Platform for local services for company employees

Purpose of the call for projects

To design and develop an online service platform for company employees.

The platform will aim to provide wider access to concierge services among company employees by connecting them to local shops via an application. This kind of platform will have two main advantages:

The development of new, useful services for company employees and enriching ENGIE Cofely’s range of offerings
Stimulating the local economy by bringing local businesses together on a single platform

Deadline for applications: Monday, May 16th, 2016 at midnight CET.

Rewards and benefits for selected projects

The winning projects will receive:

• Support from ENGIE Cofely in developing the project for a client
• Guaranteed visibility at special events*, in the press and through major partners (The Internet of Things Cluster)

* External/internal events for the ENGIE Group

Detailed description

ENGIE Cofely wants to develop services for its clients’ employees, so it is launching a call for projects for creating an online services platform.

This platform will help its clients’ employees get new services and better coordinate their professional and personal lives.
A (non-exhaustive) list of services that should accessible using the platform:

• Desktop socialization: pastries, fruit baskets, lunch break
• Themed activities: sleeping, wellness, nutrition, physical activity, environmentalism, road safety…
• Food: bread pickup, fruit and vegetable baskets, basic groceries
• Last-minute purchases: mini-boutique, pick-and-pay
• Deals: perfume, school supplies, toys, specialty foods
• Daily Services: ironing, dry cleaning, retouching, shoe repair
• Postal services and packages: postal products, stamps, parcel collection and delivery, etc.
• Mechanical and auto service: maintenance and car wash, tire changes, technical inspections, bike maintenance, etc.
• Administrative procedures: by procuration or coaching (car registration, driver’s license, etc.)
• Family and home: search for and select other service providers (home maintenance, cleaning, ironing, gardening, computer troubleshooting, repair work, decorating, child care, tutoring, home care, animal care, etc.) coaching for how to move house, making appointments (doctors, beautician, veterinarian, etc.)
• Leisure and trips: managing ads, photo processing, booking accommodations, holiday ideas, purchasing tickets, cultural and sporting event ideas, research and register for cultural and sports activities...
• Bespoke requests: organizing private events, etc.
• Wellness: hair stylist, manicures, massages, beautician, napping space, sport sessions, etc.
• Recycling and collection

The participants (SMEs, startups) will have to present a platform project, including its technical architecture, its operating model (payment, back office management) and some ideas about how is should look.

They are not being asked to fully develop a platform. This will be done by the winner. However, participants could expand on the services listed in the detailed description and on how they are grouped together and presentation within the platform.

Participants will be asked to suggest a way for employees to receive services or products in their workplace, ex. withdrawal of orders via self-service lockers with personal codes.

The call for projects for a "platform for local services for company employees” was launched by ENGIE Cofely in partnership with L’Hackadémie du Havre. It is an integral part of ENGIE’s overall program for greater innovation. The project is also in line the goals of Normandy French Tech.

Eligibility and selection criteria

Applications will be judged based on several criteria, which will be confirmed with the Selection Committee.

• Relevance of application to the topic
• Project originality/innovative character (new technologies/approaches/processes)
• Level of maturity and experience
• Feasibility
• Ability to be tested and/or deployed quickly
• Coherence of the proposed business model
• Match between technology/usage
• Corporate social, environmental and energy performance
• Social and societal acceptability

Selection Procedure

The selection process will take place in two phases:

- Phase 1. Initial selection of five outstanding projects based on the initial application
- Phase 2. The owners of these five projects will be invited to make a 20-minute presentation for members of the selection committee during the month of October.

Provisional timetable

- April 6, 2016 at the Container du Havre: launch of the call for projects via the new open innovation platform, "Open Innov by ENGIE" (openinnovation-engie.com) during a morning event hosted by the Container du Havre

- May 16 at midnight: deadline for submitting applications.

- Late May: Phase 1 / the selection committee will evaluate submitted projects and choose the 5 semifinalists.

- Early June: Phase 2 / Semifinalists will pitch their projects for the selection committee. A final decision will be made and the winner(s) announced during winners during INNOVATION WEEK

The selection committee

Winning projects will be selected by a panel of experts from ENGIE and its subsidiaries as well as other local- and national- level organizations.

• ENGIE Cofely
• ENGIE
• LHackadémie
• Aircelle
• The CCI Seine Estuary
• Representative of Normandy French Tech

Leader and partners of the call for projects

ENGIE

The ENGIE Group aims to be the leader of the energy transition in Europe, relying on innovation in particular to meet its customers’ new expectations.

By regularly launching calls for projects, the "Open Innov by ENGIE" open innovation platform aims to:

• increase the number of external partnership opportunities with stakeholders in the world of innovation (entrepreneurs, startups, industrial groups, inventors, etc.)
• Quickly identify new business activities (e.g. by positioning the Group at the forefront of the ongoing convergence between energy services and information technology)

The Group has also launched a 100-million-euro investment fund, "ENGIE New Ventures", to support innovative startups.

With this in mind, we have committed ourselves to evaluating the feasibility and operational development potential of your project alongside the selection committee.

Depending on the nature of the selected projects, outcomes could include a business and/or technological partnership with one of the Group's subsidiaries, the development of demonstrator projects or submission to ENGIE’s venture capital system. *

ENGIE Cofely

An energy and environmental efficiency services company. ENGIE Cofely offers solutions that help businesses and communities better use energy and reduce their environmental impact. We work with our customers over the long term in three core areas: improving the energy and environmental performance of buildings, local renewable energy production and the integration of services. In France, ENGIE Cofely employs 12,000 people and had a turnover of 2.6 billion euros in 2014. ENGIE Cofely is part of the BtoB energy services branch of the ENGIE Group, one of the world’s leading energy providers.

ENGIE Cofely continues to develop its business in:
- The production and distribution of heat: industrial boilers, urban heating systems, cogeneration, etc.
- Energy efficiency in buildings: managing flow and consumption and commitment to specific outcomes.
- Nuclear activities: maintenance, repair and technical management for heating and cooling equipment.
- Integrating services: contracts involving multiple technologies and services (facility management).

L’ Hackadémie

A non-profit association that runs the largest coworking space in Havre: the Container, the Digital Cantine of Le Havre. L’Hackadémie knows that skills and ideas abound in Le Havre, so it focuses on identifying and bringing together the stakeholders in Le Havre’s digital ecosystem. It does this by encouraging them to meet and share ideas, both amongst themselves and with other economic, institutional, and non-profit stakeholders in the area. The group has many goals, including developing training programs for local area digital businesses, promoting entrepreneurship and imbuing Le Havre with a true digital culture.

Normandy French Tech

Normandy French Tech is Normandy's response to the national competition launched in 2014 to earn the prestigious title of French Tech Metropolis.

While the title is primarily borne by Caen, Rouen and Le Havre, Normandy French Tech reflects the ambitions of the entire Normandy area.
Three areas of innovation have been identified: the (smart) city, ports (smart ports and logistics), and factories (smart industry).

Each city has its own theme (the themes above corresponding respectively to Caen, Le Havre and Rouen) but each of them relates to the others.
Having earned the designation on June 25th, 2015, Normandy French Tech has since launched several projects including the Normandy Tech 40 and the Normand Small Business Act, which aim to encourage closer collaboration between the area's decisionmakers and startups.