Cinco Dias Awards for Innovation in Business 2009

The Awards Ceremony for the  Cinco Días Awards for Innovation in Business 2009 (Premios a la Innovación Empresarial) took place at Madrid's Círculo de Bellas Artes on November 16. It was the second outing for the awards, sponsored by Spain's leading business daily Cinco Dias and aimed at honoring the most innovative initiatives in the business world.

The jury announced the winners on November 5 and the prizes were awarded across three categories. The award for Most Innovative Business Initiative in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility went to the Fundación Telefónica for the project Educared-Proniño, aimed at eradicating child labor in Latin America. Picking up the award, Fundación Telefónica vice-president Javier Nadal said that his foundation's is wholeheartedly committed to Latin America and that "it's truly wonderful to see children learning and teachers being motivated by the project Educared-Proniño".

The award for the Most Innovative Business Initiative in the field of New Technologies was given to the company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC). Company president Baldomero Falcones was on hand to pick up the prize, saying that innovation is "our best defense and best means of obtaining contracts both in Spain and abroad."

The award for the Most Innovative Business Initiative at a University Level  was won by TEAMS, a University of Seville spin-off company involved in a number of technical aspects of the Airbus 380. The company founder, José Cañas, said that the project was "an example of society answering society's needs, and of the transfer of technology to the productive sector".

Presiding over the ceremony, Grupo PRISA president Ignacio Polanco highlighted the three keys to tackling the crisis: innovation, imagination and creativity: "These are the necessary factors for getting ahead in a world dominated by new technologies, particularly when new players are competing for a new space where the old rules from the analog world are no longer valid."

The awards jury, headed by Emilio Ontiveros, founder and president of Analistas Financieros Internacionales, included Ana Patricia Botín, president of Banesto; Javier Monzón, president of Indra; José Núñez, president of Alquimia; Joaquín Estefanía, director of the Journalism School,  Escuela de Periodismo UAM/EL PAÍS, and Jorge Rivera, director of Cinco Días.

The awards are given out by Spain's veteran business and finance daily Cinco Días, owned by Grupo PRISA, and were launched last year to coincide with celebrations to mark 30 years of the Economy under Democracy. They are sponsored by Gas Natural-Unión Fenosa, La Caixa and Repsol.

Further information:

Video: Cinco Días 2009 Awards Ceremony