IHUB participated as a member of the jury, within the framework of the Firepoctep+ project, in the Hackathon–Accelerathon–Climathon competition “From research to business: innovation against fires” to select innovative projects on the subject for a mentoring programme.

On 2 December, a conference was held in Ourense as part of the FIREPOCTEP+project on forest fires. The main objectives of the meeting were to present good practices in forest management, promote technological innovation, open new avenues for European funding and highlight the role of civil society in the fight against climate change. Among other roles, FEUGA’s IHUB department is collaborating on this project to find innovative solutions for fire prevention and extinction, with a focus on supporting entrepreneurship in this area and generating opportunities for growth.

Along these lines, IHUB participated as a member of the jury in the Hackathon–Accelerathon–Climathon “From research to business: innovation against fires” as part of the conference held to promote innovative solutions in fire prevention and extinction. The competition was aimed at start-ups, SMEs and spin-offs with the aim of promoting innovation and the search for solutions in this area.

The six participating projects were:

• Optare Solutions, with a proposal that combines drones and real-time processing to support emergency operations.
• Forest Bank, with highly developed technology for early warning of forest fires.
• Fuvex, with a proposal focused on the control and digitisation of firebreaks using long-range drones.
• Tecnobosque, with a proposal that combines forest fire prevention and respect for the environment through “Pirolex“.
• UFIL Cuenca, with a proposal for prefabricated biodegradable fascines for post-forest fire action that prevent erosion and promote the regeneration of biodiversity in the area where the fire occurred.
• Ilexia, an application that would actively assist in the management of forest fires. 

Represented by the teams promoting the SMEs and start-ups behind the projects, they presented their innovative solutions aimed at early detection and management of forest fires through an elevator pitch.

After deliberation by the jury, which evaluated the ideas presented, the degree of technological innovation, the soundness of the business model, the growth potential and the maturity of the technology, the three entities that received the most votes were Optare Solutions, Forest Bank and Fuvex, proposals that stood out for their innovation and potential to support critical and sustainable operations. This recognition offers them the opportunity to participate in a mentoring programme developed within the framework of the project, which will seek to respond to the needs of each project with specialised support, where IHUB will participate as part of the mentors’ team.