Bridging innovation: The future of cleantech between EU and the West Coast
On March 22nd, 2023, Enel gathered at the Italian Innovation and Culture Hub in San Francisco to discuss the long-lasting Innovation journey and how it is leading the future of cleantech not only in the EU, but also across the west coast.
“The human body needs to change, adapt and evolve during an entire life to stay alive. Scientists found a total cellular mass turnover of around 80grams per day”. This analogy was used by Ernesto Ciorra, Chief Innovability® Officer at Enel, to give context to the idea that “if we don’t innovate, we die”. The importance of innovation and its impact on the future of the energy industry were the central themes of Enel's latest event in San Francisco on March 22nd, 2023.
The event brought together innovation leaders and experts at the Italian Innovation and Culture Hub (Innovit) to discuss the future of cleantech between Europe and the west coast. The gathering opened up the conversation about Enel’s long-lasting innovation journey and how it is being implemented in our US West Coast & Mexico Enel Innovation Hub. By making sure that innovation and sustainability are at the forefront of our vision, we can face the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Driving clean energy together
As Ciorra mentions: “Innovation requires courage and synergy”. People and companies must innovate together to create a more sustainable world. These collaborations are key to developing breakthrough solutions that can change the way to work and pave the path towards net-zero.
At Enel, we pride ourselves in our work and our results. Over the past few years, our Enel Innovation Hubs have followed our Innovability® methodology to achieve these. “We connect with the best startups in the energy sector because they are going to help us transition into a better world”, declared Angelo Rigillo, CEO of Enel Innovation Hubs. Together we have scouted over 14,300 startups, activated more than 1,300 projects and 585 startups, as well as scaled over 300 projects and 125 startups. These numbers have been the result of resilient hard work and extensive collaborations with the best startups and SMEs around the world. Andrea Sguazzi, US West Coast & Mexico Enel Innovation Hub Manager, supported this idea by reaffirming that “for us at Enel, it is key to find innovative and transformative hardware and software solutions that are revolutionizing cleantech”.
Throughout our journey, various startups, companies, and partners have remained steadfast allies. This unwavering support was particularly evident during our time in San Francisco, where we hosted an esteemed group of industry leaders, experts, and influencers. Our EIH Manager had the honor of moderating a distinguished panel comprising Natalie Geise, Innovation Analyst at Powerhouse, Matt Campbell, Founder of Terabase, Davoud Zamani, Co-Founder of ALD Technical Solutions, and Massimo Masini, VP of Operations at TS Conductor, who offered valuable insights and perspectives on their respective areas of expertise and entrepreneurial endeavors. Other notable attendees included Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research and Culture.
Additionally, we were privileged to hear from Alberto Acito, Director of Innovit, who reveals that “we are bringing together the best of Italy abroad and helping companies go international” He continues: “Companies are coming more and more from Europe to make things happen and to connect and build new and exciting projects”.
From Europe to the west, cross-global collaboration
Enel is proud to contribute to the global effort towards a sustainable future. As a company, we are committed to continuous progress and collaborative innovation, with Innovability® serving as our guiding principle. Together with our partners, we are pioneering solutions that can build a better tomorrow. We believe that renewable energy and clean energy should span across borders and by hosting events like these, Enel can showcase the real-world impact that is being done.
For more information on our US West Coast & Mexico Enel Innovation Hub, visit our EIH page. If you are interested in developing sustainable solutions on a global scale, you can discover collaboration opportunities in our Open Innovability® Challenges.