AHEAD Bootcamp Phase 1 - Fraunhofer's Deeptech Accelerator

Background

The Fraunhofer AHEAD program is an inhouse project that supports scientists in the spin-off/licensing of Fraunhofer technology in order to increase the exploitation and transfer from science to practice. In a "bootcamp" four Fraunhofer IMW employees from the Center for Economics and Management of Technologies CEM qualified for this program and will work on the exploitation strategy of their product in phase 1 of the AHEAD program from May 2022 to November 2022. The team qualified itself with its product for AHEAD's SDG Track (Sustainable Development Goals Track) program and wants to contribute to a sustainable transformation of the economy.

Project description

Sustainability is an issue of great concern. But how can the impact of sustainable investment projects be measured? There are many (sustainable) investment projects which are confronted with a lack of social acceptance (NIMBY problem - "Not in my backyard") and/or have difficulties in finding financing in a highly competitive environment. On the other hand, investors (banks, insurance companies, private sector actors) face the challenge of selecting sustainable projects for implementation with limited financial resources, as their assessment is methodologically extremely challenging.

»CEM-IOM« (Regionalized input-output model for the quantification of economic, ecological and social impact)

The team at the Center for Economics and Management of Technologies CEM at Fraunhofer IMW has addressed the challenge by developing a web-based assessment tool. The underlying model measures the economic, ecological and social impact of innovative investment projects. Not only the direct but also the indirect impacts along the entire production chain are taken into account. The tool calculates these quickly, in a standardized way, and for every county in Germany. The basis of the model is a specially regionalized input-output database. This was entered into an input-output model and then programmed as an app. On the one hand, the team wants to use this product to give investors a a bird's-eye view of promising projects. On the other hand, it can help innovators to convince financiers (banks, project sponsors, ...) of their idea. In addition, the transparency created can increase the acceptance of investment projects by quantifying and clearly communicating the regional impact.

Project tasks

By participating in the Fraunhofer AHEAD program, two objectives are served.

First, the project will be further developed by adding more sustainability indicators and making the web interface even more user-friendly.

Secondly, an exploitation strategy will be developed. This will be done in cooperation with internal as well as external consultants, in workshops and through exchange with other teams in the AHEAD program.

Client

Fraunhofer ZV - AHEAD