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Knowledge Partnership with Innovation 4 Change

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Turin, 14 February 2020


Enel Foundation has reinforced its support to Innovation4Change (I4C), one of the major Italian innovation projects based on the collaboration between companies, institutions and non-profit organizations.

On the sidelines of the opening event of the fifth edition of I4C at the Talent Garden Fondazione Agnelli Torino, the Collège des Ingénieurs Italia (CdI), in collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino and Idea Square (the CERN centre dedicated to experimental innovation), announced Enel Foundation as the first Knowledge Partner of this impact innovation program.

Every year, I4C encourages the participants to develop innovative and scalable business ideas and practical solutions to respond to the most important challenges related to social, economic and environmental problems of today. The focus of this year’s edition is on food, supply chain sustainability, circular economy, fake news and occupational health and safety.

Teams of young talents attending the MBA at the CdI and Doctoral School of Politecnico di Torino will be working on sustainable development challenges launched by Enel FoundationAutostrade per l’ItaliaCNH IndustrialDSMIrenRegione Puglia and the United Nations International Institute for Crime and Justice Research (UNICRI).

The 53 participants, grouped in different teams tackling specific challenges, will present their solutions in front of a jury of investors and experts from the technological and industrial sectors on June 23, during the Italian Tech Week festival in Turin.

Enel Foundation, after collaborating with the first four editions of I4C , has become Knowledge Partner with the aim to provide additional support to the teams and to bring about positive change and accelerate a sustainable development for all.

During the second edition of Innovation for Change, Enel Foundation launched a challenge about health on work environments, from which SoundBubble was born. SoundBubble is a smart headphone that allows the users to pick the sounds they want to hear. In 2018, SoundBubble gathered €50k to develop the proof of concept, and last year it signed a contract for product development with Enel Green Power, getting thus the chance to test its use on the field. The first application of SoundBubble is in the 3SUN PV plant, where it can protect workers from excessive noise while allowing alarms and voices to be heard clearly thanks to a personalized set-up.

Another success case of the I4C program is SPECTRUMLab, a venture born from the challenge to generate value from waste launched by Ferrovie dello Stato in the fourth edition of I4C. SpectrumLab is a thermochromic reflective paint that changes its color based on air temperature. The paint is developed to be applied to roof surfaces in order to increase the energy efficiency of buildings. This project aims to be a solution to the urban heat island. After participating in the Global Grad Show 2019, SPECTRUMLab has been selected for an acceleration program that will take place in Dubai starting from March 2020.

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