Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOES20251203016
- Term of Validity
- 3 December 2025 - 3 December 2026
- Company's Country
- Spain
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- Novel hardware device developed at a Spanish university that allows reading and retrieving data from legacy floppy-disks (3", 3.5" and 5.25") (e.g. Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum +3, Commodore). The device restores access to data stored on obsolete media, helping preserve digital heritage, rescue software and documents, and avoid irreversible data loss. The provider seeks partners interested in technology transfer, manufacturing, digital-archival service
- Full Description
-
Background & Need
Many 8-bit computers from the 1980s and early 1990s (such as those in the Amstrad, ZX Spectrum or Commodore families) used floppy-disk formats that are now obsolete. Original disk drives and media are deteriorating, and the necessary hardware or drivers to read them are increasingly rare or unavailable. Without intervention, valuable content — from personal data to historically or culturally relevant software — risks being lost forever. This situation is analogous to recent efforts in digital preservation aiming to recover early digital artefacts before magnetic degradation renders them unreadable.
The Proposed Technology
The proposed solution is a hardware device capable of interfacing with floppy-disks of 3", 3.5" and 5.25" formats, originally used by vintage 8-bit computers.
Key features:
-Compatibility with multiple floppy-disk formats and vintage systems (Amstrad CPC / ZX Spectrum / Commodore and similar 8-bit machines).
-Realistic data retrieval including legacy file systems and disk formats specific to those platforms.
-Preservation of original disk content — data, applications, software, and user files — in a format accessible on modern systems.
-Potential for adaptation to archives, museums, retro-computing communities, and digital-preservation projects.
Potential Applications and Markets:
-Education: Reuse of vintage equipment to teach the history of computing, basic programming, and computational thinking.
-Museums and exhibitions: Display of retro hardware with an immersive experience, allowing visitors to run original software.
-Research and digital preservation: Access to historical software and data in their original environment, facilitating studies on technological evolution.
-Retrocomputing industry: As a complement for restoration kits, sale of adapters, accessories for enthusiasts, etc.
-Publishing and multimedia: Reproduction of old content (games, demos, educational software) in its native format for publications and teaching materials.
-Digital accessibility: An inclusive solution for users with visual impairments, thanks to auditory feedback and a clear interface. - Advantages and Innovations
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Advantages & Competitive Edge
•Rare solution — there are few modern tools capable of reliably reading floppy-disks from multiple legacy formats with preservation-grade fidelity.
•Bridges a gap between obsolete hardware (no longer manufactured or supported) and modern data-access needs.
•Offers a sustainable and preservation-oriented alternative to disposal of legacy media.
•Facilitates rescue of historically or personally important data, contributing to cultural and digital memory preservation.
Innovative Aspects
•Reinstates access to otherwise inaccessible data by bridging obsolete media with modern hardware.
•Contributes to digital heritage preservation, preventing loss of historical software and data.
•Offers a cost-effective, replicable solution compared to sourcing original working hardware or bespoke ad-hoc recovery efforts.
•Supports a circular / sustainable approach: reusing legacy media instead of consigning them to waste or neglect. - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- IPR applied but not yet granted
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
The university is seeking a partner who can actively collaborate in the commercialisation, adaptation, or scaling of the Floppy Disk Recovery Device.
Potential partner roles include:
1. Technology Transfer / Licensing Partner:
-Acquire rights to manufacture, distribute, and sell the device under license.
-Adapt the device for broader markets or additional floppy-disk formats.
-Provide technical feedback for product refinement to meet different regional or commercial requirements.
2. Joint Development Partner:
-Collaborate on integrating the device into archival workflows, digital-preservation systems, or retro-computing platforms.
-Contribute engineering, software, or manufacturing expertise to optimise the device for efficiency, reliability, and mass production.
-Explore potential software tools to automate disk content retrieval, metadata extraction, or file format conversion.
3. Commercialisation / Distribution Partner:
-Promote and sell the device to SMEs, libraries, museums, and retro-computing communities.
-Develop marketing and distribution channels, including online and offline platforms.
-Provide technical support or user training for customers adopting the device.
4. Digital Preservation / Archival Partner:
-Integrate the device into heritage or archival initiatives to recover historically significant or culturally valuable digital content.
-Offer expertise on digital preservation standards and protocols, ensuring recovered data is safely and systematically stored.
-Facilitate collaborations with academic, cultural, or museum networks for large-scale retro-computing recovery projects.
Partner Profile Requirements:
• Strong technical capability in electronics, retro-computing hardware, or data recovery.
• Experience with technology transfer, manufacturing, or digital preservation.
• Ability to collaborate on licensing, development, and market adaptation agreements.
• Interest in sustainable and circular approaches to technology reuse.
Contribution of Partner:
• Provide complementary technical, manufacturing, or commercial expertise.
• Participate in joint product development, testing, or refinement.
• Assist in reaching target markets and customer segments effectively.
• Enhance the overall impact and sustainability of the technology through practical application and dissemination. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 11-49
- Other
- SME 50 - 249
- University
- SME <=10
- R&D Institution
- Big company
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 11009 - Creative products
- 01003005 - Computer Hardware
- 10003004 - Recycling, Recovery
- Market keywords
- 02005011 - Other disk related
- 02005008 - Floppy disks and drivers
- 02005007 - Disk related memory devices
- Targeted countries
- All countries