The sixth edition of the Sacyr iChallenges program confirmed the international projection of this open innovation program. International participation has grown by nearly 40%, with proposals from more than 30 countries. In addition to Spain, in terms of the volume of registered proposals, the following stand out: USA, Canada, Israel, Finland, UK or South Korea.
Sacyr iChallenges has strengthened its presence in English-speaking countries, which accounted for 27% of proposals in this edition. This year’s edition has completed the stage of receiving the proposal in total 205 solutions to the company’s three challenges.
On the other hand, this year The number of innovative agents with more than 10 years of experience has increased by more than 40%. A number that shows the growth of the innovative ecosystem in recent years and the acceptance of a program focused on discovery, testing and certification of cutting-edge solutions developed by companies, which are increasingly enhanced and able to offer more robust solutions to the group’s business.
Martha GaleGeneral Manager of Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability at Sacyr, highlights the increase in the quality of the offerings: “It is very positive to maintain a level of engagement similar to that of recent releases in response to more and more technical challenges, which require more specific solutions, adapted to the needs of business teams. Once again, We admire the enormous talent and diversity of technological proposals that we find in the innovative international community.
“Thanks to the internal teams involved in the program, we continue to make progress in implementing pilot projects, as well as working to scale up successful projects for greater impact. We are convinced that this is the key to achieving more efficient and sustainable infrastructures, and we are proud to be able to lead this process with the support of our members.” The innovative ecosystem ”, explains Marta Gil.
Sacyr iChallenges is one of the challenges Pillars of the strategy of innovation and transformation in Saeser. Through this open innovation program, Sacyr is looking for fellow travelers with whom they can promote sustainable solutions that help improve the quality of life of citizens through better infrastructures and services.
Three sustainable challenges
The sixth edition of the Sacyr iChallenges once again focuses on promoting sustainability, a key pillar of the Sacyr Sustainable Action Plan 2021-2025. The program raises three challenges that respond to the different needs of its fields of work:
Adapting linear infrastructures to new transportation models. How to build, adapt and operate safer, more attractive and equipped roads for sustainable and connected mobility?
– New solutions for detecting and monitoring pollutants in water treatment plants. How can the detection and monitoring of priority and emerging pollutants in water treatment plants be improved?
– Innovative solutions to predict project design parameters: geotechnical campaigns, topography, bathymetry, object detection. How to automatically obtain accurate and reliable information in the early stages of a project to design and build more efficiently while minimizing impact?
Key dates and selection criteria
Once the deadline for receiving proposals has passed, a committee made up of professionals and experts from Sacyr’s business areas, along with Sacyr’s Corporate Innovation team, is formed. The company will analyze all offers received.
Next stop will be Focus Week, a meeting in which the feasibility of selected solutions will be analyzed in meetings between pre-selected innovative agents and business experts.
Then I will walk Will announce the selected proposals, who will work alongside each other in mixed teams made up of business experts from Sacyr and external agents to further develop their solutions.
Finally, in Sayer Innovation Summitthe event to be held in October at the company’s headquarters in Madrid, the selected innovative agents will participate in face-to-face sessions to identify pilot projects with Sacyr experts and will present their projects to the company’s senior management.
In addition, the Sacyr Foundation, within the framework of the 13th edition of the Sacyr Awards for Innovation, will recognize some of the solutions presented in the Sacyr iChallenges.
In the past six years, the program has collected a total of 1,500 proposals from innovative agents from all regions of the world. Technological solutions that addressed the challenges in all the group’s activities. In the six years of the programme, more than 20 successful pilot projects have been implemented.
