The Social Council of the UPNA visits Iberdrola España's Innovation Hub in Bilbao
- Members of the R&D&I Directors Club and the Entrepreneurs Club of the Public University of Navarra have visited the company's Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub.
- The aim of the conference was to promote collaboration between Iberdrola and the industrial and innovative fabric of Navarre.
Members of the R&D&I Directors Club and the Entrepreneurs Club of the Social Council of the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), together with members of the aforementioned collegiate body, participated in a working session to learn about Iberdrola's innovation model. The session took place at the company's facilities in Bilbao. Specifically, at the headquarters of its global smart grid center, the Global Smart Grids Innovation Hub.
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The visit was attended by 35 people from the aforementioned clubs and the Social Council delegation, headed by its president, Javier Vidorreta Salillas. The Vice Rector for Research, Francisco Javier Arregui San Martín, and the Vice Rector for Students, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Cristina Bayona Sáez, also attended on behalf of the UPNA rector's team. The visit was preceded by the conference "The innovation model at Iberdrola: innovation as a strategic variable and the development of a global start-up ecosystem", given by Roberto Mariscal, Director of Innovation at Iberdrola Spain. This was followed by a dialogue with the attendees led by the director of the ISC research institute of the UPNA, Francisco Falcone Lanas, which was also attended by Eduardo Ryan, Iberdrola's delegate in Navarra.
Future of renewable energies
As Roberto Mariscal, Innovation Director of Iberdrola Spain, pointed out during the visit, "with more renewables, more storage and more smart grids, in the coming years 80% of our electricity will come from the sun, wind and water. Now the challenge is to accelerate the electrification of transport, the use of heat pumps for air conditioning and the decarbonization of industry. Renewables are an opportunity to attract more industry." The aim of the conference was to promote collaboration between Iberdrola and the industrial and innovative fabric of Navarre. "At Iberdrola we multiply internal talent with the talent of suppliers, universities and startups, to move faster together for that electric future," he added.
Social Council Clubs
The professional clubs of the Social Council of the UPNA are an initiative promoted and organized by this collegiate body in collaboration with academic leaders and professors of the University. The aim is to offer professionals from companies and organizations in the area a training adapted to their needs that allows them to be aware of the best academic contributions that occur in their professional field in the international context and, at the same time, to exchange experiences. These clubs are also a meeting place for these executives and the Public University of Navarra, which favors the establishment of collaborative relationships.
This initiative responds to the provision included in the Ley Foral del Consejo Social, which gives it the competence to "promote, together with the academic heads of the Public University of Navarra, a permanent training offer aimed at practicing professionals and adapted to their needs".