Deputy Prime Minister Gawkowski launched the “Wprost” competition – for AI startups
“Wprost” announced the first competition in Poland for startups and scale-ups designing solutions using artificial intelligence. – I am glad that I can inaugurate this program – said Krzysztof Gawkowski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitization.
– The map of Polish startups dealing with artificial intelligence is growing, and there have been no competitions focused on this technology so far – said Krzysztof Szczepaniak, Director of Strategic Projects and Content at PMPG Polskie Media, during the Innowatory Wprost event, where the new initiative was announced.
As he noted, the development of AI is currently at a key moment. The technology has already passed the stage of anxiety and denial, and companies and users are increasingly starting to experiment with its possibilities.
– We are perhaps already halfway there with AI technology. From anxiety and denial, through experiments and searching for applications, to gradual acceptance, development and independent progress – he said during the conference.
According to “Wprost”, Poland should use the current moment to find its place on the world map of artificial intelligence development.
– We are counting on this Polish progress and Poland’s search for niches in the field of AI, so that in a few years we can make this technology a Polish hallmark – Szczepaniak emphasized.
The “Dobre Geny AI” competition is an extension of the Innowatory Wprost project, which has existed since 2011 and is addressed to mature enterprises. “Good Genes AI” is intended to select the most promising companies creating solutions using artificial intelligence – surrounded by related technologies such as machine learning, deep learning or natural language processing.
– I am glad that initiatives such as the “Good AI Genes” competition are being created, which is to be an element of building a solution for entrepreneurs related to the artificial intelligence sector. I congratulate “Wprost” and all the partners working on it on this initiative. I am glad that I can inaugurate this program because I believe that it will provide additional support for our domestic Polish companies. – said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski.
– It’s time for serious experiments, deep tech solutions and those that change the paradigms in which we live. So as to make the best use of this technological revolution for Poland – summed up Krzysztof Szczepaniak.
Prof. Sankowski: AI changes innovation, I’m glad such a competition was created
During the event, it was pointed out that Poland has great potential in the area of new technologies – from the competences of programmers, through the developing startup ecosystem, to the possibilities of using AI in business, science and administration. The substantive supervision of the competition will be provided by the IDEAS Research Institute with its director, Prof. Piotr Sankowski at the helm. Prof. Sankowski, during the inauguration of the event, pointed out that Poland has enormous IT talents, which is our great opportunity:
– We need to create conditions for these companies to be established and develop here in Poland – said prof. Piotr Sankowski.
– Poles are equipped with good IT genes, we need to create conditions for these people in Poland. So that huge companies can set up their offices here. AI startups have a huge future, and AI will change innovation and science, which is why I am glad that such a competition was created – added prof. Sankowski.
Horawa, AWS: We have 15 unicorns, I hope we will find another one
Andrzej Horawa, CEO of AWS, the company that is a partner of the competition, said that we have half a million developers in Poland, which is 25%. our production force in Central and Eastern Europe, where a total of 2 million programmers work. We have a dynamic ecosystem of startups – there are a total of 1,686 of them. Poland is the leader in financing by VC funds. Companies that gained unicorn status were also established here, such as: Eleven Labs, Docplanner, Paypo, Viktor and Booksy. We have fifteen unicorns in total.
We are proud and excited about all this. That’s why we support this competition. And we hope that with its help we will find our next unicorn – said Horawa.
The competition will be concluded in late autumn this year.
Applications and information can be found on the “Good Genes AI” competition website.
