ŘADIČKA
The Řadička project aims to improve tram transport in Prague and send tram drivers information about the traffic situation directly to their on-board computer. It was invented by a five-member team called Zavaděči. Last year, it won the Nakopni Prahu competition. When Zavaděči entered the innovation marathon, Řadička was just an embryonic idea. In just one year, thanks to the support of the City of Prague, project support from the ICT Operátor and cooperation with the Transport Company of the Capital City of Prague, the project has been developed to such an extent that the Transport Company (Dopravní podnik) can test it in real operation. If it proves to be successful, tram drivers will be able to use it in two years.
"I was most pleased that all the experts supported us - people from the Transport Company, ROPID, the ICT Operátor, and helped us find the best solution. It is not easy to find a consensus across so many entities, everyone has different responsibilities and motivations," says Kryštof Petrásek from Zavaděčů. According to him, applying for Nakopni Prahu is a great opportunity to try out skills for working on innovative projects, which can be used in later professional life. "Nakopni Prahu offers the opportunity to make a real and quick difference. That is why I would recommend anyone who is willing to try something like this to apply," Kryštof Petrásek offers motivation the newcomers to this year's Nakopni Prahu.
reKáva
Last year, the second place in the Nakopni Prahu competition opened the "door to the world" for the start-up reKáva. Typically urban eco-project provides cafes, companies and other institutions with coffee grounds and sends them on to farms for growing oyster mushrooms, for example. The coffee grounds are stored in "smart bins" with an integrated chip that monitors how full they are and then sends the data to an app. This allows the driver of the electric cargo bike to keep track of where it is currently full. "I've been to a lot of competitions, hackathons and accelerator programs, so I can objectively say that Nakopni Prahu was the best experience for me and a boon for our start-up reKáva," praises Jana Šrámková, the author of the project, which precisely meets Prague's goals in the field of sustainable mobility and circular economy.
In cooperation with the Czech Agricultural University, the reKáva start-up wants to build the first Hlíva Hub (Oyster Mushroom Hub) from a shipping container, where it will grow oyster mushrooms on a large scale using coffee grounds. "After the evaluation of the pilot project, we plan to expand to ten other large cities and expand our solution to European metropolises," says Jana Šrámková, who successfully presented reKáva at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona last year.
GAMIFIT
In the beginning, the idea was to create a fitness app for kids. But during the Nakopni Prahu competition, the authors of Gamifit found a clear link to education. In fact, during the pandemic, teachers used various digital tools for online learning to motivate students sitting at home to move. But physical education has lost this overlap since the return of school desks. "So our goal became to create a tool, in addition to the app itself, that (Prague and other) schools can use to help children find their own motivation to move," explains the project co-author Matyáš Michel.
Gamifit eventually won third place in the Nakopni Prahu innovation marathon last year. Now it's successfully validated its B2B business model, it will pilot test in several schools, it's about to develop the first version of the app, and even conduct in-depth interviews with parents and children. In two years, Gamifit should be up and running and motivating thousands of children to move in a fun way. "Participating in Nakopni Prahu will open a lot of doors to places that would otherwise be hard for innovators and entrepreneurs to reach. We have pushed Gamifit a long way in just a few months, and we would therefore recommend everyone to take advantage of the opportunity - and make the most of it," says Matyáš Michel.
