French IT group Altran has started its second innovation competition for its staff with a €100,000 prize. THE iPROJECT (where "i" stands for innovation) is designed to promote in-house research and innovation by way of a competition. 
French IT group Altran has started its second innovation competition for its staff with a €100,000 prize. THE iPROJECT (where "i" stands for innovation) is designed to promote in-house research and innovation by way of a competition open to all Group employees, whatever their profession, industry or country of operation.
Candidates must submit their proposition of a useful innovation, either in the form of a concept or a prototype, to a jury.
Altran's programme aims to encourage personal initiative, promote team work and give employees the opportunity to come up with and develop concepts which they are passionate about.
Because of the Group's strategic objective to anticipate its customers' new and future needs, these projects must demonstrate the potential benefits they can offer Altran in terms of business (customers, reputation, appeal) new markets, and innovative, added value.
The most innovative projects selected within the context of the in-house competition receive financial support of €100,000 each. For Altran, the ultimate objective is to flesh out and complete its offering so that the Group can better meet its customers' needs.
Commenting on the success of the first season of the programme, Michael Bailly, Executive Vice-President in charge of programmes and innovation for the Altran group, said: "The first season of THE i PROJECT has been a veritable success in terms of the commitment demonstrated by the Group's Innovation Makers and the quality of the projects presented. This perfectly illustrates the fact that innovation is indeed the DNA of the Group!"
For the first season of THE i PROJECT, five project winners were selected out of a total of twenty finalists. The first season rallied a truly enthusiastic response within the Group resulting in the participation of 340 people from 15 different countries on 104 projects.
The second "THE i PROJECT" season is now underway with another wave of candidates. The new projects are due to be unveiled on 5 March 2014.