High Speed: the FS Italiane receives the "Prize of Prizes" for its Innovation

"FS Competition - High Speed Ideas" the contest with young Italian university students in mind

Rome, 25 February 2016

The Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane is among the six major Italian industrial groups, of international value, to receive the Prize of Prizes for Innovation, awarded by the Fondazione per l’Innovazione Tecnologica Cotec (Cotec Foundation for Technological Innovation Cotec) during the National Day of Innovation.

The award ceremony took place today in the Hall of the Palace of the Parliamentary Groups in Rome, attended by the Minister of Education, University and Research, Stefania Giannini.

The award was presented to the FS Italiane for promoting the FS Competition - High Speed Ideas, a competition for students and graduates attending the faculties of Engineering and Economics from all of the Italian universities, with the goal of attracting young talent with innovative ideas applied to the world of railways.

The winners of FS Competition, accompanied by Stefano Savino, Director of Human Resources and Organization for the FS, received their prizes.

The theme of the competition was High-Speed scenarios and prospects within the next 50 years. As well as the 250 applications received from those who submitted these innovative projects, both winners of the competition, who had designed the best projects, were honoured guests of the FS Italiane IX World Congress on High Speed held in Tokyo, July 7 to 10, 2015.

The Gruppo FS Italiane achieved a high speed model that, thanks to innovative solutions and high performance and proven reliability, has gained and continues to gain attention around the world.

The Frecciarossa 1000, which with its cutting-edge technology, is interoperable in major European countries and the ERTMS level 2signalling system, which is the most technologically advanced solution for the safe management of railway traffic, are the best the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane has to offer to the international market, in competence and experience.

The more so since FS with Italferr, the Gruppo FS's engineering company, has been operating for more than 25 years in over 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Australia.

In 2016, for the second consecutive year, the Gruppo FS Italiane came in first place in the ranking of Italian and multinational companies where young graduates want to work.

Young people represent a vital resource for the Gruppo FS. In fact, agreements have been signed and activities promoted with the foremost 14 Italian universities and with 17 of the best technical institutes in the country. 

The goal is to create continuous synergies between the academic and research world and companies, in order to identify young talent that can be recruited by the company as well as to increase, over time, the skills and academic knowledge in the railway world.