Medellin, December 5th, 2013
EPM [Empresas Públicas de Medellín (Public Services
Company of Medellin)] wins the 2013 Portfolio Prize in the
Innovation category
It’s one of the country’s most important awards
There is a culture of innovation within the EPM Group, says its leader, Juan
Esteban Calle Restrepo
For 2014, investment will exceed COP 20,000 million
EPM won the Innovation category of the 2013 Portfolio Prize for its “special efforts
in researching and developing more advantageous alternatives for consumers”.
The awards ceremony took place on Thursday night at the El Nogal Club in Bogota.
As he received the award from Casa Editorial El Tiempo’s economic daily
newspaper, the General Manager of EPM and leader of the EPM Group, Juan
Esteban Calle Restrepo, stressed that “all the research and innovation that the
conglomerate does is directed towards improving people’s quality of life, because
we are committed to building places that are sustainable and competitive”.
Calle Restrepo said that this prize is a tribute to many generations of EPM’s
managers and staff who have worked to create a path of innovation and creativity in
the country that contributes to generating employment, social equity and community
welfare.
Since its foundation in 1955, innovation has been EPM’s heartbeat. Thanks to this
inspiring vision, the company seeks every day to deliver more and better solutions
for the provision of public services in the home.
In 58 years of history, the combination of these talents with the strategic alliances
formed with national universities, companies and research groups has led to
important initiatives that are an example to the world.
Among these projects some stand out, such as Route N, designed with the
Mayoralty of Medellín and UNE (a subsidiary of the EPM Group), to support
technologically-based companies and to promote enterprise. EPM’s investments in
the Route exceed COP 70,000 million.
Other highlights include the activities being developed at the Center for
Investigation and Innovation in Energy (CIIEN), in partnership with the Universidad
de Antioquia [University of Antioquia], the Universidad Nacional de Colombia
[Pontifical Bolivarian University], the Universidad Nacional de Colombia [National
University of Colombia] based in Medellin, and the Instituto Tecnológico
Metropolitano [Metropolitan Technological Institute], where alternative energy
technologies are studied, under the R+D [Research and Development] concept.
EPM’s contribution to CIIEN exceeds COP 30,000 million.
With the Enterprise and Innovation Private Capital Fund SP ([Servícios Públicos
[Public Services]), which includes an investment of up to COP 100,000 million,
EPM supports the development of Colombian companies that work in enterprise
and innovation processes related to public services in the home, to promote their
growth.
Motor of development
For 2014, EPM has directed about COP 20,000 million towards investment in and
the operation of innovation projects.
At the moment, the organization is developing technologies focused on social
impact, such as the solar kit which seeks to bring energy services to homes far
from urban areas; prepaid energy to connect more homes; intelligent integrated
metering of water, energy and telecommunications for consumption and for
managing each customer’s demand for public services; and geothermal generation
- another source of alternative energy in Colombia.
Sustainable transport, today associated with natural gas, is another of EPM’s
commitments to the community. This strategy will in the near future see an
evolution to electric vehicles and in the longer-term to solar cars, although the
company has already developed projects such as the solar vehicle Spring, in
association with the Universidad Eafit [Eafit University].
All these initiatives in energy-efficient systems are part of the EPM group’s
business social responsibility. “Innovation is a culture and this is how it becomes
internalized in the history of an organization like ours. It is a conviction; it is not a
fashion. It is a dream which encourages the work of us all and is linked to the effort
to help build a new country, which is certainly destined to position itself globally by
being daringly innovative and creative”, said Calle Restrepo.
The 2013 Portfolio Prizes recognized companies and people in the following
categories: Contribution to the Community, Export Effort, Human Resource
Management,
Innovation,
Environmental
Protection,
Business
Social
Responsibility, Client Service, Best University Educator, Best University Student
and Best Business Leader.
In the Innovation category, EPM was a finalist along with the Nutresa Group,
Inversiones Mundial S.A., Maquiempanadas S.A.S. and Tecscorp Ltda.
The jury for this year’s prize was made up of Cecilia María Vélez White, Rector of
Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Enrique Cavelier Lozano, President of Alquería,
Santiago Perdomo Maldonado, President of Banco Colpatria, Sergio Clavijo
Vergara, President of Anif and Luis Fernando Santos Calderón, ex-President of the
El Tiempo Casa Editorial media group.
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