BASF onono Scientific and Digital Experience Center celebrates 3 years of operation

Three years ago, BASF created its first co-creation and digital transformation structure in South America, the Center for Scientific and Digital Experiences - onono. With the aim of connecting and bringing customers, suppliers, startups, employees and universities closer to the innovation ecosystem, more than a hub, onono has become an important relationship channel, a center for collaboration and production of quality information for the market , always looking to the future. To celebrate another year of activity, a live broadcast will be held on March 28th, from 9 to 10am, on the onono+ platform, which will be attended by partners who were notable on this journey and the president of BASF for South America , Manfredo Rübens.

Since 2019, onono has promoted more than 50 challenges in its open innovation ecosystem, involving startups in the development of prototype solutions for BASF and its customers, such as for agricultural mobility, for e-commerce tracking, for products with reduced of water consumption, forecasting of raw materials, among others. It also connected more than 300 university students in mentoring for innovative solutions, such as the creation of an artificial intelligence tool for the supply chain and the sustainBOT emissions calculator from Fundação Espaço ECO, for example.

“BASF has always been an innovative company, this is one of its strategic pillars alongside sustainability. And one of onono's most important achievements in these three years was the contribution of collaborative innovation bringing together customers, areas of BASF and the ecosystem to change mentality, generating results that go beyond traditional commercial relationships. Here at onono we are close to our customers and invite them to bring their challenges”, invites Renata Milanese, director of Customer Enabling at BASF. “We can also consider ourselves agents of culture transformation at BASF globally, as this initiative is a pioneer in the company”, she comments.

Designed to respond quickly to market demands, onono is equipped with cutting-edge technology, research and product testing laboratories, connectivity, digitalization of processes and design, in addition to the capacity to drive innovation methodologies to meet the challenges of BASF and its customers. “One year after opening, all of our activities migrated to the digital universe. With this, we committed to more than 50 co-creation challenges and held more than 200 webinars on various topics such as the circular economy, business, careers, seeking to involve businesses, partners, customers and experts. We have the participation of more than 50 thousand people in all these initiatives and, now, we are promoting hybrid models to combine the best of virtual and in-person, generating more valuable connections beyond the borders of space”, considers Ornella Nitardi, manager of Open Innovation and Digital Ecosystems for South America at BASF.

With the resumption of face-to-face activities, new features were prepared in the onono physical space, such as the Circular Economy Center, which will explore recycling solutions for the plastic chain, the 3D printing laboratory, for new experiments in additive manufacturing, and a media lab that allows you to expand communication channels. “The onono channel on YouTube and the podcast channel “Deu Química!” are already live, where we listen to experts to talk about trends, curiosities and nourish the ecosystem with interesting content”, comments Carlos Henrique Almeida, experiences coordinator at onono.

Free registration to participate in the live can be done via the link on onono+.