By Staff Correspondent
Indra, one of the leading global technology and consulting companies, has reinforced its position as one of the leading innovation companies in Europe by rising in the rankings for all the categories analyzed by the latest EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, recently published by the European Commission.
With 265 million euros invested in RDI in 2020, Indra is among the Spanish companies in its sector in Europe that invest most in innovation. The Software & Computer Services sector, which includes 98 companies, remains the second-ranked Spanish company and has risen to seventh among European companies, up to five positions from the previous year. In the European ranking that includes all industries, it climbed 49 spots, and in the world ranking, 72.
In addition, Indra’s innovative effort (R&D investment concerning sales) reached 8.7%, the company’s highest in the past decade, despite the COVID-19 crisis. This creative effort is greater than that of the 100 most innovative companies in the world on average (8.2%), better than the average of companies in Japan (4%), China (3.7%), and the United States (7.9%), and much higher than average business investment in R&D concerning sales of companies in Europe (4.2%) and Spain (2.0%).
In 2020, Indra carried out over 150 RDI projects collaborating with various partners. The company plays a leading role in some of the most innovative Spanish and European initiatives to design future next-generation technologies for the different sectors.
Indra is the Spanish industrial coordinator of the FCAS (Future Combat Air System), the most extensive joint European defence program to date and the most ambitious in terms of technological development, representing a huge development opportunity for the Spanish industry.
Moreover, Indra is leading some of the most critical European innovation initiatives on transportation digitalization and new intelligent solutions, such as Shift2Rail and the digitalization of all European air traffic.
In collaboration with Enaire, Indra has also launched Startical, a pioneering project that aims to put into orbit a network of over 200 small satellites at a low altitude to improve air traffic management to provide service around the planet.
Leader in digital transformation
With regard to the Information Technologies business, Indra, through Minsait, is at the forefront of innovation in technologies such as Business Analytics, Big Data, Robotics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence, for organizations in industries such as Energy and Industry; Financial Services; Telecommunications and Media; and Public Authorities and Healthcare.
In recent years, Minsait has launched unique initiatives, including the creation of Plaiground, the most innovative solution to facilitate companies’ access to Artificial Intelligence (AI); the development in Granada of one of the most advanced AI centers in Europe, together with the University of Granada and with Google Cloud as a technology partner; the promotion of sustainability in organizations through The Overview Effect; and the creation of Minsait Payments, which has successfully developed a unique, innovative and differentiated digital services proposal based on intelligence generation and the use of machine learning algorithms.
Minsait’s other cutting-edge projects in the field of digitalization include the development of an innovative model that makes it possible for banks to be managed 100% digitally; the combination of Artificial Intelligence and satellite imaging to design new models for environmental risk management and business fraud detection; the digitalization of environmental monitoring in oilfields, thus minimizing cases of pollution; the construction of a smart management system for handling power grid outages; and the creation of new solutions for the environmental, mobility and safety challenges of the cities of the future.
National Innovation Award 2020
Last year, Indra received Spain’s National Innovation Award from the Ministry of Science and Innovation in the Large Corporation category.
Indra was given this honour “for genuinely representing the best values and principles of innovation in Spain, for its importance in several sectors from the standpoint of digitalization, for being at the forefront of RDI and playing an essential role as a driving force in promoting innovation within other companies, placing particular emphasis on SMEs in the sectors that it leads”, in the words of the panel of judges.
Innovation that adds value
In addition to leading some of the leading European innovation programs and dedicating significant resources to RDI, Indra’s global innovation model has received Spanish and European quality certifications, which attest to its value contribution. The ultimate goal of this model is to consolidate Indra’s technological leadership, generate value for its customers, encourage the talent of its professionals, and strengthen innovation as one of the foundations of its corporate culture.
This is an open, streamlined, and flexible innovation model meant to expand and consolidate Indra’s connection with innovation technology ecosystems at a global level:
- Startups
- Entrepreneurs with ideas
- University research groups are experimenting with emerging technologies
- Indra’s own professionals
Over 3,000 of Indra’s employees are engaged in RDI on a full-time basis in Spain, but the company also encourages intrapreneurship so that its nearly 50,000 employees worldwide can propose new business ideas.
Through Indraventures, its vehicle for strengthening its relationship with this entire entrepreneurial ecosystem and financing initiatives, Indra analyzes over a thousand startups per year to make deals, invest, and help to accelerate their projects with digital business models. Through these projects, as well as by working with over 300 universities and technology and research centres, and encouraging intrapreneurship among its own professionals, the company is strengthening its role as a driving force for RDI.
