Open innovation at the Hera Group
Our Open Innovation model systematically brings in solutions and knowledge from outside the company, engaging industrial partners, start-ups, universities and local stakeholders to accelerate the development of highly innovative infrastructure and services.
We identify innovation areas through ongoing dialogue with our business units and continuous monitoring of emerging technologies.
Our innovation ecosystem brings together a range of partners, each contributing through different forms of collaboration:
Open Innovation Brokers help to identify cutting-edge solutions in leading innovation hubs worldwide
Research centres, universities and innovation hubs power frontier projects with cross-disciplinary skills from academia and industry
Consortia and technology districts strengthen innovation within the regional ecosystem where the Hera Group’s business activity takes place
Venture capital firms and business angels showcase solutions in their portfolio to gather market feedback in relevant sectors for the Hera Group
Open Innovation: how it works
Within the Group, we analyse market trends and emerging scenarios, identifying the most promising areas. We adopt an open collaboration model that systematically integrates expertise, solutions and external contributions, with the aim of accelerating the development of highly innovative infrastructure and services.
Open Innovation is a model that opens the company to the contribution of external partners, favouring the contamination of ideas and solutions to accelerate innovation and strengthen our competitive advantage.
Building and managing relationships with players across the innovation ecosystem is a key activity to ensure exposure and openness to new technologies and solutions.
The Venture Clienting model currently adopted by Hera focuses on sourcing innovative start-ups that contribute to reaching the strategic goals pursued by the Group’s business units.
The innovation ecosystem
We identify innovation areas and needs through ongoing dialogue with our business units and continuous monitoring of emerging technologies.
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Market & Trend Monitoring
Analysis of a market’s innovation level to identify whether the innovative solutions are well-established. Analysis of key technology-enabled innovation trends.
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Scouting
Scouting Identification of innovative start-ups/scale-ups that can address specific company needs.
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Development
We implement innovative solutions according to choice of technology.
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Benchmarking
Positioning analysis of a company’s innovation level versus competitors or peer companies in other international markets.
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Call for Innovation
Scouting activity supported by a communication campaign and a final event to promote research and enhance the company’s reputation in terms of innovation.
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Hackaton
Scouting activity involving selected companies to solve a challenge set by the company, both with media exposure.
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Smart Agricolture
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Adaptive Lighting
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Flood Risk Simulation
