Beneficiary: RubberGreen

  • Provider: BizzDev

  • Description: This project aims to improve the devulcanization process for recycled rubber, transforming industrial process control to make it more reliable and operator-friendly.

• Decision-Making Platform for Stationary Battery Projects

  • Beneficiary: Collignon Eng.

  • Provider: Flexide Energy SRL

  • Description: The project develops a platform combining optimization algorithms and digital twins to simulate and optimize battery operations, considering economic and sustainability objectives.

• Doing Good Through Clothes

  • Beneficiary: Cool Pressing

  • Providers: B-12 Consulting, Netbee

  • Description: This initiative digitizes customers' wardrobes to encourage clothing reuse, prolonging their lifecycle with data-driven recommendations using big data and AI.

• Real-Time Data Collection and Performance Monitoring

  • Beneficiary: Valtris

  • Provider: PEPITe

  • Description: This pilot project centralizes operational data to facilitate analysis and real-time performance monitoring, uncovering optimization opportunities.

• Fractysys Circular

  • Beneficiary: Do Mutatio

  • Providers: Timbtrack, Atrasol

  • Description: A standalone platform for strategic assessment and control will be extended with a "Circular Fractysys" module to offer circularity-focused services to clients.

• KarnoCop+

  • Beneficiary: Karno

  • Provider: Bevert

  • Description: This project connects decarbonized heating network components to the cloud, using an innovative gateway that employs obsolete smartphone cores for data collection, encryption, and communication.

• USIIT-Marketplace

• Beneficiary: SIA (Société Internationale d'Architecture)

• Provider: Eunoia Studio

• Description: This project promotes the circular economy throughout building lifecycle phases by creating inventories and testing the platform in real conditions.