When innovation is obvious
MadridUpdated:
Make a sweeping panoramic to know everything that moves in a sector, the audiovisiual, which is the living image of innovation, and contribute, with the support of initiatives with better definition, to the development and competitiveness of the industry. That is the goal of Promotes Vision RTVE, a registered trademark of the Spanish Broadcasting Corporation that brings together three lines of business and research stimulus under its umbrella: Impulsa Vision Startups, an accelerator of innovative projects for self-employed and micro-SMEs; Impulse Vision Aids to Research, aimed at university research projects; and Impulsa Visión Empresas, a kind of test bank or «sandbox» so that disruptive companies can test their projects in the environment of the public entity.
The fourth call for the startup accelerator, which has already become a benchmark in the sector, is open until December 16. The program equips the selected projects with up to 30,000 euros, but their support goes much further. «We allow companies to install several months in the RTVE facilities and here they can test their developments under the direct supervision of those responsible for the different areas of the corporation. Thus, when they go to the market, they have the guarantee that their product has been tested in this or that TVE program and it worked, "explains Pere Vila, director of Technology Strategy at RTVE.
Esteban Mayoral, Director of Transmission of Knowledge of RTVE, emphasizes that the Impulsa project as a whole is "an economic way to discover the trends of the sector. We are a public entity and we do not have big budgets, but that's how we get first-hand information and, of course, cheaper than a consultancy. " It is, therefore, an initiative with a component of Corporate Social Responsibility, "But that is not our first intention. The objective is to test projects that can later be used by RTVE, but also for the rest of the market. In fact, one of the characteristics of our accelerator is that we do not enter the capital of companies. As a public company, it does not make sense for a startup to be our subsidiary. We get the license for free use of the products that work, but then the startup can sell them to all the companies they want », explains Mayoral. And the doors open: "In the first edition, for example, we had a company, Teltoo, who developed a tool to save bandwidth in streaming broadcasts for which he later achieved a large investment from Virgin, with which they were internationalized ».
Pere Vila emphasizes that the project opened an unexplored path in public companies. "We were the first public corporation to start up an accelerator. And our condition forces us to do an open process in communication and with the rules of selection and evaluation very clear, "he says. "We were also pioneers in Europe, in the EU there was nothing like it. We had to rely on the support of the State Bar to carry out the project, because we are subject to the Law on Contracting of Public Administration and that forces us to maximum transparency. After other colleagues, as Renfe or Post, they asked us how we did it and we gave them the formula, "adds Mayoral.
With the idea of expanding the search radius of future assets relevant to the sector, the Impulsa Visión project has also been extended this year to the classrooms, with research grants for students who are doing their final master's work. They will be related in each call with a specific topic, in this case the user experience in the new supports. Equipped with 10,000 euros (7,000 for the student and 3,000 for the university department), the deadline for receiving projects is also open until December 16.
The last axis of Impulsa Visión is the «Sandbox» that the Ente puts at the disposal of consolidated companies. A test field lasting several months and which will be released with proposals related to the accessibility of the contents. In short, a joint look at the innovation of a sector, "still small compared to the rest of Europe, but full of ingenuity and talent," says Mayoral.
