The 11 winners of the Innovation Award were awarded against 831 projects presented by Leonardo employees. Patents filed in 15 increased by 2021% compared to 2020. Investments in research and development grow, amounting to € 1.8 billion in 2021
The integration between digital and manufacturing is the path of innovation traced by Leonardo. A path that goes from internal research to new business models, from synergies for open innovation to new skills, up to the key role in guiding the training of a new generation of STEM professionals.
With an increase in investments in research and development, equal to 1,8 billion euros in 2021, compared to 1,6 billion in 2020 - a figure that places the company in fourth place in Europe in the A&D sector - Leonardo plays a role leading the way in terms of product, process and service innovation with a specific goal: to implement a sustainable transformation of new technological cycles.
The Innovation Day, an event attended by Leonardo the President, Luciano Carta, the CEO, Alessandro Profumo, the General Manager, Lucio Valerio Cioffi, and the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Franco Ongaro, represented a moment summary of the progress made by the Company on the innovation front and implemented in full convergence between technological evolution, digitization and sustainability, in line with the Be Tomorrow - Leonardo 2030 strategic plan.
An innovation strategy supported by numbers, starting from 90 collaborations with universities, polytechnics and research centers, in Italy and around the world, and the 13 existing framework agreements. To these data are added the 44 PhDs activated in 2021 in the country, with a commitment already signed to finance over 80 by 2022. The most significant open innovation initiatives include participation, with CDP (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti) and ESA ( European Space Agency), to accelerators in the Aeronautics and Space sectors, which have contributed to strengthening a widespread innovation process open to external contamination.
In terms of new business models, Leonardo recently created the Business Innovation Factory (BIF), created in partnership with LVenture Group and inaugurated the Cyber & Security Academy, the high-level training center that takes advantage of the experience gained in cyber protection. -physics of critical infrastructures in over 150 countries around the world and in the continuous management of cyber threats in various strategic areas.
A push towards innovation that led to the creation, in 2020, of the Leonardo Lab network, innovation multipliers integrated with the engineering and development units of the various technological areas. To date, there are 11 laboratories operating in various centers in Italy and abroad, in concert with the company's industrial units, dedicated to R&D on frontier technologies with a strong orientation to the digital sphere. The Leonardo Labs will see 130 researchers inserted by 2022, a number destined to rise to 200 by 2023. A network that makes use of HPC davinci-1, the Genoa supercomputer, a nerve center infrastructure, designed to combine the capabilities of the cloud with supercomputing, combining operational flexibility and processing power.
A path that sees Leonardo also committed to training dedicated to young people with the aim of contributing to the birth of a new generation of STEM professionals. In 2021, over 900 primary and secondary schools were involved nationwide, while more than 3.600 students took part in the live talks promoted by Leonardo on technological issues. About 50 STEM Ambassadors of the company have created over 30 courses and digital contents, oriented in particular to new digital technologies or to sustainability issues. Among the most successful initiatives the STEM Olympics which saw the active participation of about 1.600 students.
It is in this complex context oriented towards innovation and sustainability that the Innovation Day is located, an event dedicated, above all, to the talent that comes from the heart of the Company, which is also reflected in the 15% increase in patents filed in the 2021 compared to the previous year.
During the event, the 11 winning teams of the Innovation Award were awarded for the 831 projects presented, with a total participation of 2.500 company employees. The initiative, now in its 16th edition, has seen the involvement of 35.000 Leonardo employees over the years with 11.000 projects presented.
For the current edition, of particular interest, the ORIGAMI project, an innovative design of the helicopter's tail plane: aerodynamic tips that improve performance at both high and low speeds, minimizing inconveniences and significantly increasing stability . It is designed as a retrofit kit aimed at replacing conventional tips and, at the same time, preserving the main body of the tailplane. A key point of the project is the applicability to different helicopters avoiding a complete redesign of the tailplane.
The Radar Processor on Chip project, which consists in the creation of a radar chain within a single chip - with an important saving in the use of components - is also of great innovative impact, capable, due to the considerable simplification of the architecture, to offer a important competitive advantage. The solution opens to experiments for other types of sensors and is susceptible of applications even outside the scope for which it was designed. The solution - intended for all applications that require low-cost, easily installable and transportable sensors - has a direct impact in terms of sustainability, thanks to the reduction in the power of electromagnetic signal emissions and the footprint, significantly reduced compared to a radar. traditional.