Internationaler Beirat in ASK-EU gegründet

Wissen sollte aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln identifiziert und zugänglich gemacht werden. Die Gründung eines Beirats ist daher ein wichtiges Element in der Strategie der Wissensvermittlung.

Jeder der im Beirat mitwirkenden Personen repräsentiert einen wichtigen Knoten im europäischen Wissensnetzwerk. Forschung und Wissenschaft, Verbände, wie auch Umweltbehörden und Medien sind mit ihren Protagonisten aus ganz Europa, von Finnland bis Spanien vertreten und decken in internationaler Breite Themen aus Abfallwirtschaft, Energie- und Wasserversorgung ab.

1st ASK-EU Advisory Board Meeting

The 1st ASK-EU Advisory Board Meeting was held in connection with the CleanTech Waste and Water ThinkTank.

The objectives of ASK-EU were presented by Werner P. Bauerand noticed by the board. The considerations were expanded in one-on-one interviews to advance the internationalisation of ASK-EU. The presentation is available here.

The advisor Tom Vereijken recommended a contiunuation of the waste and water discussion on short term and his suggestion was supported by the participants.

askab_think tank

CleanTech Waste and Water Think Tank
The possibilities and barriers to the adoption of waste / water management innovation were discussed by the participants.

WASTE

In the waste sector one of the identified barriers is the lack of acceptance of standardized products and very specific customer requirements. Also contracting authorities prefer proven technologies to avoid risks.

Innovations in the waste sector are mostly driven by legislation and related commercial conditions (prescriptive limits, subsidies etc.). Sources of innovations are universities (doctor thesis), entrepreneurs and operators of treatment plants or landfills. The identification of innovations is difficult, because the field of international waste management is a fragmented and badly structured market.

The dissemination and the access to best practices and lessons learned (knowledge assets) is an important component of innovation efforts in this industry.  A database of such information will be achieved using the portal ASK-EU.  Tracking use of this information will also help the industry identify demands and new markets worldwide.

The group also concluded that internationalization of innovations can be improved through uniform legislation and focus on standardisation (fewer customized products).

WATER

In the water sector two primary markets were identified. On the one hand the Western World which is characterized by the purification of water from micro pollutants. And on the other hand the Eastern World where water shortage and poor water quality dominate the scene.

In the Western World the barriers (e.g. fragmented market, nun-uniform legislation) to adoption of innovation were identical to the waste sector. Enforcement  of existing EU directives could enromourly boost the market, but the greatest opportunity will be in innovations for the Eastern World.

However, barriers in that region include the lack of focus on the demands and the difficult identification of products and customers because the market is fragmented. Successful innovation in the Eastern World must provide solutions that are simple and low maintenance, offer decentralized implementation and are small, scalable applications.

As in the waste segment, dissemination and access to knowledge assets will be provided through the portal ASK-EU. In expecting a market push for high quality information and cleantech knowledge the aim of ASK-EU is connecting business with environmental specialists.

Further results of the meeting will be published shortly.