The Catania X Lab is a living Lab that develops integrated solutions to support electrification, and in particular new technologies and applications of storage systems such as clients’ participation in network services, aggregation of distributed generation in Virtual Power Plants, microgrids. It hosts research, development, and testing activities for European projects such as IPCEI, ISMI e BD4NRG. It is composed of three X LABs: Industrial Storage & Battery Digital Twin Lab, Residential Distributed Generation Lab, Small C&I Storage & Microgrid System Lab.
Meeting customers’ energy needs through Open Innovation
At Enel X Global Retail, we have created an innovation ecosystem made up of startups, research centers, universities, and clients, the idea being to open up our product experimentation to input from many different sources.
We consider our competitive advantage to be the result of our Open Innovation Model, which is based on three 'steps'.
Our Open Innovation Model
Open listening
The way we see it, the first step in any value creation process is analyzing the context: we need to understand who we are, defining in detail what our priorities are and identifying our competitors. This is what we call 'open listening', a process that - through detecting the most recent trends and analyzing competitors' activities - enables us to intercept the needs of current and prospective clients, start ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), partners and stakeholders.
Idea generation
In this part of the innovation journey we review and analyze the ideas we have collected through our three main channels: the Innovation Hub&Lab, our global network of 10 locations where we present our ideas to start ups and SMEs; the Openinnovability.com platform, where we identify talents, solutions and technologies that we translate into disruptive business ideas; and Customer Labs, during which we engage our clients, from the starting idea through to the final solution.
Solution development
This is the last step in the process. When an idea has made it through all the review phases, it is finally transformed into a solution deliverable to the client. Clearly, at this stage the idea has already gone through a series of market assessments and its financial viability has been ascertained.
Innovation Hubs
Brilliant ideas can come from anywhere, but we know that the academic and business worlds are great places to look. Our Innovation Hubs are often a meeting point between the two.
US - SAN FRANCISCO
CHILE - SANTIAGO
ITALY - CATANIA
SPAIN - MADRID
US - BOSTON
BRAZIL - RIO DE JANEIRO
Rome X Lab
The Rome X Lab develops integrated solutions for electrification and performs tests on AC and DC network systems, including on-grid and off-grid microgrids. It hosts research, development, and testing activities for European projects such as USERCHI, InterSTORE, IPCEI and PIONEER. It is composed of three X Labs: Small Commercial & Industrial, Residential, Large Commercial & Industrial.
Customer Lab
Working with clients to create solutions
No solution can be successful unless the client is deeply involved in its development. This is why we have created our Customer Lab: through 35 Co-design and research Methodologies and 13 agencies, the Lab allows quick identification of the approach to be used to develop a specific solution by enabling direct collaboration with our customers, whose feedback along the entire development process ensures the end product is tailored precisely to their needs. The Customer Lab also provides a framework for both testing each solution before it is introduced into the wider market and for surveying interest among the business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) segments.
UX Research
Methodologies selected to analyze how users interact with the solution or the touchpoint.
Product & Price Optimization
Research tools that help assess and maximize the value of the commercial solution for our customers.
Customer Knowledge
A set of services that enables collecting and analyzing client data, generating a 360-degree overview of market conditions, monitoring trends, segmenting targets and analyzing different needs.
City Analytics gathers Big Data to produce actionable information for city administrations
Rates of urbanization, new technologies and new demands mean it’s vital to get smart
Open for ideas
We have amplified and evolved our approach toward innovation, developing a new business model based on openness and collaborative partnerships that listens and finds the right solutions.
