KIC InnoEnergy Iberia receive research award

KIC InnoEnergy Iberia was named the best private public partnership in R&D at the National Research Awards 2013. The event was organised in Barcelona by the Catalan Autonomous Government and the Catalan Foundation for R&D. The official ceremony gathered together key actors from the research, innovation and business sectors.

Presenting the award to Manuel Calvo, president of KIC InnoEnergy Iberia, was Artur Mas, president of the Catalan Autonomous Government. In his speech, Calvo highlighted the strong commitment of KIC InnoEnergy to enhance the promotion of innovation in the field of sustainable energy and the increasing need to make people aware of the benefits of public private collaborations in this area.

Adding his thoights, Mikel Lasa, CEO of KIC InnoEnergy Iberia, said: “Our business model guarantees what we define as applied innovation: the knowledge we generate translates into new products and services, generating tangible benefits to the real economy in terms of employment, business profits and R&D.”

KIC InnoEnergy is an example of public private co-operation in Spain and Portugal with key partners from both sectors working together to bring new commercial products and services to market through innovation. Recent activities include an innovative partnership with European clean tech venture capital firms, and the launch of the MAHGRENOV Consortium, an initiative that aims to stimulate education, research and business creation in the emerging Mediterranean economies in the sustainable energy field.