15 May 2018: Enel, an Italian gas and electricity firm, and InnoCentive, an innovation and crowdsourcing company, have partnered to achieve SDGs 4 (quality education), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 13 (climate action). InnoCentive and Enel will identify 50 technology-related challenges that can help deliver operational efficiency and industrial growth, and InnoCentive will use its network of 380,000 “problem solvers” from the corporate, research, academic and start-up worlds to to propose solutions.
The Enel Group reports that it has already made significant progress on the four SDGs, and has quantified its commitments. By 2020, it aims to achieve: 800,000 beneficiaries under SDG 4; three million beneficiaries under SDG 7; three million beneficiaries under SDG 8; and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions lower than 350gCO2/kWheq under SDG 13. The partnership is set to run through 2021.
The challenges will be cross-posted on both InnoCentive and Enel’s ‘Open Innovability’ crowdsourcing portal. Enel’s ‘Open Innovability’ model relies on the contribution of start-ups, corporations, researchers and academics, to achieve sustainable innovation with the goal of creating shared economic and social value for Enel and its stakeholders. The Enel Group has been partnering with InnoCentive on resolving technological challenges since 2015.
Enel is present in over 30 countries, producing energy with around 88 GW of managed capacity. Enel’s renewables arm Enel Green Power already manages around 41 GW of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower plants in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. InnoCentive partners with Fortune 1,000 companies, government entities, and non-profit organizations to develop solutions to business, scientific and technical issues. [Enel Press Release] [‘Open Innovability’ Crowdsourcing Portal]