The OHL celebrates the IV Edition of the + Innovative Idea Prize

Last 10 December, the OHL Group celebrated the IV Edition of the + Innovative Prize. The act, held in Torre Espacio, the Group’s head office in Madrid, was attended by Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, chairman of the OHL Group; Josep Piqué, vice-chairman and CEO; Luis García-Linares, general corporate manager; and Juan Lorenzo Martín, general manager for Organization and Systems, amongst others.

Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, who presided the award of the prizes, highlighted during his speech the essential role played by innovation and internationalization in the Group’s expansion and growth. Furthermore, when referring to the winners of this edition, the chairman of OHL pointed out that, their effort has contributed to boosting “the Group’s competitiveness and productivity”, stating that investment in RDI initiatives is “conceived as a permanent activity that is part of OHL’s organizational structure”.

According to this policy, between 2000-2013 OHL has launched more than 70 RDI projects and has collaborated with more than 60 universities and research centers in a total of 15 countries. In order to promote these projects, the Group is backed up by relevant institutions, to include the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), dependent on the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and the European Union, through the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020.

In relation to Europe, of interest is the fact that in the latest business innovation ranking drawn up by the European Commission, published in 2014, OHL is the third Spanish company by R&D investment, and the twelfth amongst European companies in the sector. Furthermore, it belongs to the world’s 2,500 best companies in relation to R&D investment, along with another 16 Spanish companies.

+ Innovative Idea Prize

The OHL Prize to the Most Innovative Idea has been awarded to the Competitive intelligence applied to risk evaluation project. In turn, the 1st second prize has rewarded the System to detect creaking rails idea; and the 2nd second prize has rewarded two different yet mutually complementary initiatives: Geolocation devices for vehicles and machinery and PIM: System to control and manage fleets.

From left to right, Manuel Villén, Josep Piqué, José Luis Fernández, Carlos Alexis Sánchez, Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, Iván Navas, Gregorio Pérez, Fernando Vegas and Luis García-Linares.