As part of PwC Uruguay's focus on education and research, we conceived this award as a way to contribute to the stimulation and encouragement of the development and importance of innovation in our society. We seek to recognise companies that have developed and implemented an innovation in our country.
In its second edition, this recognition is carried out with the fundamental support of the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII), which considers entrepreneurship and innovation central to its organisation, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which has innovation among its priorities, and the weekly Búsqueda, which plays a role in the dissemination and communication of entrepreneurial activity.
In addition, the Jury is made up of Dean Jorge Xavier and Prof. Adrián Rodríguez, from the Faculty of Economics and Administration (FCEA) of the University of the Republic (Udelar).
Target
The objective is to recognise Uruguayan companies that invest in the generation of value, in process improvements to optimise costs and raise the quality of their products and services, in an alternative management of resources and in the introduction of new practices and technologies for a more environmentally friendly relationship with the environment.
In order to recognise innovation processes in companies of all sizes, in this second edition we are incorporating a category of micro and small enterprises, in order to award a special prize (insofar as the applications merit it). For this, we will start from the definition of micro and small enterprises established in Decree 504/007, which considers:
- Micro-enterprises: up to 4 employed persons and annual sales up to 10 million UI.
- Small enterprises: up to 19 employed persons and annual sales up to 75 million UI.
Evaluation process
By contrasting starting points, objectives and achievements, the initiatives are assessed according to the following criteria:
- Scalability: measures the potential growth of the innovation.
- Globalisation: measures its current scale. This can be sectoral, local, national, global, and so on.
- User or customer value: measures whether the innovation has only an internal impact on the company or whether it also reaches customers or other external entities.
- Profitability: for shareholders.
- Sustainability: measures long-term profitability, which defines whether it is sustainable over time, whether it interacts with the community and whether it has environmental considerations.
- Innovation: measures the degree of innovation.
50% of the evaluation is weighted on the basis of scalability, globalisation, user valorisation, profitability and sustainability. In these dimensions, the initiative is assessed within the framework of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
The other 50% corresponds to the degree of innovation.
To evaluate the proposals, two working groups are formed: the Evaluation Committee and the Jury.
Evaluation Committee
It is responsible for receiving, corroborating requirements and making a primary assessment of companies and innovations. It is composed of:
● Juan Ciapessoni | Co-founder and Innovation leader of The Electric Factory
● Norberto Cibils | Former Director and member of the Evaluation Committee of the National Agency for Research and Innovation
● Inés Kent | Academic Assistant at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the University of the Republic of Uruguay
● Marcelo García | Secretary of the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the Universidad de la República
Jury
The jury acts with complete independence of criteria and prioritises the quality of the innovations presented. It is made up of:
- Jorge Xavier , Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the University of the Republic of Uruguay.
- Adrián Rodríguez: Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the University of the Republic.
- Andrés Danza: Director of the weekly Búsqueda
- Flavio Caiafa: President of the National Agency for Research and Innovation
- Marieke Goettsch| Sector Specialist Inter-American Development Bank
- Omar Cabral | Senior Partner, PwC Uruguay
Previous edition
In the PwC Uruguay 100 Years of Innovation Award, held in 2020, the company ATGen was the winner. The finalists were:
● Carrasco Airport | Easy Airport
● ATGen | Development of diagnostic tools for COVID-19
● Bitafal Group | Recycling of pavements
● Lanas Trinidad | Application of circular economy criteria to the industrial process ● Montes del Plata | Ideal Weighting ● Lanas Trinidad | Application of circular economy criteria to the industrial process
● Montes del Plata | Ideal Weight
Deadline to apply: the first stage to apply for the initiative starts on 7 June and ends on 6 August 2021. The second stage runs from 7 August to 7 September 2021.
Find out about the rules and apply on the website: www.pwc.com.uy/innovacion.
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