Ferrovial presented its Build Up! challenge on October 3rd 2017. This is a new open innovation initiative which will see Ferrovial launch innovation challenges for the start-ups sector, both at national and international level. These innovation challenges will stem from Ferrovial’s different business units (Construction, Toll Roads, Airports and Services) and will focus on solving the needs arising in each of such units.
FIRST EDITION OF BUILD UP!
With the aim of achieving its Target Zero objective for work-related accidents, the first challenge launched through the acceleration programme Build Up! is the search for solutions to guarantee the safety of Ferrovial staff working on road maintenance.
Over the space of a month, Ferrovial received proposals aimed at solving the challenge: How can we guarantee the safety of staff working on road maintenance?
5 shortlisted proposals
The deadline closed on November 3rd, after which five start-ups were shortlisted from all the proposals received from different countries:
- Secmotic, Spain
- Pixels Hub, Spain
- EAVE, UK
- Light Flex, Sweden
- DroneTools, Spain
Next steps: Workout
The following step, the Workout phase, will be an opportunity for the shortlisted companies to work directly with Ferrovial staff. The first meeting will be on 16th January, and the aim will be to align proposals to actual company needs.
Two weeks later, on 30th January, final proposals will be submitted to a panel comprised of Ferrovial managers and entrepreneurial experts. The winner of the challenge will be announced on the same day, and the winning solution will be tested through a pilot project at one of Ferrovial’s facilities. In the event of satisfactory results, the start-up will have the chance to scale up the solution within the corporation, both within other departments and in the various countries in which Ferrovial works.
Ferrovial would like to thank all the start-ups that submitted a proposal, and encourage them to take part in future challenges to be launched through the Build Up! initiative.
