“Polish-American Freedom Foundation Sector 3.0 Prize was created to award those organizations that know how to use effectively opportunities offered by dynamic development of ICT technologies and common access to the Internet. At the time of rapid progress in Artificial Intelligence, effective and secure navigating the world of technology has significant impact on operational efficiency. Therefore, we are looking for good models that can be used as practical examples and inspiration and help set new responsible standards in the third sector. The Prize is a grant of PLN 40,000 and promotion of winners all over Poland,” Polish-American Freedom Foundation Program Director Radosław Jasiński explains.

Formal requirements

The prize is awarded to organizations that use ICT tools in their operations to achieve socially useful goals. Due to the dynamic development and increasing use of AI, this year the Prize Committee will be guided by the following criteria when assessing the applications:

• Innovative and practical use of information and communication technologies in operational work and statutory activities by the organization, in particular its ability to use these tools for work automation and cooperation, including use of AI in day-to-day operations,
• The scale and effects of activities aimed at promotion of ICT use in civil society organizations,
• Experience and achievements in ICT creation, development, adaptation or research in NGO environment.

The Prize Committee

It will select organizations considered using the technologies best and present them as role models for Polish civil society organizations. The Committee will also elect the winner to be awarded with the grant for its statutory activities.

The Prize Committee will be composed of: Urszula Krasnodębska-Maciuła (Stowarzyszenie Klon/Jawor), Michał Jaworski (Microsoft Polska), Anna Kowalik-Mizgalska (Orange Foundation), Jacek Królikowski (Information Society Development Foundation), and chaired by Radosław Jasiński representing Polish-American Freedom Foundation.

Winners of the former rounds of the Prize

For over a decade the Prize has been awarded to organizations that successfully carry out their mission and support their communities and keep using the increasing possibilities of new technologies in their activities to date. The former winners of the Prize were the following: 

• 2013 Visible Foundation
• 2014 Itaka Foundation
• 2015 Katarynka Foundation – adapter.pl
• 2016 TUS Foundation – niepelnosprawnik.pl
• 2017 We Give Children Strength Foundation
• 2018 Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Możliwych Rzeczjasna
• 2019 Sieć Obywatelska Watchdog Polska
• 2020 Virtual Dream Foundation
• 2021 Demagog Association
• 2022 Homo Faber Association
• 2023 The Association of Little Brothers of the Poor
• 2024 The Center for Citizenship Education Foundation

The winner of last year’s round of the Competition, the Center for Citizenship Education Foundation, was awarded  for active and effective use of technology to reach the broad group of users, especially the young ones. The Foundation has been successfully improving the quality of Polish education for thirty years. An important element of that success has been the use of modern technologies. It allows scaling the activities, benefitting some 40,000 teachers and almost 10,000 schools all over Poland annually.

Applications to this year’s round of the competition – proposals for nominations for the Prize – shall be emailed to kontakt@sektor3-0.pl, with the annotation „Nagroda PAFW Sektor 3.0 2025” (PAFF Sector 3.0 Prize 2025) by April 6, 2025. The Competition Rules and Regulations are available on the Sector 3.0 program website. The winner of the Prize will be announced on May 22, 2025, at the Sector 3.0 Festival in Warsaw.