VINCI Innovation Awards: A competition set up to develop the Group's creative potential

5 January 2010 - Events

VINCI, the world's leading concessions and construction group, places innovation at the heart of its strategy and management. For this reason, every two years, VINCI organises a competition to reward the best initiatives developed by its different business lines (Concessions, Construction, Roads and Energy).

VINCI has been organising the Innovation Awards competition every two years since 2001. The competition invites all the Group's employees throughout the world to present their innovations in order to reward them, make them known and facilitate their dissemination. All the Group's employees compete in 11 regions: seven in France (North, West, South-West, South-East, Rhône-Alpes, East, Paris Region), three in the rest of the world (Northern Europe, Central Europe, International Europe) and one centralised region (Central Activities).

The 2009 competition was highly successful, with almost 1450 projects presented by over 3,500 employees from 34 countries (i.e. 33% more projects than in 2007).

• Innovation, written into VINCI's DNA

Through its decentralised organisation, the Innovation Awards competition aims to recognise and promote the initiatives of the men and women working in the front line. Whether technical and technological, managerial or social, these innovations illustrate a state of mind that allows the Group to continue progressing in terms of quality, lead times, safety and respect for the environment.

The competition timetable is organised in two stages: the projects submitted are first examined in each region and later at Group level, where three to five regional prize-winners compete in the final stage. The competition categories (Materials, Processes and Techniques, Marketing and Services, Equipment and Tools, Management) reflect an open and pragmatic approach to innovation, over and above its purely technical dimensions. These categories are supplemented by two other prizes, "Sustainable Development" and "Safety", together with "Special Prizes" that reward original innovations on a case-by-case basis: "Resourcefulness", "Prevention", etc.

In the regions as at Group level, the juries award special sustainable development and safety prizes, which recognise environmental or societal innovations and those that contribute to improving safety on worksites. With over 60% of the projects submitted in 2009 relating to the fields of safety and the environment, these innovations reflect the commitment of VINCI and all its subsidiaries to social responsibility. In this way, the Innovation Awards embodies the economic and social ambitions of VINCI, which are part of a long-term vision.

• Two new developments this year: creation of a "dissemination" prize and a "technology leap" prize 

To capitalise on the legacy built up since the creation of the competition in 1994, the 2009 competition for the first time highlights use of previous innovations through creation of a Dissemination prize. Symbolised by the robot mascot, built up from innovations submitted or rewarded in the six previous competitions, this prize acknowledges both the creators and the users of the innovations most widely disseminated within the Group and illustrates the priority that VINCI places on effective implementation and sharing of innovations in all its companies.
This year, a "technology leap" prize was also created to reward a breakthrough innovation, that is, an innovation that radically modifies conditions of use of a tool and/or a process and that represents a technological breakthrough.

This year, the Grand Prize in the final stage of the competition was awarded to VINCI Concessions for its Pirandello software, which aims to assist public decision making by simulating choices in terms of population and employment as a function of urban transport.

 

About VINCI
VINCI is a global player in concessions, energy and construction, employing 280,000 people in more than 120 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, we are committed to operating in an environmentally, socially responsible and ethical manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities. Based on that approach, VINCI’s ambition is to create long-term value for its customers, shareholders, employees, partners and society in general.