Severstal' : Severstal launches platform to promote open innovation

PAO Severstal has launched its own "Open Innovations" platform (http://innovations.severstal.com/), designed to complement the Company's open innovations initiatives and tools. The site hosts Severstal's initiatives for cooperating with startups, innovative teams and industry experts, as well as indicating priority areas for cooperation and specific tasks that need to be tackled today.

The Severstal Open Innovations platform includes a section dedicated to the Company's challenges in its production units open to assistance. For example, the Company is presently interested in technology for separating metal dust from sand and a method of indicating designated pedestrian zones that is resistant to abrasion. Innovative companies will be able to offer their ideas for solving these and other issues, and will have the opportunity to test existing technologies at Severstal's industrial sites. The Startup Tasks listed in the platform's Challenges section can also serve as topics for research work. The list of tasks will be updated regularly and innovative teams will be able to work directly with Company experts and specialists.

The Open Innovations website also encourages applications for funding from the Severstal Ventures corporate fund, promotes the capabilities of the Severstal Technopark and provides information on the start of the next wave of applications to the SteelTech Accelerator as well as the requirements for online collaboration projects with Severstal's digital business unit.

Agnes Ritter, Chief Technical Director and Head of the Transformation department at Severstal, commented:

"Severstal is increasingly attracting more ideas and suggestions on the topic of innovation. We opened our Technopark a year ago; our SteelTech Accelerator project was launched this Spring and Severstal Ventures has completed a number of exciting transactions over the past twelve months. We are now adding to these tools, with the addition of the Challenges page and Severstal Digital Business. All of these aspects of our business are now conveniently collated on one website, enabling visitors to learn about the wide range of possibilities we offer. We hope that the platform will attract startups and industry experts, and that together we can make metallurgy a more advanced and technologically developed industry."