The everis Foundation announces
the VIII  Entrepreneur and Essay Awards   
 

The everis Foundation today set the deadline for candidates’ applications for the Entrepreneur and Essay Awards, worth 60,000 and 24,000 euros respectively, with the main objective of encouraging thought and research in our country. Those interested in winning the award can find further information on the foundation’s web page (www.fundacioneveris.es). The deadline for candidates’ applications is 15th July 2009.

In order to achieve this objective, the foundation annually awards the Entrepreneur and Essay prize. On the one hand they aim to recognise the emergence of new entrepreneurs to facilitate the funding of entrepreneurial projects which meet the criteria of innovation, viability and benefits for society.

On the other hand, the essay prize values consideration of issues of business policy which arise in today’s world, analysing the role that companies play in the dynamics of social change in a completely new way. Likewise, the panel of judges for these prizes award a second prize, of 6,000 euros, for work which, whilst not worthy of the award, is of finalist calibre and good enough quality to be published.

Last awards

Last time round, the work “Liderazgo Zero” by Iñaki Piñuel and Zabala won the Essay Award. This work explains the dangers of a toxic type of business management and the way in which power can change those that wield it. The text defends the birth of a new generation of executives based on subtle work…in intellectual humility, and in the renunciation of rivalry and the consequential violence in relationships with others in the organisation.

On the other hand, “Embetion”, a project for the development and marketing of intelligent systems in the field of unmanned airships for the detection, control and monitoring of forest fires, was the chosen winner of the Entrepreneur Prize. These systems are based on artificial vision software which permits the analysis of the images of the fringes of the fire and the control of the airships during their missions to extinguish it.

To this end, forest fire statistics indicate that the current means, such as watchtowers or forest rangers, are not sufficient. Embetion proposes the use of the latest technological advances (laser, satellites, sensor network, cameras), to detect these fires with combined efforts.

The last edition of these awards received over 50 projects that were evaluated and analysed by a panel of judges made up of distinguished representatives of the social and financial scene. The everis Foundation, created in 2001 and presided over by Eduardo Serra, supports these awards as a means of contributing to raising awareness and the identification of new opportunities to help society.