HiPerIn 2.0: What a long, strange, and successful trip it’s been

The HiPerIn 2.0 project has been a fascinating project that illuminated the biotechnology landscape in NRW and beyond in numerous facets. It premiered at our CIC 2020, the first (and last) face-to-face event of the year, as the Corona pandemic struck shortly after, putting activities on hold worldwide. But it was also a time to take digitization to the next level by moving numerous events into virtual space, to forge ideas into actions against climate change, and to engage the public with new formats.

In more than three eventful years, HiPerIn 2.0 has initiated numerous project consortia, integrated many new players at sector interfaces, and improved the flow of information between science, industry, and society. From a scientific point, the project has shown that high-performance ingredients have already arrived in all reviewed market segments (as can be read in our whitepapers on Biosurfactants, Flavours and Fragrances, Coatings and Adhesives, Textiles and Food and Feed). The importance of cross-cutting issues turned out to be even more important than expected, as they can determine the success of a product more than the technology itself.

Ultimately, HiPerIn 2.0 has created important new impulses for an agile and future-proof biotechnology scene in NRW. The high-performance ingredients were to pave the way. As favourable political climate and not at all favourable world climate helped that biotechnology is now ready to take off on a larger scale, we are excited to analyse where and how biotechnology can really make the difference in the upcoming Triple-S project.