Thales Alenia Space takes Lazio Innova’s “Open Innovation Challenge” | Thales Group

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

Thales Alenia Space takes Lazio Innova’s “Open Innovation Challenge”

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Thales Alenia Space at the forefront to stimulate economic growth and innovation in Italy

Rome, 26.06.2020 – Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), is participating in the “Open Innovation Challenge: your challenge for the future“, organized by Lazio Innova, the Lazio Region’s incubator, to strengthen collaboration between startups and larger companies.

As a leader of the Italian space industry, Thales Alenia Space places innovation at the core of its digital transformation strategy and Industry 4.0 approach. By teaming up with Lazio Innova on Open innovation projects, Thales Alenia Space will help spotlight the research and innovation skills available in the Lazio ecosystem.

This “Open innovation challenge” will be focused on technology transfer in favor of the development of innovative startups and SMEs within the regional Space Economy, with the aim of stimulating economic growth and innovation on a local level. The startups were chosen by the ESA Business Incubation Center Lazio, the Lazio Region and the Italian Space Agency for their contribution to high-tech areas of common interest including Navigation, Earth Observation, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, drones and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Thales Alenia Space will offer its proven technical know-how and its Fabrication Laboratories approach. Digital incubators known as FabLabs have been opened in its facilities in France (Toulouse, Cannes) and Italy (Rome), to boost creativity and innovation of all employees through simulation and prototyping in both hardware and software domains. The Rome FabLab, opened in 2018, is organized in 4 areas: Brainstorming area, Fabrication area, Augmented Reality area and Digital Area. Above all, it is a venue that encourages employees to share and develop their innovative ideas and projects. Created to promote inventiveness and foster the development of new solutions and technologies, it will be the ideal host for the selected startups.

Thales Alenia Space will be engaged in meetings, trainings, workshops, and webinars in an effort to create new communities of researchers, startups, small businesses and local authorities, thus stimulating collaborations and cross-fertilization.

Leonardo Mazzini, Chief Technical Officer of Thales Alenia Space Italia, commented on the importance of the space sector and its applications in the economy at regional and national level: “Innovation has always been a key priority for the space sector and a way to deal with the challenges we face. It is no coincidence that space technologies have played a fundamental role in monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic effects on the territory. That’s why Thales Alenia Space not only plans to consolidate the current collaborations, but also to create new partnerships, in particular with research institutions, the most innovative startups and SMEs, to facilitate and expand the vital link between research, innovation and industry.”

ABOUT THALES ALENIA SPACE
Drawing on over 40 years of experience and a unique combination of skills, expertise and cultures, Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Governments and private industry alike count on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite-based systems that provide anytime, anywhere connections and positioning, monitor our planet, enhance management of its resources, and explore our Solar System and beyond. Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the parent companies’ Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of services. Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of approximately 2.15 billion euros in 2019 and has around 7,700 employees in nine countries. www.thalesaleniaspace.com

THALES ALENIA SPACE – PRESS CONTACTS

Sandrine Bielecki   Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 70 94   [email protected]
Catherine des Arcis   Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 72 82   [email protected]
Marija Kovac       Tel: +39 (0)6 415 126 85     [email protected]