Open Innovability is the new crowdsourcing space for ideas devoted to innovation and sustainability open to everyone and inspired by the philosophy of Open Power.
The project is a hub created by the Innovation and Sustainability function, directed by Ernesto Ciorra, to facilitate dialogue with stakeholders from within and outside the Group, not just employees who would like to suggest business ideas and solutions but also start-ups, independent innovators, universities, research centres, potential company partners, NGOs and other associations.
“Open Innovability is the digital open door of Enel's sustainable innovation: open to those who are inside, because anyone can propose ideas and projects, and open outside, to meet the important challenges for Enel's future. Innovation is amazing because it can come from anyone. Our challenges will not only be technological, but also cover social, environmental, and economic aspects, in order to create value for the communities where we operate”
Ernesto Ciorra, Enel's Head of Innovation & Sustainability
The aim is to effectively involve the greatest number of interlocutors, to scout new proposals and ideas relating to Enel’s core business, including the commitment to sustainability, through an approach to communication that is differentiated according to the interlocutor in question, while maintaining a single management platform.
Enel has launched the ‘Call for ideas’ through specific “Challenges” that concern issues of particular interest to the company; we believe that a crowdsourcing approach can provide an important contribution in terms of new ideas and solutions. The challenges in question are open to everyone, in accordance with the Open Power approach: anyone can read the details of the challenge, but in order to suggest ideas or projects it is necessary to register on the platform in order to facilitate contact with the Enel team that will evaluate the proposal. So far the challenges have been inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and have included “Water as a way to fuel development” and “Education as a global right”, while others have concerned project proposals relating to specific business requirements, such as renewable energy with “Technologies for renewable generation”.
Meanwhile, “I have a project” is the section designed for everyone, from Enel staff, startuppers, researchers, independent innovators and companies, with an interesting contribution to make which does not fit the criteria of any of the specific ‘challenges’ active at that moment.
Innovability: the combination at the heart of the Group’s strategy has found its home online.