In the past year, Enel has reached many milestones. We have boosted our digital presence. We have contributed to more causes that mean a lot to us. We have celebrated the 5th anniversary of Enel Innovation Hubs. We have been resilient in our commitment to changing the future of energy.
As a company that focuses its efforts on innovation across its business lines with an emphasis on up-and-coming renewable technologies across different industries, Enel strives to show that innovation has no physical boundaries. Collaboration with startups has fueled our Open Innovation activity and, as 2021 wraps up, we are proud of the fact that this commitment has been recognized at the Corporate Startup Stars Awards for the fifth year in a row.
There can be no doubt that "innovation is strictly connected to sustainability: it is the driving force of our model at Enel,” says Francesco Starace, CEO of the Enel Group. This message is continuously repeated across our business and it guides our work; we are dedicated to an increasingly brighter future for everyone.
An honorable mention
The Corporate Startup Stars Awards is a prestigious annual ranking which was launched by Mind the Bridge as part of the European Commission’s Startup Europe Partnership initiative in 2016. The awards became global in 2020 thanks to a partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The latest event, which was held in Paris on December 10, celebrated the best practices and role models in Open Innovation. It showed how corporate and startup collaborations, when they are done well, can have a tremendous impact on businesses and the world.
This year, we are honored to have not only received the Corporate Startup Procurement Award for the fifth year in a row but to have also been recognized among the 25 most active companies working with startups. As Ernesto Ciorra, our Chief Innovability® Officer, pointed out: "Once again, this award shows how important working with startups is for Enel.”
These awards recognize how discipline, hard work and collaboration have enabled us at Enel to achieve the objectives we set ourselves. "We are accelerating our progress along the road towards a zero-emissions future, but any effort would be vain if innovation were not at the core of our business model,” Ciorra said. He was followed by Enel’s Head of Global Procurement, Francesca Di Carlo, who added that "these awards recognize the importance the Group attributes to the procurement process with both major corporates and small businesses. Startups can work with us through a dedicated fast track, covering both the testing activities and the subsequent implementation of the technology on a large scale.”
A big step towards 2022
Innovation has no limits and at Enel we are continuously looking for new ways to promote sustainable progress around the world. These prestigious awards are proof that the work we put in every day with employees, startups, entrepreneurs, companies and other stakeholders is worth every minute. According to Ciorra: "At the cornerstone of our sustainable innovation strategy are more than 450 projects that have been carried out with startups and over 110 solutions that have been scaled up. Together through collaboration, we are creating long-term value for us, for the startups and for the world around us.”
As we enter 2022, new technological developments such as the metaverse will emerge and revolutionize the digital world. Other technologies will strengthen their impact, such as the ability for blockchain to be applied within healthcare and finance. We will continue to foster and scout for powerful collaborations and relationships that will enable us to create a better future. With the Open Power mindset at the core of our values, we know that we can lead the energy transition.