The third edition of the Olivia Prize competition is behind us. Awards for projects carried out by the Residents of Poland’s largest mixed-use centre were awarded in the following categories: Impact, Eco, Business and Pro Bono. The partner of the Olivia Eco award is the United Nations Global Compact Network Poland.

As many as 26 projects were submitted to this year’s edition of the competition. Most of them were related to the Olivia Business category, the aim of which is to distinguish concepts and implementations with the greatest business potential, characterized by innovation and responding to real market demand. Many initiatives were submitted in the Pro Bono category, related to the pro-social and charitable initiatives of Olivia Residents. In the current geopolitical situation, most of them were related to the involvement of business in helping the victims of the Russian attack on Ukraine. As in the previous year, initiatives in the field of ecology were also well represented. The partner of the award,
United Nations Global Compact Network Poland
, is an organization working for human rights, the environment and promoting social goals of doing business. The distinction in the Olivia Impact category is awarded to the company with the greatest impact in the area of business, social and innovation.

OLIVIA IMPACT

The award in this most important category for 2022 went to
Infoshare
– the creators of one of the largest conferences in the IT industry in Europe. The event creates a unique space for exchanging knowledge, establishing business contacts and attracting investors. At the same time, Infoshare is much more than a conference. After 17 years of operation, it is a thriving organization combining the world of business, modern technologies and marketing. Infoshare is also an academy for training programmers and Infoshare Roadshow – a series of meetings during which Pomerania is promoted in southern Poland as a friendly place for work and entrepreneurship development. Infoshare has become not only a business brand, but also a platform promoting the Pomeranian region beyond its borders as an area of modern, smart specializations.

“Part of our vision is to build a large community of people associated with the world of technology ,” says Grzegorz Borowski, CEO of Infoshare. – We strive to achieve it through various projects, not only nationwide, but also international. Most of them are carried out in Gdansk, in our office in Olivia Centre. That is why I am very happy about this award as an expression of appreciation for our contribution to the development of the Olivia community, as well as the promotion of the Tri-City and the Pomerania region.

OLIVIA BUSINESS

The statuette in the Olivia Business 2022 category went to the company Speeron Polska sp. z o.o. for the development of the Guest Portal application for hotel guests. It integrates at the level of smartphones, TVs or tablets all the services that hotel guests need during their stay in any facility in the world. The application is characterized by flexibility and the ability to adapt it not only to the selected hotel chain, but also to each facility separately, which multiplies its market potential. From there, it is possible to order standard services such as ordering meals to the room and booking standard hotel services, but also extended options such as concierge and reporting defects, checking the air quality in the vicinity of the hotel or the temperature of the water in the hotel pool. The app has already been bought by luxury hotels such as Bank Hotel and Berns Hotel in Stockholm, as well as the Swedish group Pite Havsbad, which offers hotel and campsite stays in Sweden.

– Thank you very much for this special distinction and appreciation of the continuous work of our programmers. We assure you that we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to develop our projects! The Olivia Prize in the Business category is a fantastic distinction for us, especially since we have competed in this category with the largest corporations and projects run by large teams of employees. This gives us wings and we are convinced that it will allow us to conquer new markets and develop this project – said Aleksandra Kozakiewicz from Speeron Polska shortly after receiving the award.

The distinction in the Olivia Business category went to Zaplify, a company offering a platform for automated sales support for companies which, due to their early stage of development, cannot afford to employ a group of salespeople and sales representatives. The platform selects a group of potential customers on social networks, consumer platforms and available databases.

OLIVIA ECO

The award in the Olivia Eco category went to SII for the EVAA project – Ecological Vertical Agriculture Assistant – a concept that uses artificial intelligence to solve the problem of hunger in the world. Within it, plants develop without the use of soil, and all the substances they need to develop come from water and are dosed by an algorithm responsible for monitoring the proper development of the plant. The project has already been noticed around the world. It has won an award in the international Intel Innovate FPGA competition for an attempt to technologically solve the problem of world hunger and environmental threats, and the French Research TAX Credit accreditation for the innovation of the R&D project.

Distinctions in the Olivia Eco category went to ZR Trade and Nowy Styl. The first one was awarded for the project of distributing fully functional toys with damaged packaging to children in need. Due to the defect, the toys were destined to be destroyed. Within 4 days, the company’s employees established cooperation with organizations that collected and donated toys to children in need. In this way, they gave a second life to objects that would otherwise be waste and would be disposed of. It is worth mentioning that ZR Trade has already been a winner in the Olivia Eco category for 2021, which confirms that ecology is permanently inscribed in the company’s DNA.

The second award in this category went to Nowy Styl, a Polish leader in the production of office furniture , for creating an eco-design management system. The system allows for planning the life cycle of furniture in the spirit of the circular economy and designing it in such a way that it is possible to fully recycle it later, the time of its use allows for many years of use (also by providing components that allow for the repair and replacement of worn parts without the need to dispose of the furniture due to a small defect), effective management of water and energy consumption needed for production and the use of recycling in furniture production.

OLIVIA PRO BONO

The award in the Olivia Pro Bono category went to Bayer GBS Gdańsk for the Border Angels, UA support hotline project. Within just a few days of the outbreak of the war, Bayer employees around the world organized themselves from the bottom up, creating a list of so-called “Bayer Workers”. shelters, i.e. flats or rooms (often in their private homes), which they were ready to make available to their colleagues from Ukraine. A group of Border Angels was also formed, consisting mainly of field workers, whose task was to pick up Ukrainian workers from the border and transport them to safe places. They developed their own telephone support coordination centre in the form of the UA Support Hotline, which provided 24/7 logistical, legal and psychological support and helped them find shelter after crossing Ukraine’s borders with Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. The result of the work of the entire group was the provision of care and support for over 550 people, 200 beds, which were used by a total of 430 people. 130 employees of the Gdańsk branch of Bayer were involved in the project.

– Thank you very much for the award. I receive them on behalf of more than a hundred Bayer employees – not only from Gdańsk. We showed what is in our hearts, but also specific skills – organizational, technological, etc. At the same time, each of us would prefer not to receive this award. We live in the hope that this war will end soon – says Remigiusz Wojciechowski, Head of Bayer GBS Gdańsk.

In this category, honorable mentions went to thyssenkrupp, the Talent Development Center and the Olivia Choir. All the awarded projects were also related to the assistance provided by these entities for refugees and those affected by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

“Corporate social responsibility is an area that is often under-noticed,” said Maciej Grabski , investor of Olivia Centre, during the Olivia Prize 2022 closing gala. The past year was dominated by the events in Ukraine, which showed how much good energy there is in us – private individuals, entrepreneurs, social activists. Everything we’ve seen this year has been awe-inspiring and highly appreciative. Much has been said about the help provided by private individuals who have taken in refugees seeking refuge from war. However, the projects that have been submitted reflect the scale of business support. Companies – from the smallest to multinational corporations – and the people who work in them have done something absolutely exceptional, for which we should be thankful. The Olivia Prize is an initiative in which we have the opportunity to thank for the scale of the contribution of these entities to doing good – added Maciej Grabski.

The evening was enriched by a meeting with a special guest , Marek Wikiera , a mentor, ultramarathon runner, extreme sports enthusiast, who was one of 47 people in the world and the first Pole to finish the 4 Deserts marathon, placed by Time magazine on the 6th place, among the 10 most endurance-demanding human challenges. Marek Wikiera emphasized the importance of small steps that every person striving for a goal must take in order to be able to achieve goals and dreams.

“The analysis of the applications for the jury was fascinating ,” Marta Moksa, the chairwoman of the Olivia Prize jury, summed up this year’s edition of the competition. Applications from the smallest companies as well as the largest corporations show the true spirit of Olivia Centre. Initiatives created by start-ups and huge programs run by teams of hundreds or even thousands of people take part in one competition. Personally, I am very happy about the Olivia Prize, because I am convinced that thanks to this competition we have a chance to learn about many valuable initiatives that are undertaken every year in Olivia. I am convinced that thanks to these projects we can also inspire and motivate each other.