The Solvay Innovation Trophy is a flagship initiative of the Innovation thrust. Even if it represents only the visible tip of the iceberg, with many other less visible initiatives existing in parallel, it offers an opportunity, every three years, to turn the spotlight on the most innovative ideas and minds in the Group.

Encouraging a spirit of innovation means recognizing it. Proof of this is the success of the Trophy, with no less than 312 projects submitted for the 2006 Innovation Trophy. After pre-selection almost 100 projects were examined by a board of internal and external specialists. Nine projects finally won awards. The revolutionary Epicerol® chemical process, for example, was the winner in the Sustainable Development and Citizenship category. You can discover it in the Applied Innovation section.

The call for projects is an opportunity for management to gauge how far the spirit of Innovation has advanced in their particular fields of activity.  It is also an attractive source of inspiration: the visibility given to the proposed projects contributes to the sharing of knowledge, to networking and, let us hope, the replication of good ideas. The next Solvay Innovation Trophy will take place in 2009.