Standardization and innovation are linked. Successful innovation requires attention for various aspects: what is the new technology like, what is the economic aspect, how does it help society and what is sustainability? Standardization contributes to increasing the chance of success for innovative concepts.
In order to acknowledge and celebrate this important relationship, NEN, the Netherlands Standardization Institute, holds every year the NENnovation Awards. For the 2021 edition, many registrations were presented, and three winners have emerged!
There are three categories for the NENnovation Awards: customers and committee members, start-ups and scale-ups, and students. The award ceremony took place on Thursday 14 October, on the occasion of World Standards Day – a day celebrating the power of standardization.
Below, a short presentation of the winners:
Winner customers and committee members
Harkboot.nl is the winner in the customers and committee members category with their innovation: harkboot. Harkboot.nl has a revolutionary new raking technique as a solution for combating certain native rooting unwanted water plants. This makes waters more suitable for fishing, improves the flow of the water for a long time and makes boating and swimming easier.
Winner start-ups and scale-ups
Unibrick is the winner in the start-ups and scale-ups category. Unibrick tries to solve two problems: the worldwide need for affordable housing and the enormous mountain of waste plastic on this planet. Unibrick uses plastic waste as a raw material to make building blocks, which are then used to build affordable houses. Such a building block is a Unibrick.
Winner students
With a fully automatic and autonomous tap installation, BierPort wins in the student category. The students of BierPort study at Fontys University of Applied Sciences Tilburg. Many events have long waiting times at the bar and then people get a beer that has been standing there for just too long. The BierPort is a self-service tap installation that taps the beer at the time you set the order.
For more information, please contact Sylvana VAN ES at NEN.
