On July 7, 2023, the go-ahead was given for the DATIpilot funding guideline. The BMBF is thus focusing on ideas and research achievements as solutions to social challenges and is driving the transfer of knowledge into application. The new program includes two modules with different focuses: “innovation sprints” with a maximum duration of 18 months promote concrete transfer ideas and the short-term transfer of research results into concrete application possibilities. Over a period of four years, “innovation communities” promote the independent development of an innovation topic and objective and the partnerships required for successful transfer. The DITF participated with great commitment in the tenders for the two modules. The DATIpilot creates a learning space for all participants and is used for the conception of the DATI (German Agency for Transfer and Innovation). It goes without saying that the DITF want to be part of this.
The DITF submitted 6 project proposals for the innovation sprints, for which there were a total of 3,000 applications across Germany. Two of them cleared the first hurdle and will be presented at the pitch for the final selection in February 2024. They include two textile transfer ideas for important future fields:
> Transformation of a coating process for the production of electrically conductive natural fibers
> Bio-inspired, reactive, regulating, resilient – actively cooling electronic textiles
In the application for the innovation communities, the DITF focused on the recycling and circular economy of textiles. Only 1 % of all used textiles and textile production waste are recycled back into textiles. 99 % is landfilled or incinerated. There is an urgent need for action here, which the project idea of an innovation community Circular Textile Valley addresses with various approaches. For example, cross-cycling is to be used to recycle textiles and fibers for high-quality components and applications in other industries. Cotton fibers, such as those contained in jeans, could then be reused in the future for fiber-based lightweight components in the automotive industry. Feedback on this application is not expected until 2024.