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CPPC Opens 35 Million Zloty Tender for Poland's Central AI Sandbox Portal
Poland's Centrum Projektów Polska Cyfrowa has opened a 35 million zloty tender to build a central portal for the country's AI sandbox, where companies and public bodies will test AI systems for compliance with the EU's AI Act.
Centrum Projektów Polska Cyfrowa (CPPC, Poland's Digital Poland Projects Center) has opened a tender to build a central portal for Poland's AI sandbox, a safe environment where companies and public institutions will be able to test AI-based systems before rolling them out at scale. The project has a budget of 35 million zloty, funded through the European Funds for Digital Development program.
What Was Announced
The tender is run by CPPC, the institution responsible for distributing EU digitalization funds. According to the tender documentation, it follows a non-competitive procedure, meaning the Ministry of Digital Affairs is the only entity eligible to apply. The ministry has until September 30, 2026 to prepare and submit its application.
The total value of the project is 35 million zloty, with funding covering 100 percent of eligible costs. Of that amount, 79.71 percent comes from EU money under the European Regional Development Fund, while the remaining 20.29 percent is contributed by the national budget.
Two Testing Tracks
The central portal is meant to offer two separate tracks. The first, regulatory track is aimed at businesses and government and local administration bodies developing AI systems, particularly high-risk systems as defined under the EU's AI Act. Participants in this track will receive expert support in bringing their systems into compliance with AI Act requirements.
The second, technological track is reserved exclusively for government and local administration. It is designed to let public bodies safely test AI solutions without putting live production systems at risk and without having to buy their own computing infrastructure. Government offices will be able to draw on the computing power of the project's partners as well as ready-made components such as Polish-language models, chatbots, and OCR tools.
Who Is Behind the Project
The project is led by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, working together with the Ministry of Development and Technology, UODO (the Personal Data Protection Office), NASK - the National Research Institute, the Cyfronet AGH Academic Computer Centre, and the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center. This lineup of partners is meant to give the portal both the legal and regulatory backing and the actual computing infrastructure needed for testing.
The portal is also meant to serve a reporting function toward the European Commission, which expects member states to submit regular reports on how their national AI sandboxes are functioning. Beyond the testing environment itself, the plans include educational activities, materials, guides, and training sessions for companies and officials just starting to roll out AI systems.
Pressure From the EU Deadline
Setting up a national regulatory sandbox for AI isn't a voluntary initiative, it's an obligation stemming from the EU's AI Act. The regulation requires every member state to launch such an environment by August 2, 2027 at the latest. Like other EU countries, Poland is still building out its national AI oversight system, and the CPPC tender is one piece of that puzzle, alongside a separately established AI supervisory commission.
For companies developing AI systems, especially those classified as high-risk, access to the regulatory sandbox could mean the real difference between a costly, self-funded push toward AI Act compliance and publicly funded expert support. For smaller players who can't afford their own AI Act legal teams, that assistance could determine whether they manage to roll out their solution in line with the EU timeline at all.
For public administration, the technological track offers a way to test how AI performs under controlled conditions, without risking outages in systems citizens rely on every day, and without spending money on their own servers or licenses. That could speed up AI adoption in government offices that have often held back on such projects out of fear of costs and mistakes.
The deadline for the Ministry of Digital Affairs to submit its application is September 30, 2026, so a concrete timeline for building the portal and the first calls for participants will have to wait until the procedure is settled and the funding agreement is signed. Sources: CPPC ogłasza nabór na stworzenie centralnego portalu polskiej piaskownicy AI (https://dorzeczy.pl/ekonomia/926959/cppc-oglasza-nabor-na-stworzenie-centralnego-portalu-polskiej-piaskownicy-ai.html), 35 mln zł na rozwój polskiej piaskownicy AI. Rusza nabór (https://itwiz.pl/35-mln-zl-na-rozwoj-polskiej-piaskownicy-ai-rusza-nabor/), Otworzyliśmy nabór na rozwój polskiej piaskownicy AI (https://www.gov.pl/web/cppc/uruchomienie-naboru-FERC0201IP0101126)
