Polish AI infrastructure SME seeks regional innovation, pilot and deployment partners for I3-2026-INV1

A Polish SME with TRL 7-8 AI infrastructure solutions seeks partners for I3-2026-INV1 to demonstrate and replicate intelligent water, adaptive lighting and energy optimisation technologies across European regions. Sought partners include municipalities, utilities, universities, regional innovation agencies, clusters and implementation partners providing real-world pilot environments and complementary Smart Specialisation capabilities.

A Polish SME is developing an AI-based operations layer for physical infrastructure. Its mature technology combines operational data, IoT, edge processing and AI analytics to improve the performance of existing water, lighting, energy and municipal infrastructure without requiring wholesale replacement of installed systems. The proposed I3-2026-INV1 investment concept, working title INFRA-AI EUROPE, aims to demonstrate and replicate this infrastructure intelligence approach across several European regions with shared or complementary Smart Specialisation priorities. The objective is to move from isolated pilots to repeatable deployment and investment cases that can be adopted by municipalities, utilities, campuses, industrial operators and regional innovation ecosystems. Three deployment tracks are envisaged: 1) Water and wastewater intelligence: read-only integration with SCADA and operational data for leakage indicators, night-flow analysis, line imbalance, pressure anomalies, pump-efficiency monitoring, reservoir forecasting and sensor-drift detection. 2) Adaptive lighting and smart public infrastructure: retrofit-oriented lighting control, sensing, energy optimisation, asset-health monitoring, anomaly detection and predictive maintenance. 3) Energy and distributed infrastructure intelligence: operational analytics for load, energy use, asset condition and efficiency across public, utility, campus and industrial environments. The company is seeking partners able to provide real-world validation environments, complementary technology and integration capacity, independent KPI validation, regional market access and Smart Specialisation alignment. Demonstrations should produce not only technical results but also deployment cost, integration effort, energy/maintenance impact, commercialisation pathway, procurement model and regional replication plans. The technology is available for demonstration at TRL 7-8. The company intends to participate primarily as technology provider, AI/IoT technical lead and demonstration partner, while remaining open to joining an existing I3 consortium or co-building a new consortium with a qualified coordinator. Expression of interest target: 15 October 2026. I3-2026-INV1 call deadline: 12 November 2026, 17:00 CET. The call is single-stage and supports interregional innovation investments that bring mature innovations toward commercialisation and scale-up.

The company is open both to joining an existing I3-2026-INV1 consortium and to co-building a new consortium. The company's expected role: - Technology provider for the AI infrastructure operations platform. - Technical lead or co-lead for AI/IoT architecture, data integration, edge/cloud analytics and interoperability. - Demonstration partner for water, adaptive lighting, energy and asset-intelligence use cases. - Contributor to KPI definition, validation methodology, technical replication packages and exploitation planning. - Contributor to investment-case development, including deployment effort, operating model, measurable value and scale-up pathway. Partners sought and expected roles: 1) Qualified coordinator / regional innovation organisation: consortium coordination, governance, EU project management, regional stakeholder mobilisation and Smart Specialisation alignment. 2) Municipalities / public authorities / utilities / infrastructure owners: pilot sites, operational requirements, data access, procurement perspective and adoption pathway. 3) Universities / RTOs: independent validation, engineering and scientific expertise, cybersecurity/interoperability support and impact assessment. 4) Systems integrators / engineering / IoT partners: local deployment, integration, field commissioning, maintenance and connection to existing systems. 5) Clusters / regional development agencies: cross-regional value-chain development, SME mobilisation, dissemination, investment readiness and replication. 6) Industrial and technology companies: complementary sensing, communications, energy, water, edge, data or infrastructure technologies. Preference will be given to partners from regions with shared or complementary Smart Specialisation priorities and a credible route from demonstration to procurement, investment or commercial deployment.