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Good practice Imported

Poland's National AI Sandbox — a PLN 35 Million Portal to Test AI Act Compliance

Poland · Warsaw · See the Poland profile · See the Warsaw profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 83% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Poland's Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digital Poland Project Centre are building a PLN 35m national AI sandbox — a shared portal for AI Act compliance testing — with NASK, Cyfronet AGH and PCSS, though critics warn it concentrates funding in state and academic bodies.

35 PLN million
Sandbox platform budget (2026)
~8 EUR million
Approximate euro-equivalent budget (2026)
Poland's National AI Sandbox — a PLN 35 Million Portal to Test AI Act Compliance

Details

Promoter
Digital Poland Project Centre / Ministry of Digital Affairs
Period
2026
Region (NUTS)
PL
Keywords
digital government, AI regulation, public-sector IT infrastructure

Context

The EU AI Act's Article 57 requires every member state to operate at least one national AI regulatory sandbox. Poland's own AI Systems Act was published 27 July 2026 and took effect 11 August 2026, creating a dedicated AI regulator, the Commission for the Development and Safety of Artificial Intelligence (KRiBSI).

Objectives

The sandbox is designed to let companies and public authorities check whether their AI systems, particularly high-risk ones, comply with the AI Act, and to give public bodies a technological testing environment without needing to interfere with live operational systems or build their own infrastructure.

Activities

In August 2026, Poland's Digital Poland Project Centre opened a tender to build a central portal and secure testing environment, backed by a PLN 35 million (about €8 million) budget. It is led by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, working with the Ministry of Development and Technology, the Office for Personal Data Protection, and three technical partners — NASK, Cyfronet AGH and PCSS. Eligible SMEs and start-ups get free access through the European AI Factories initiative.

Results

As of this review, the tender had just been launched and the sandbox was not yet operational, so no participant or testing data exists. Industry commentary raised concerns that the model concentrates public funding and implementation capacity in state and academic institutions, crowding out private data-centre and GPU suppliers, and risks 'double funding'.

Conclusions

The programme is a well-specified, legally-grounded design with named institutions and budget, but as of reporting had produced no operational evidence of impact.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — PLN 35 million (~€8 million) tender budget for the central portal and secure testing environment, funded via the Digital Poland Project Centre.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — AI Systems Act took effect 11 August 2026; sandbox platform tender opened August 2026; platform not yet operational at time of reporting, so full build-out timeline is not yet observed.
Staffing & skills
Ministry of Digital Affairs (lead), Ministry of Development and Technology, Office for Personal Data Protection, Technical partners: NASK, Cyfronet AGH, PCSS (computing environment), New AI regulator: Commission for the Development and Safety of Artificial Intelligence (KRiBSI)

Conditions for success

  • Clear legal mandate under the EU AI Act (Article 57) and Poland's own AI Systems Act
  • Named multi-agency delivery model with a dedicated regulator
  • Free SME/start-up access via the European AI Factories initiative to drive adoption

Common failure modes

  • Industry critics argue the model concentrates public funding and capacity in state/academic institutions (NASK, Cyfronet AGH, PCSS), crowding out private data-centre and GPU suppliers
  • Risk of 'double funding' since publicly funded computing resources also benefit from demand the sandbox itself generates
  • No operational or participant data exists yet to confirm the model works as designed

Where it fits

Governance type
EU member state, national government
Scale
national
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Digital Europe Programme

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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