Sustainable innovation
At Indra we think it is precisely during times of crisis when R&D&i investment makes the most difference. When many technology companies are putting a hold on investment, at Indra we think now is the time to continue committing to the future. This is the difference between being content to survive and having the ambition to grow in a sustained and sustainable manner.
2009 has demonstrated the strength of Indra’s commitment to innovation. In a tough year, at Indra we significantly increased our R&D&i expenditure, from 6.4% of revenue in 2008 to 7.0% in 2009.
Leaders in innovation
We are the leading European company in R&D investment in the computer services industry, according to the EU Industrial R&D Scoreboard published by the European Commission in 2009, based on investment data for 2008. The company, which has scaled 13 positions with respect to the previous year, has consolidated its position as the second-ranking Spanish company in terms of research and development investment, investing 7.0% of revenue, well above the average of Spanish companies (0.8%) and their European and US counterparts (2.7% and 4.5%). As a result, we rank first in the computer services subsector.
European company
in R&D investment
in its sector
As a leader in innovation, at Indra we are involved in major R&D projects, both in Spain and Europe. Indra plays a leading role in the Spanish government’s CENIT programme, where we are present in eight projects. Among these, we are co-leaders of Oasis, a development focused on operating safe, intelligent and sustainable highways; we lead ITECBAN, a future system for integrated banking management; and we also lead the Hesperia project to develop technology for integrated security in public places.
We are also involved in R&D projects under the Spanish Industry, Tourism and Trade Ministry’s Plan Avanza. For example, we lead the Tratamiento 2.0 project, aimed at creating a generic middleware platform integrating applications used for remote management of smart medical treatments.
Our open innovation model: Connect to Innovate
At Indra we understand that organisations must be able to use both external and internal ideas on their path towards technological development. This is why we have an open innovation model, and rely on all of our stakeholders to help us innovate. We are convinced that the most innovative companies are built above all on the talent available both internally and externally:
- Employees
- Universities and Research Centres
- Customers
- Partners
- Suppliers
- Public Administrations
- Society
- Etc.
Our model is based on developing an organisation open to external cooperation, in which part of the innovation is outsourced, together forming a global, open and cooperative entity.
Innovation at our Software Labs
Innovation does not only mean creating new solutions and services. Innovation means pinpointing a challenge, analysing it and finding a way to solve it effectively and efficiently. Sometimes this challenge might be to help a customer boost productivity or seek a competitive advantage, but other times it will be to respond to a more aggressive competitive environment or a shrinking market. In these cases, the need to innovate is aimed at the company’s own processes.
At Indra we also innovate our own processes permanently, in an attempt to make them faster, and more dynamic, using resources more efficiently and tapping the most suitable resources at any given time.
Part of this strategy is our Software Labs network. This is a network of laboratories specialising in software development located in nine different countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America, which work as virtual factories 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
However, the value of Indra’s software labs network extends well beyond simply improving productivity. The software labs network represents a standard-bearing technological hub at Indra to develop projects using state-of-the-art technologies and architectures, and it affords significant added value to all the projects it handles. Furthermore, the software labs network is a key element in Indra’s relationship with universities, and is often used to channel that relationship.
Our Software Labs comprise a highly-qualified team of professionals and indeed we employ personnel certified by the AEC (Spain’s quality association - Asociación Española de la Calidad) as innovation managers, and in 2009 we began implementing the R&D&i management system according to AENOR UNE: 166002 R&D&i management system requirement standard. Completion of this implementation is scheduled for 2010.
Centres of Excellence
|
Country |
City | Especiality |
| Germany | Munich | Simulation |
| Spain | A Coruña | Regional public administration |
| Barcelona | Property and Tax Management | |
| Ciudad Real | Energy healthcare | |
| Gijón | ATM | |
| León | Security | |
| Madrid | Energy | |
| Alcobendas Madrid | SOA Core banking electronic administration, modernisation and procedure management road, sea and toll traffic geospatial technology enterprise 2.0 |
|
| Aranjuez Madrid | Tactical communications and electro-optical systems | |
| San Fernando | Simulation and holding benches | |
| Madrid | Land and Rail Transport | |
| Toledo | Healthcare – Digital Imaging | |
| Torrejón de Ardoz | ATM Air defence and electronic warfare | |
| Valencia | Company banking healthcare | |
| United Kingdom | Folworth (Londres) | ATM |
| Slovak Republic | Bratislava | Energy |
| Argentina | Buenos Aires | IT infrastructures management telecommunications |
| Brazil | Campinas | Energy |
| Chile | Santiago de Chile | IT infrastructures management |
| Colombia | Bogotá | BPO Document management |
| USA | Orlando | Test benches and simulation |
| México | Ciudad de México | Multilingual Services industry and Consumption Logical Security |
| Panama | Ciudad de Panamá | Energy |
| China | Pekín | Sensors |
| The Philippines | Manila | Energy |
| Australia | Sydney | ATM |
This commitment to innovating the software labs network has enabled us to be present in all the technological platforms in Spain (INES, eVIA, eMOV, eNEM, eSEC, Internet.es), as well as major R&D&i projects under the umbrella of the AVANZA, CENIT, Interempresas-CDTI or European AAL programmes. Among the projects awarded to Indra in 2009, we highlight Energos (CENIT), SITIO (EUREKA+AVANZA), VESTA (AVANZA), TacTIC (AVANZA), LUMINICA (AVANZA), MoBiAR (AVANZA) and Senior Channel (European AAL programme).
The software labs network meets the highest quality standards. Most of the labs hold ISO 9001 certification, four of them have level 3 CMMI (in Mexico and Argentina) and the IGEA product has obtained level 4 CMMI and has passed the OGC WMS compliance test.
Our centres of excellence
Knowledge of our customers’ business and technology has led us to develop a network of over 38 centres of excellence throughout the world. These centres work as advanced R&D&i laboratories, offering cutting-edge technological trends to develop tailor-made solutions for our customers.
Economic sustainability
INNOVATION in the Media market
The Media market is in the midst of deep-rooted change, as a result of the convergence of telecommunications networks and the technological development of audiovisual platforms. Responding to new challenges in the sector is vital to the sustainability of our customers and requires a firm commitment to innovation. This allows Indra to be a strategic partner for its customers in the field of innovation. Indra endeavours to stay ahead of its customers’ needs and evidence of this are the numerous R&D&i projects in which it has been involved in 2009:
• CBDP (Context Based Digital Personality). A project developed by a Spanish/French/Turkish consortium. The purpose of this project is to study the distribution of personalised content based on user preferences.
• Buscamedia: CENIT project, involving more than 19 institutions, whose main purpose is to develop a semantic multimedia, multilingual and multiplatform search engine based on user preferences and habits.
• Web N+1: The main purpose of this project is to develop applications that enable prosumers (users who produce and consume content at the same time) to capture, manage, search and interact with content and services easily, securely and in a personalised manner, combining semantic web tools with social web technologies and the new Web 3.0 concept.
• DESSO SATELLITE: A Spanish- Uruguayan IBEROEKA project to distribute interactive multimedia content via satellite to the entire region for fixed and mobile environments.
• DESECO: A Spanish-Colombian IBEROEKA project to migrate traditional television to a mobile environment, enabling users to interact.
• Movilidad Interactiva www.movilidadinteractiva.com: R&D project initiated in 2008 to provide a solution for the dynamic insertion of advertising in Video on Demand (VoD), allowing the personalisation of advertising in linear channels for mobile broadcasts.
Social sustainability
SOFIA,one of the best European R&D projects
Indra is involved in the Smart Objects For Intelligent Applications (SOFIA) project, which was chosen as the best project among the 59 presented to the European Commission in the European ARTEMIS & ITEA CO-SUMMIT 2009.
The purpose of SOFIA is to develop a platform based on semantic web technology, interoperability and intelligent sensor networks for domotics in cities, buildings and cars, as well as providing intelligent and personalised services, such as geolocation, context information or movement detection, via mobile handsets.
Another example of the application of this platform, in the sphere of tourism, is access to a ‘virtual teacher’ to explain the characteristics and history of a particular monument to visiting tourists and to inform them places of interest nearby. Through augmented reality, users will also be able to visualise a virtual reconstruction of the area or monument on their mobile handset.
Furthermore, SOFIA will allow users to consult restaurant menus online, make bookings, or access other users’ opinions just by pointing their handset at a particular establishment. Similarly, by simply pointing their handsets towards an apartment building, users will be able to tell whether any apartments are for sale, and to receive the price, characteristics and seller’s contact details.
Environmental sustainability
CO2PERATION
Involvement in the project
Since 2009, we have been actively involved in the European initiative to manage emissions in air and maritime transport systems as part of the CO2PERATION platform.
CO2PERATION is a proposal to provide a common platform able to process, monitor and report ‘real’ CO2 emissions. Based on the domain, CO2PERATION will apply the specific guidelines required by the European Union in air and maritime transport. Furthermore, 80% of the test findings will be suitable for application in other fields, such as land transport.
CO2PERATION provides software and hardware tools for:
• Management and control of emissions in real time. It includes processing and monitoring, establishing the specific status of each company, generation of reports, presentation of equivalent emission rights to the relevant administrative body and setting of possible penalties, in the case of low-performance hardware.
• Emissions trading. It provides information concerning emissions markets, management of permit sales, sale-purchase of emission rights, evaluation of contracts, settlement and business volume of contracts.
Responding to Spain’s Sustainable Economy Act
Spain’s Sustainable Economy Act, drafted in 2009 and scheduled to come into force in 2010, proposes a new pattern of growth that reconciles economic, social and environmental development with a productive and competitive economy. The act has five main pillars:
- Competitiveness
- Environmental sustainability
- Normalisation of the housing sector
- Innovation and professional training
- Support for new economic sectors
Technology must play a key role in this new ‘intelligent growth’ model. This is why Indra has already developed a range of services and solutions to meet the challenges of the new law. Sustainable mobility, intelligent networks, energy efficiency and tele-medicine will not be possible without advanced systems for obtaining information in real time, and command and control systems.
