The railway sector is a fascinating and constantly evolving world. Today, it faces significant challenges. Innovation is one of the key levers to turning these challenges into opportunities.
This is why Infrabel has created Impulse Belgium, the Belgian innovation ecosystem dedicated to the specific core activities of the railway infrastructure manager:, design and engineering of tracks, catenaries, structures, signaling, energy networks, capacity, traffic and energy management, safety & cybersecurity, connectivity, information systems, extension, renewal and maintenance works,..
Our objective?
Open our horizon to the actors of innovation (universities, higher education institutions, research centres, start-ups, companies from all sectors) and pool our skills and ideas to create high value-added innovation projects for our core activities.
Open Innovation at the heart of the process
Impulse Belgium builds on the principle of Open Innovation: collaboration and partnership based on the complementary skills of innovation players (universities, research centres, higher education institutions, businesses and start-ups).
Our 3 innovation priorities
Infrabel has defined 3 innovation priorities which form the core of the topics addressed within Impulse Belgium:
How do we operate?
Each year, we establish a work programme focused on the three innovation priorities. Depending on needs and objectives, it is broken down into discovery and inspiration sessions led by members of the Community or into thematic workshops that may lead to joint innovation projects. The approach is structured in three phases.
Face-to-face meetings are one of the key elements of the dynamic. They help to build trust within the Community.
Our community is still growing. Join us and show us your skills and creativity!
Operating framework
Any collaboration on innovation must comply with Infrabel's specific status as a public limited company governed by public law.
Funding for collaborative projects is provided by the partners involved. If the partners wish to seek external funding, the consortium will rely on the R&D and Innovation funding tools available at a regional, federal or European level.
For certain specific topics, Infrabel may decide to organise competitions and allocate a dedicated Innovation budget for the planned developments or pilot projects.
The industrialisation and roll-out phases of innovations across the entire network then need to comply with the legal framework governing public procurement.