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Abstract 

The risk of accidents at work represents a problem, especially in a post-pandemic world with the rise in remote working. With advances in technology, always-on systems that can detect warning signs and other anomalies in the behavior of workers would reduce this risk and improve the health and safety of drivers, operators, and field workers.

Can you provide a solution that can help the Seeker companies to prevent workplace accidents before they happen?

This Theoretical Challenge requires only a written proposal. 

Only EU and UK Citizens are eligible for award in this Challenge.

 

OVERVIEW

The COTEC Foundation have organized this contest, with their members Enel, Eni, and Leonardo, to find systems that can detect behavior and warning signs of risk to their drivers, operators, and field workers.

Your system could help prevent situations that can create danger or risks. For instance, a solution that could identify warning signs in workers’ vital conditions, behavior, and/or safety equipment use (e.g. use of PPE) will reduce hazards – keeping them safe.

Your solution, at Technology Readiness Level ≥ 5, should detect these anomalies in behavior, as well as providing data for reporting and analysis. Detecting these signs will help the Seekers to prevent workplace accidents through the use of new technologies.

 

BACKGROUND

Reducing dangers in the workplace and preventing the conditions that can lead to risk is important to both employers and to staff. 

The topic of health and safety at work is an important part of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, the United Nations Agenda 2030, and is the subject of multiple regulations, programs, and initiatives. Protecting the occupational health and safety (OHS) of the around 170 million workers in Europe is one of the EU’s critical strategic objectives. 

Description

THE CHALLENGE

Enel, Eni, and Leonardo, facilitated by the COTEC Foundation, intend to address the prevention of some categories of accidents, through the use of new technologies. Your solution should be able to detect warning signs and other anomalies in the behavior of workers that could lead to a situation of danger or risk. Some examples of use cases where the solution could be applied are: vehicle drivers, construction machinery operators, maintenance operators, lone workers in remote areas, and electrical grids operators.

Where possible, your solution should ensure connectivity with innovative telecommunications systems, for instance in the detection of remote workers in areas with low or no signal.

Following this Challenge, the COTEC Foundation intends to announce the winners, their solutions, and proposed next steps. The Foundation may host an awards ceremony later this year to celebrate its outcomes, to be held in Rome. Enel, COTEC, or other members of the Foundation may contact awarded Solvers to arrange their participation in, or attendance of, this ceremony.

 

TECHNICAL CRITERIA

Your solution, at Technology Readiness Level ≥ 5, will ideally have the scope to achieve both parameter detection and data sharing connectivity for the best chance of a full award. Solutions that solely detect warning signs of risk remain of great interest.

Where possible, your solution should ensure connectivity with innovative telecommunications systems, including the ability to do so in remote areas or areas with poor or no signal – to enable geolocation and health monitoring technologies, even for remote operators.

The solution can also make use of Artificial Intelligence features, Big Data analytics and use different sources of data, external from its applied area, in order to improve the accuracy of detection. The Seekers are looking for solutions that have the potential to further develop bio-vital parameter detection, multimedia data analysis for stress situation detection, and metaverse/digital twin applications for these technologies.

After the Challenge, there will be a COTEC Foundation report produced for publication about the winning solutions. Please highlight any elements of your solution that could be considered confidential, which you do not own or you are not willing to share.

 

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS 

Submissions should address the following Solution Requirements. Any proposed solution must:

  • Be able to provide a simple and effective warning sign detection solution that is non-invasive; 

  • Technology readiness level (TRL) ≥ 5; 

  • Be easily integrated with other existing instruments; and

  • Be compliant with the EU Regulation no. 2016/679 (EU GDPR rules) and any other applicable local Data Protection legislation (“Applicable Data Protection Legislation”).

 

Nice-to-have requirements:

  • Your solution could also have the ability to analyse data around any identified conditions of concern. 
  • The proposed solution should also comply to the ATEX regulation, in case of applicability to explosive atmosphere.

 

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

This is a Theoretical Challenge, which requires only a written proposal to be submitted. The Challenge award will be contingent upon theoretical evaluation of the submission by the Seeker. 

To receive an award, the Solvers will not have to transfer the exclusive IP rights to the Seeker. Instead, the winning Solver(s) will grant to the interested Seeker(s) a non-exclusive license to practice their solutions, according to the specific challenge Regulation (CSA attached). 

The written submitted proposal should include the following: 

  • Detailed description of the proposed solution and/or technique, including (but not limited to): 

- advantages and weaknesses of the proposed solution; 

- information about the accuracy of detection and how this is calculated; 

- information about proposed applications (i.e., type of areas, weather conditions, type of installation, expected operating conditions); 

- cost information (i.e., components, maintenance); and

- provide any ATEX certification, if available, or highlight how the proposed solution qualifies for ATEX certification.

  • Data, case studies, patent and journal references or any additional material that supports the proposed solution, if applicable. 

  • An analysis of the feasibility to scale up the proposal in order to maximize the application in different country contexts.


The proposal should not include any personal identifying information (name, username, company, address, phone, email, personal website, resume, etc.) or any information the Solvers may consider as their Intellectual Property they do not want to share.

 

SDGs

This Challenge contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

  • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth 

  • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 

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Challenge rules

All proposers are invited to read carefully the Challenge and the Regulation of this challenge, attached in the Attachments section, before submitting a solution. 

By submitting a solution they automatically accept the attached Regulations other than the Terms of Use of this platform.

Explain your proposal clearly in English, attach documents (max 5 files, 25MB total size) if needed.

 

ELIGIBILITY

This Challenge is reserved for EU and UK citizens only. If you are not a citizen of the European Union or the United Kingdom, your submission will not be eligible for award.

The employees of the Seeker companies (Enel, Eni, and Leonardo), as well as their spouses or partners and their relatives up to the fourth degree, are not eligible for participation in this Challenge.

 

CHALLENGE, AWARD, IP RIGHITS, DEADLINE 

This is a Theoretical Challenge, which requires only a written proposal to be submitted. The Challenge award will be contingent upon theoretical evaluation of the submission by the Seeker. 

To receive an award, the Solvers will not have to transfer the exclusive IP rights to the Seeker. Instead, Solver will grant to the Seeker a non-exclusive license to practice their solutions. 

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (Central European Time) on May 2, 2023. The proposals will be admitted until May 2 and the evaluation will start after this date. 

Late submissions will not be considered.

Specific regulation attached.

Regulation

Regulation

PDF (0.21MB) Download

What happens next?

After the Challenge deadline, the Seeker will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the Winning Solution(s). All Solvers that submit a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions. 

The Seekers’ evaluation committee will evaluate the proposal using the following criteria: 

  • Overall scientific and technical feasibility of the proposed solution; 

  • Economic potential of concept (e.g. Total Cost of Ownership); 

  • Business potential for the Seeker; 

  • Novelty; 

  • Potential for proprietary position (i.e., is the technology novel or protectable); 

  • User’s capabilities and related experience; 

  • Realism of the proposed solution; and

  • Maturity level of the proposal. 

 

Enel, Eni and Leonardo are interested in the potential for collaboration with awarded Solvers in the following areas:

  • Test execution; 

  • Supply of prototypes (if the solution includes equipment); 

  • Installation and site tests; and

  • Follow up and monitoring of the proposed solution. 

 

At the end of the assessment, you will receive feedback. In case of success, a relevant person will get in touch with you to discuss the next steps – including about the report and potential award ceremony.

 

 

ABOUT THE SEEKERS

Enel is a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the global power and renewables markets.

Enel is present in 30 countries worldwide, producing energy with around 93 GW of total capacity.

Enel Grids, the Group’s global business line dedicated to the management of the electricity distribution service worldwide, delivers electricity through a network of around 2.3 million kilometers to approximately 76 million end users. The Group brings energy to more than 70 million homes and businesses. Enel’s renewables arm Enel Green Power has a total capacity of more than 56 GW and a generation mix that includes wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power, as well as energy storage facilities, installed in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Enel X Global Retail, Enel's global advanced energy services business line, has a total capacity of around 8.2 GW of demand response managed globally and has installed 65 MW of behind-the-meter storage capacity. In addition, Enel X Way is the Group’s new company fully dedicated to electric mobility, managing nearly 430,000 public and private EV charging points worldwide, both directly and through interoperability agreements.

Eni is an integrated energy company with more than 30,000 employees in 68 countries around the world. In 2021, the company launched a new strategy that will enable it to provide a variety of fully decarbonized products, combining environmental and financial sustainability. The recent merger of the renewable and retail businesses in Plenitude (formerly Eni gas e luce), the development of bio-refineries and biomethane production, and the sale of low-carbon energy carriers and mobility services at service stations are among the main levers for taking the path towards decarbonization.

Eni aspires to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, supporting a just energy transition that meets the challenge of climate change with concrete and economically sustainable solutions by promoting efficient and sustainable access to energy resources, for all.

Leonardo is an industrial and technological leader in the Aerospace, Defence and Security sector, with a balanced and geographically distributed order backlog and a significant industrial footprint in Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland and the United States.

The company operates in 150 countries in the world offering customised solutions and innovative, value-added after-sales support services in order to be a trusted partner for its customers. It competes in the most important international markets by leveraging technology and product leadership in its business areas (Helicopters, Aircraft, Aerostructures, Electronics, Cyber Security and Space).

With more than 50,000 people and 106 sites all over the world, Leonardo invests 12,8% of annual revenues in Research & Development.



COTEC Fondazione per L’innovazione or COTEC Foundation is a private non-profit foundation in which the skills, experiences and interests of institutions, companies and the research system thrive around the theme of innovation. For the realization of its aims it carries out coordination actions between the state and local institutions, companies and research institutes. Established in 2001 with the aim of strengthening the technological competitiveness of the Italian economy, its members include: Almaviva, Confcommercio, Enel, Eni, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Intesa Sanpaolo, Leonardo, Materias, Philip Morris Italia, Poste Italiane, Sisal, TIM, Unioncamere.

COTEC Foundation is part of the COTEC Europe network with COTEC Spain and COTEC Portugal.

 

ABOUT THE WAZOKU CROWD

Wazoku collaborates with Enel to manage this Challenge. Imagine a world where any problem you have can be looked at by millions of experts, motivated eyes. The Wazoku Crowd makes this possible. With twenty years of experience in crowdsourcing, Wazoku is the gold standard for open talent and external innovation solutions. Commercial, governmental and humanitarian organizations engage with the Wazoku Crowd to solve problems that can impact humankind in areas ranging from the environment to medical advancements.

 

Attachments

Regulation

PDF (0.21MB) Download

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