ENAIRE launches the second edition of the Business Ideas Competition in Air Traffic Management

The registration period for the second edition of the "Business Ideas Competition in Air Traffic Management", an initiative of CRIDA, the research, development and innovation subsidiary of ENAIRE, the national air navigation service provider, is open through 31 December 2023.

"The aim is to encourage the generation of ideas that result in the creation of innovative companies in ENAIRE's area of activity. Therefore, the business ideas competition will be a success if it serves to expand the innovative ecosystem of air navigation", noted ENAIRE's CEO, Enrique Maurer.

The three ideas selected that stand out during development will receive prizes of 5,000, 3,000 and 1,000 euros

The competition is open to undergraduate/graduate students, professionals, PhD students, and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Selection Committee

The competition has a Selection Committee, which is tasked with assessing the viability of each project. The three best projects, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, will receive prizes of 5,000, 3,000 and 1,000 euros for first, second and third place, respectively.

In addition, two more ideas will be selected that, together with the three winners, will enter the incubation phase.

In this phase, the proponents of the ideas selected will have individual and group mentorships for three months, from February to April 2024, to refine the definition of their business ideas.

After the incubation phase, the idea with the best business plan will receive an additional 10,000 euros.

The first edition took place last year. Twenty-two ideas were presented, of which the five best took part in the incubation programme.

"My mentor helped bring me back down to Earth with each iteration and change in the idea, trying to steer more to an idea that was actually useful to ENAIRE. He helped me ask myself the right questions in each area and give it the right shape", says Jesús Benito López Moreno, creator of VAiR GATE, a finalist in the first edition.

"Our mentor helped us and guided us throughout the process, and taught us interesting tricks and concepts", says César Gómez Arnaldo, creator of DRONELYTICS, which won 2nd prize in the first edition of the Competition.

ENAIRE Open Innovation

The Business Ideas Competition in Air Traffic Management is part of the ENAIRE Open Innovation project. In 2023, this project will include the third edition of the Technical Challenge Competition and an acceleration phase for newly-created companies.

"With these initiatives, ENAIRE will promote turning entrepreneurial ideas into real projects through the Open Innovation concept, that is, by looking for talent outside the organisation as well, such as in universities and among entrepreneurs inside and outside the sector", says CRIDA's director, José Miguel de Pablo. 

More information at ideas.enaireopeninnovation.com

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, it provides en route control services for all flights and overflights from five control centres in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma, as well as approach services to every airport in the country.

In addition, 46 airports receive ENAIRE's communication, navigation and surveillance services, and 21 airports, including the country's busiest, rely on its aerodrome control services.

ENAIRE is Europe's fourth largest air traffic manager and participates in the A6 Alliance, a coalition of air navigation providers responsible for over 80% of European air traffic, and which is seeking to modernise the air traffic management system. It is also a member of other international alliances promoting the Single European sky, such as SESAR Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO and ICAO.

ENAIRE, as the agency appointed by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to implement the U-space system in Spain, will be the provider of the Common Information Services (CIS), which are essential for administering U-space services to drones and Urban Air Mobility, in interaction with local air traffic control services, so that all types of aircraft can fly safely in the same airspace.

ENAIRE has received the highest score in Europe on the aviation safety key performance indicator. It has also been awarded the EFQM 500 Seal for its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.

About CRIDA

CRIDA A.I.E. is a non-profit group set up by ENAIRE, the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and Ingeniería y Economía del Transporte, S.A. (INECO).

Its mission is to improve the efficiency and performance of Spain's air traffic management system by developing R&D ideas and projects that provide quantifiable solutions through system performance indicators, while considering the Spanish system as an integral part of a global system.

To do this, it must analyse the system's benefits quantitatively and systematically, diagnose problems and identify their causes, propose and design innovative alternatives, identify and validate the optimal alternatives, and actively collaborate in the process of implementing the selected solution.

The system must be analysed in direct collaboration with ENAIRE, as the main partner, thereby contributing to its mission of providing air navigation services safely while ensuring quality, efficiency and respect for the environment.