FInews01 - Institut des Amériques

FI news 01
I N T E R N AT I O N A L M A G A Z I N E
MARCH 2014
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International launching
Dear all,
To cut a long story short.
The obvious link between R&D and export inspired our adventure.
After a French-Spanish marriage and two honeymoons in Portugal and
Canada, the family grew in Brazil and Chile, celebrating its expansion to
Brussels.
We now patter several languages badly but we still have the desire to
strive for achieving excellence in our work in every corner of the world.
We’ve achieved to become a mini-multinational due to your efforts,
talents, flaws and desires.
Our project is taking shape and is becoming real. This reality being
supported, managed and coordinated by our international department
which, with this first newsletter, will give rise to our future adventures.
We are now citizens of the world.
Frederic Bouté
F. Iniciativas worldwide
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10_
Chile: The rise of
South America
7_
Manuel Santos:
Chile Executive director
11_
The Bird&Bird Project
12_
Faurecia USA
13_
New certifications ISO
for F. Iniciativas Spain
and France
14_
Linkedin: the professional
network of Management
16_
F. Iniciativas Portuguese
Christmas
18_
Running FI
20_
New F. Iniciativas Offices
22_
International Transfers
23_
F. Iniciativas in numbers
24_
Events Report
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SPECIAL CHILE
Interview with
Manuel Santos
F. Iniciativas Chile Executive director
In January 2014, F. Iniciativas Chile
celebrated its first anniversary. We wish
them a happy birthday and many years
filled with success, growth and renown.
On the occasion of this special day for
the Chilean team, the first edition of our
newsletter is dedicated to them. Manuel
Santos agreed to give us an interview
and share with all of us his personal and
professional experience. Thanks Manuel!
On a personal level, what are the most
complex aspects that you face when it
comes to starting a new life and a new
professional project in a foreign country?
Obviously, the personal factor is the most complex to
manage when you take such a decision.
Nearly 12.000 km separate me from my homeland, so the
personal aspects are the most difficult to deal with and are
generally the ones that influence your decision towards a
direction or another.
Actually, you’re facing a double process of internationalization, the professional one as well as the personal one. The
first one can be easily solved once you can count on the
support of a company like ours, which was always involved
at all levels and at in order to facilitate as much as possible
my transition and the start-up of F. Iniciativas Chile. In this
sense, the support and the regular visits of our “mentors”
were really important, and their experience regarding these
kinds of adventures is greatly appreciated.
On a professional level, it is obvious that facing a project
of this nature and starting from scratch, this turns out to
be a challenge full of positive effects, that makes you give
the best of yourself. In this sense, this is probably the most
enriching experience from the professional point of view
and I’m sure it will go on being like this for many years.
On the other hand, there are personal factors. Those are,
without any doubt, the most difficult ones to handle, and
the complete break-up with your family and your friends
usually turns into a barrier that sometimes makes the
first months in your new home complicated. In my own
case, this decision of taking part in this adventure wasn’t
easy because this led my wife to come with me, with the
sacrifice that this means for her, and we had to leave also
other personal, professional and family matters that we
miss once settled in Chile.
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In our case, the reality was clear quite quickly and we
were able to check that the business model and the own
internal operative of FI, at the commercial level as well as
the technical one need to undergo, significant changes to
adapt to the Chilean business. Fortunately, as of today, I
think that the process of adaptation is done and we could
say that the strategy and the methods of the company are
already completely in compliance with the growth of the
country.
It is obvious that the easiest thing to extrapolate between
both markets, probably because of the similarity of the
message is the commercial strategy, since the virtues of the
service are shared and the benefits are almost identical.
However, this can’t be applied in the case of the technical
work of the consultancy as the transfer towards the
“psychology” of the assessor’s classes, has been (and still is)
a pending matter regarding the way to justify the projects
and what is the favorable approach in matters of diagnostic
and identification of these ones.
It is precisely where we are currently focusing our efforts
on, and without any doubt, the achievement of results
will greatly depend on our ability in this context which will
allow us to be an example in our business area, as we are
on every market where we operate.
It is my wife and my dog Noah (we took her with us)
to whom I have to thank the most for these wonderful
14 months; without their support, patience and
understanding, it would have been almost impossible to
handle the pressure, doubts, tensions generated as time
elapsed.
As Jacobo Alvarez (our coworker in Brazil) said, the family
that we bring here with us is without any doubt, earning
all the merit regarding what we could achieve with our
new position and responsibilities here, that is to say, on the
other side of the world.
What similarities and differences did you
face between Chile and Spain when setting
up F. I projects?
Obviously, the initial plan was to begin with the advantage
of importing a business model that was tested and mature
enough on such an aggressive market as the Spanish
current one; nevertheless, the peculiarities of each country
creates its own conflicts and difficulties when implementing
a work system like ours. The common mistake in these
cases is probably to think that the model will work
regardless of the country where it is introduced... If it works
in Europe, why would it be different in Chile?
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What did you like so much about Chile and
its people?
Chile is a country in which the adaptation is pretty easy,
as much on the personal level as the professional one. It’s
a country with a big Anglo-Saxon influence and at times,
when you go to some places, you have the impression to
be in any European or North American city.
For many years, and despite being a developing country,
the quantum leap of Chile, and especially Santiago, as
much on the level of infrastructures and as on the level of
products and services offer, make that the lifestyle here
seems pretty similar to the one I had in Madrid. About this,
I will mention the typical exception regarding the good
“Jamon Iberico” that I miss so much!!!!
I can’t forget the wonderful behavior of the Chilean people
when welcoming the foreigners that come here to settle:
and above all, I believe that (except rare cases) they think
highly of the Spanish people and they make you feel at
home as soon as you land. But beyond these people, Chile
is a country that has many things to offer; one should
not forget that the country is the longest in the world.
It’s odd to think that its narrowest part of the country can
be crossed over by bike in a couple hours since only 90
SPECIAL CHILE
kilometers separate the two sides whereas, from north to
south, the country stretches out around 4.300 kilometers
(which represents the distance between Madrid and
Bagdad).
This is what makes Chile a country where you can find
everything, from deserts located at more than 4.000 meters
height (which by the way can thrive during springs) to
the second most southern city in the world, as known as
Punta Arenas which from here, there is only Antarctica.
To all of this, we can add the magnificent Andes that run
throughout the country and which can be seen even in
Santiago, with perpetual snow all year long and accessible
within one hour ride, not forgetting also the volcanoes...
All this makes Chile a country filled with interesting things
to visit, although it is under-used regarding the potential
of tourism, with all the corresponding advantages and
drawbacks. This geographical diversity is probably the
best that Chile can offer to anyone coming from foreign
countries.
Please share with us a curious anecdote
that happened to you during this first year
in Chile.
It is pretty difficult to find just only one anecdote to tell,
most of them are the result of the language and the
different use of it by Chilean and Spanish People. Even
if we both speak Spanish, the “Chilean Spanish” uses
so many expressions that it created more than once
funny and odd situations. For example, during the staff
selection process, I had to stop using the expression
“tenemos que coger a un consultor” because almost
everyone ran out of the interviews when hearing this
strange condition of the position... (“Coger” is a verb
with different meanings, in Spain, it means to hire
whereas in Chile it means to have sex).
Some other time, during the first technical meeting with
a client whose activities revolve around vaccines and
veterinary medicines for salmon breeding, and while we
were explaining to the Director of Operations that the main
part of the cost that we tried to find in his projects would
be the “man-hour”, he rejected the argument by saying
that as for him and his projects, what really mattered were
the “fish-hour”, since he had 12.000 salmons.. It took us a
while to convince him that it would be difficult to find the
pay slip of the salmons in order to calculate the cost.
What kind of advices would you give to a
coworker willing to step forward and start
a new life and project abroad?
It’s pretty hard to advise people about this, because on
one hand, the feasibility of facing such a decision is greatly
conditioned by the personal relationships of everyone, and
on the other hand, it is related to the will of carrying out
new professional challenges in an unknown environment
which is usually useful to have a global vision of our
business that we couldn’t have in another way. To sum up,
this is what I call “an experience of a lifetime” because
once you get over the inconvenient, it is priceless.
If I dare to give some advice, I would say that any coworker
in F. Iniciativas who is willing to live in the countries
where we have offices, he or she should pay heed to
two things: security and non-conformism. Security is an
inevitable condition to go out into the world because if
you’re not absolutely sure about your decision, things
won’t go right. And non-conformism, which is considered
as this moral selfishness that any professional should
have if he/she longs for better things such as knowledge,
experience and responsibility. If this wish doesn’t exist, it
will be hard to evaluate perfectly what is the contribution
of this experience of living and working abroad, as well
professionally as personally.
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Chile
The rise of
South America
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile is a South American country occupying a long,
narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean
to the west. Today, Chile is one of South America’s most stable and prosperous nations.
It leads Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per
capita, globalization, state of peace and economic freedom. It also ranks high regionally
in sustainability of the state, and democratic development. In May 2010, Chile became
the first South American nation to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD).
Politics
In January 2006, Chileans elected their first female
president, Michelle Bachelet Jeria, from the Socialist Party,
defeating Sebastián Piñera, of the National Renewal party.
In December 2013, Bachelet was re-elected as President of
Chile with a percentage of vote over 62%. She is the first
person since 1932 to win the presidency of her country
twice in competitive elections.
Economy
The Global Competitiveness Report (OF 69 for 2009-2010)
ranks Chile as being the 30th most competitive country in
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the world and the first in Latin America, well above from
Brazil (56th), Mexico (60th) and Argentina which ranks 85th.
The Ease of doing business Index created by the World
Bank lists Chile as 37th in the world that includes
better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and
stronger protections of property rights. During 2012, the
largest sectors by GDP were mining, business services,
manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade.
Nowadays, Chile is considered as a gateway to Latin
America for European companies. This phenomenon is due
to the tax system which favors the R&D investments.
SPECIAL CHILE
Springboard to Innovation
New offices: Santiago de Chile
As of 2012, Chile invested only 0.6% of its annual GDP
in R&D. Even then, two-thirds of that was government
spending. Several institutions and programs were created
to boost Chile’s innovation sector such as CORFO, which
is a public-sector organization dedicated to promoting
entrepreneurship, innovation and growth in Chile.
Santiago is the capital city of Chile, with a population of
310,000 inhabitants, within an urban area of 6,3 million
inhabitants.
Acting in tandem with the Chilean Ministry of Economy,
CORFO’s programs support and finance a wide variety
of initiatives in this line, with the goal of stimulating the
Chilean economy. A good example would be “Start-Up
Chile”, a program created to attract world-class early stage
entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Chile.
After receiving more than 1570 applications during the
seventh application period that ended on April 9th 2013,
Start-Up Chile announced that 100 startup companies,
coming from 28 different countries were selected to
become part of the world-recognized acceleration
program’s seventh generation. The most frequently
represented countries were: USA (19%), Chile (18%), India
(10%), and Argentina (7%).
IT & Enterprise Software was the most strongly identified
industry (20% of the selected), which is followed by
e-commerce (15%), Mobile & Wireless (10%), and
Education (10%).
Start-Up Chile has gained impressive international
recognition and has inspired spinoffs around the world such
as Startup America, Britain, Greece, and Italy.
The Frascati Manual
Key Figures
In November 2013, F. Iniciativas released the Chilean
version of the Frascati Manual in collaboration with the
OECD. It follows the strategy developed by the group to
be recognized as an expert for identifying R&D activities
and is now the 5th publication by F. Iniciativas, after the
Portuguese, Catalan, Basque and Brazilian Portuguese
versions.
Santiago is the industrial and financial heart of Chile, and
generates 45% of the country’s GDP. Some international
institutions, such as ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean), have their offices in Santiago.
The strong economy and low public debt is attracting
migrants and investors from Europe and the United States.
Opened in January 2013, our office has been moved to its
actual place in September 2013, due to its quick growth.
The office is located in the town of Providencia, part of
Greater Santiago and it is surrounded by many high-rise
apartment buildings as well as a significant portion of
Santiago’s businesses. It is recognizable for its large, old and
elegant houses inhabited in the past by the Santiago elite
and now mostly used as offices. The office already counts
with 13 collaborators under the supervision of Manuel
Santos, Executive Director in Chile.
Chilean R&D Tax Credit
The 20.241 Law, known as “LEY I+D“, has been modified
on September, the 7th of 2012.
This new tax deduction, scheduled to expire in 2025, marks
the beginning of a strong R&D commitment by the Chilean
government. The renewed version of the law allows the
companies to generate a deduction right for the R&D
expenses done.
35% deduction on eligible expense wages,
operation costs, etc.
- Non-refundable / unlimited Carry Forward /
Up to 50% of R&D may occur out of Chile.
-Accessible to all companies subject to the Corporate Tax (called CPI Chile).
Population: 17.402.630 M
GDP Growth: 5.6% (2012)
Currency: Peso (1euro = 747 Pesos)
Unemployment: 5.7% (2013)
GDP: $268.177 billion (2012)
Public debt: 9.2% of GDP
GDP by sector:
Number of companies: 988.745
agriculture: 5.1%, industry: 41.8%,
Corporate tax rate: 20%
services: 53.1% (2010)
Minimum wage: 281 euros
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F. Iniciativas, the
collaborating
company in the
comparative
analysis of
international
R&D financing
Alex Álvarez
F. Iniciativas Spain
Recently, the European
Commission, through the
R&D Executive Management, has awarded the
development of a study
dealing with the R&D support schemes in the European Union in relation to
competitor countries.
The consortium responsible for the
development of the study is led by the
prestigious law firm Bird and Bird and
F. Iniciativas is deeply involved in its
process.
The study is particularly relevant at
the international plan since it consists
in executing a comparative analysis
between the European framework of
R&D financing and the nine countries
selected as potential competitors
among which appear the United
States, Canada, China, Japan, South
Korea, India, Australia, Russia and
Brazil.
This analysis is expected to determine if
the various established rules about the
right of European competition and the
regulations on state grants represent
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a disadvantage for the industrial
competitiveness of the 28 countries
that constitute the European Union.
F. Iniciativas will play a significant
role in the gathering and provision
of data for the successful conduct of
the project, since FI is the member in
charge of the data extraction of the
28 countries, besides developing the
study related to the R&D financing
framework of Canada and Brazil,
thereby offering the experience of the
company in these countries, which is
considered as its added value.
As a result of the study, all the
extracted information and data will
have to be saved later in a database for
its processing and analysis which will
be designed and carried out by
F. Iniciativas.
The project, with a duration of two
years and a budget that reaches
a total of 2.6 million Euros will be
used as a reference for the European
Commission in order to define the
appropriate legal framework for the
R&D financing and new support
mechanisms for companies in the
future.
As for F. Iniciativas, considering its role
as the leading consulting agency in
the area of the management of R&D
financing, the involvement in this
consortium represents an international
growth accelerator regarding the
acquired expertise in terms of European
R&D financing, since as a result of the
study, the future policies of the sector
will be created, besides representing
a great opportunity for its brand
placement.
FAURECIA USA
Antoine Dangleterre
F. Iniciativas France
F. Iniciativas began its activities in the US last summer.
Some would say: “A small step for
mankind, a huge step for FI”. I use
“huge” carefully, for many reasons.
First of all, this mission was done for
one of the biggest customers in France,
FAURECIA (a tax credit of 26.5 M€
in 2012). The company was ranked
number 7 in the world’s top automotive equipment suppliers, number 5 in
North America and number 2 in Europe in 2012 (survey by PWC published
in Autonews, June 17th, 2013). So,
failure was not an option.
Since 2010, FAURECIA is established
in North America and “huge” is not a
superlative for this country: 31 plants,
4 technical centers, 1 customer center,
12 states... We used to complain
about a trip across France, but honestly,
one week in the US and we were
immunized. I remember when someone
told us “Don’t worry it’s not far, just the
next city!” true, but it took 2 hours.
Everything is different over there, even
their name (pronounced “for-see-uh”).
During one interview, I remembered the
client discussing about how beneficial
it would be to do it in a micro-brasserie
instead of an office (well, not really
convinced about that).
This mission was a “huge”
breakthrough as the client renewed
the contract for 2013 even if our
calculus has led to a decrease of almost
20% (M$ 2.6 against M$ 3.1). Our
methodology proved that the previous
calculation was over-estimated and
several European customers, also
established in the US, are currently
considering working with FI.
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New
certifications ISO
for F.Iniciativas
Spain and France
the streamlining of current working
practices.
data, confidential information and
operational risk management.
For many years, we have focused all
our internal procedures on customer
satisfaction. The ISO 9001 certification
confirms that strategy and encourages
us to develop our policy of continuous
improvement of processes within the
company.
The fact of having this certification,
gives a guarantee to the customers,
by ensuring that the company is
accomplishing the requirements of
corporate management and business
continuity, and demonstrates to them
that the security of their information is
primordial.
What is ISO?
Here are the processes’ managers:
ISO (International Organization for
Standardization) is the world’s largest
developer of voluntary International
Standards. International Standards
give state of the art specifications for
products, services and good practice,
helping to make industry more efficient
and effective. Developed through
global consensus, they help to break
down barriers to international trade.
What they do
ISO develops International Standards.
We were founded in 1947, and since
then have published more than 19
500 International Standards covering
almost all aspects of technology
and business. From food safety
to computers, and agriculture to
healthcare, ISO International Standards
impact all our lives.
Both offices of F.Iniciativas in Spain and
France are certified, as in France the
company is certified with ISO 9001 and
as in Spain, the headquarters have ISO
9001 and ISO 27001 certifications.
F.I France: ISO 9001 –
March 2013
Jean François Mena - F. Iniciativas France
This certification is the internationally
recognized standard for the quality
management of businesses. The aim
is to provide improved service and
process quality within the company
and can lead to increased productivity
with a reduction in waste through
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François Le Jeune, Grégory Bograt
CONSULTING,
Teoman Atamyan
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP,
Pierre-Xavier Lamour
ADMINISTRATION,
Paola Iacopinelli
HUMAN RESOURCES,
Dorothée Petitprez
SUPPORT,
Gaétan Delattre
IT,
Florent Artigue
QUALITY,
Jean-François Mena & Lydie Tarneaud
The implantation process of ISO
27001 in a company takes from 6
to 12 months, depending on the
maturity of information security in the
organization.
The information security has assigned
the number 27000 within ISO / IEC:
ISO 27000: Published in May 2009;
it contains general description and
vocabulary to be used throughout the
series 27000. It can be used to have a
clearer understanding of the series.
Xavier Cazabon, CEO of F. Iniciativas,
said: “we think the management of
information security as a strategic
aspect to our process map as a
prerequisite for being a safe partner
with a reliable service”. Since 2004
F. Iniciativas also has ISO 9001:2000
(updated under ISO 9001:2008).
This project couldn’t have been done
without the inestimable participation
of our Chief of Systems and
Informatics, Daniel Gomez, from the
Barcelona office.
F. Iniciativas has become the
first company of its sector
in Spain to obtain ISO
27001 certification.
Antonio Lodeiro - F. Iniciativas Spain
This certification ensures optimal
management of information
security, the protection of personal
LinkedIn: the
professional
network of
Management
Antonio Lodeiro
F. Iniciativas Spain
F. Iniciativas obtained a
“Recruiter” license for
companies, whose potential
was focused on Human
Resources Processes.
This license enabled, apart from the
specific management of Human
Resources, the management of up to
5 company’s professional profiles with
options to segment by location, sector,
and user’s professional profile, among
other things, in order to reach the
target audience of F. Iniciativas.
Regarding the potential of this tool, it
was considered essential the development of a strategic plan on LinkedIn to
get something else out of the platform,
as it represented an exceptional tool to
increase the brand reputation and to
attract new commercial leads. Besides,
LinkedIn is considered as a more
and more famous tool regarding the
diffusion of professional profiles and
company services.
The creation of a hierarchical-matrix
system was set up, divided into 5
profiles belonging to each international
delegation of the company (Spain,
France, Portugal, Brazil and Canada).
To achieve this, it was necessary to
start over regarding the system and its
contents, in addition to configuring
each profile, taking into account
elements such as the language, the
location of the audience (French:
France and Canada, English: generic
and Canada), the sector and the
positions occupied by the visiting
users, etc. All this was done in order
to achieve in a more efficient way the
target of the company.
Once the creation of the system was
over, it was integrated together with
the other social platforms on which F.
Iniciativas is active (Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube) and it was connected to
the F. Iniciativas’ blog thereby achieving
better consistency in the display of
messages and bigger traffic in the
corporate webpage which increased
particularly the SEO and PageRank
inputs. In doing so, we improve the
strategic positioning of the blog that
ended up becoming nowadays, a
benchmark in the R&D sector.
In order to strengthen even more the F.
Iniciativas’ presence on social networks,
various discussion groups were
created, amongst which stands out
“F. Iniciativas: Ayudas y Subvenciones
Nacionales”, in which F. Iniciativas’
employees could share with our
clients the latest news about the R&D
financing by means of the well-known
“Budgetary Leverage”.
In parallel to the creation of these
groups, it was considered necessary
to increase the communication events
within the various groups of LinkedIn
on which we had presence, as for
instance the group “Deduciones
Fiscales I+D+I”.
The future of F. Iniciativas
on LinkedIn
The “Corporate Webpage Project”
offers new options of management
and represents an excellent solution
regarding one of the problems faced
by F. Iniciativas on LinkedIn: the
inclusion of only 3 slots to publish job
offers.
In addition to the complete integration
of LinkedIn into the corporate
webpage, a direct access will be
created between LinkedIn and the
webpage, in order to make an easier
interaction between both platforms
and in doing so, we improve the
experience of the user.
The creation of a tab inside the
webpage will be implemented, so the
Human Resources department will
be able to publish all the job offers
proposed by the FI Group.
Soon, the profile page of F. Iniciativas
Chile will be added, in order to
enhance its positioning and also
to gather under one profile all the
delegations of F. Iniciativas.
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FI Portuguese
Christmas
Telma Paz
F. Iniciativas Portugal
In a particularly hard
year for the F. Iniciativas’
portuguese team, we’ve
decided to be different,
we’ve decided to be
stronger by facing the
adversity!
Regardless of all our difficulties, and
at a time when our problems seemed
the biggest in the whole world, a
challenge was made to the team…
sharing our Christmas with the most
disadvantaged.
Everyone at the office received the idea
with a smile. Everything else looked
small compared to this, so our mission
began!
After some research, we ended up
choosing an institution called “Casa
do Sol” that supports 14 children
who are orphans or coming from
very poor families, and all of them
are HIV positive (among other health
problems).
F. Iniciativas received some information
about the troubles and the needs faced
by the Institution: they were basically
revolving around food, hygiene
products and clothes.
Several questions raised in our minds:
How is it going to be? How are they?
Would they enjoy our visit?
Our curiosity was huge and we all
rushed to prepare and make sure that
all their needs were fulfilled.
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The strategy was simple: each one
of us had a secret friend as well as
the information about its needs so
as to buy an useful gift (clothes,
shoes, blankets, etc); plus F. Iniciativas
prepared a basket of food and hygiene
products for which everyone also
wanted to contribute.
The day has come and on the 20th
December. A group of beautiful
children received us with a smile on
their faces. It was great when we came
in because we felt their enthusiasm at
the sight of all the gifts and bags filled
with supplies.
At the beginning, some of them were
very shy but, a few moments later,
they started to approach and, after a
while, they were beaming, and that’s
when we saw happiness in their eyes…
We visited their house, they showed
us their rooms, their toys… we played
and we laughed all together.
We know that we can’t change the
world but if each one of us takes on
responsibility for doing what’s possible,
the impossible will be achieved. At the
end of that day, we all left “Casa do
Sol” with the feeling of great success
and knowing that during this day two
things were sure: for those children
we made a difference and for us we’d
definitely come back!
We shared our Christmas
with the most disadvantaged.
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Running
FI team
Joan Arbonès Fincias
F. Iniciativas Spain
In F. Iniciativas Barcelona,
some of us are running
lovers, so a year ago we
spoke and thought it
would be a good idea to
create a running group.
Practising sports in groups like
running is very important because
it encourages people to stay active
and healthy, as well as to develop
communication skills and build selfconfidence. Sport offers numerous
health benefits, which include
improved lung and heart function.
Frequent exercise and good eating
habits often lead to an improved
perception of our body image.
Practising sports also enables us to set
goals and work to achieve them, even
if it is to look and feel better about
ourselves. Finally, it physically prepares
us to play different kind of sports,
as many of the skills gained in a
particular one can be applied in other
similar sports or activities in our lives.
In F. Iniciativas Barcelona, some of
us are running lovers, so a year ago
we spoke and thought it would be a
good idea to create a running group.
The next step was to talk about this
to the company, whose response
was positive. They wanted to help
us achieve our goal and did all they
could to make it possible, giving us
the option of going to run twice a
week at midday and collaborating
with a gym near our office to use
their facilities (treadmills, weights,
shower...). This option has allowed
18
FI News 01
us to reconcile our work with sports
practice, which means so much to us.
Moreover, the location of the office
and the gym is perfect to practice
this kind of activity as we have many
different tracks around without any
traffic.
This initiative started as well in F.
Iniciativas Madrid with the collaboration
of Marcos Campos, but it was more
difficult to continue there since the
office is located in the centre of the city
and it doesn’t allow the workers to run
properly and in a safe area.
When F. Iniciativas allowed us create a
running group in Barcelona, there were
two main goals to achieve:
In Barcelona, our running group is
formed by a considerate number
of workers, from boys to girls
and coming from almost all work
positions. We have gone more than
30 people at least one time, and
although it is not always possible for
all of us to go every single week, there
is always an important part of the
group that trains. A proof of this is
that some of us ron a half-marathon
last February 2014 in Barcelona.
- The first goal was related with the
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), in
what our company is very focused so,
activities like running and participating
in solidarity runs fit perfectly in the
ideology of the company.
- The second goal was to create a
group that would enable us to run
together in a way that would not
affect our work performance or our
timetable.
Related with that, we have
participated in some popular
competitions, always trying to
accomplish the purpose of the CSR,
which means attending solidarity
runs, which part of the inscription
is dedicated to solidarity activities.
Our first experience in a run dated
back to a few months ago and it
was a complete success. This race
took place in Sant Boi de Llobregat,
the town located next to our office
village. Nine workers of F. Iniciativas
Barcelona participated, approximately
the same number of boys and girls,
and we had a lot of fun in a very
good atmosphere. The company
paid for all our inscriptions and it
is important to say that part of it
was donated to hospital needs.
All the workers completed the 10
kilometres run, and the experience
was incredible. In a race like this you
share a great experience with other
people you don’t even know, but
who have the same feelings as you. It
is important to say that we all trained
for the race, what was the key to
complete it successfully.
The company also got us corporative
T-shirts for running that included
the name of the company and of
the runner, so we could wear them
during the races we participated in.
That enables us to wear the same
clothes and find each other more
easily during the runs.
Personally, I think that running is not
only good for our health but also
enables us to share some important
values like friendship, companionship
and effort. For instance, when
you finish a race, you have a lot of
positive feelings, but I think that the
most important thing is that you are
proud of yourself. Although everyone
runs in a race for himself/herself,
we train in a group and support and
motivate each other. That helps us to
achieve our goals.
So, if anybody wants to share these
experiences with us and stay healthy,
you will be welcome in the F. Iniciativas
running group.
Few moments after this run, we did the “Cursa
dels Bombers”, a popular race which is organized
every year in Barcelona, where once again a
huge number of workers participated in this
10 kilometres race, including our boss Xavier
Cazabon. It is a very popular run where about
25.000 runners participated and which cross some
of the most important places of the city.
FI News 01
19
20
FI News 01
BRUSSELS
New FI
Offices
In 2013, F. Iniciativas grew
like never before. By the
end of 2012 we had 10
agencies, and by now
there are 16 offices in
seven countries.
These offices represent a
continuous effort to be
both internationally and
regionally closer to our
clients. They also offer
great opportunities to our
collaborators to participate
in new adventures within
the group.
(Belgium)
BILBAO
(Spain)
Bilbao is the capital of the province of
Biscay in the autonomous community
of the Basque Country. Its population
is close to 350,000 inhabitants, within
an urban area of 1 million inhabitants.
Throughout the nineteenth century
and at the beginning of the
twentieth, Bilbao experienced a heavy
industrialisation process which made
it become the centre of the secondmost industrialised region of Spain,
right behind Barcelona.
After the dramatic industrial crisis
of the 1980s, Bilbao was forced to
rethink its very economic foundations.
That is how it transformed into
a successful service city. Opened
in March 2013, the FI office has
nowadays 9 collaborators, under
the supervision of Joaquin Medrano,
Commercial Team Manager and Iñigo
Paniagua Technical Team Manager.
Brussels is the capital of Belgium, and
host of the European Commission.
The Belgian capital has a population
of 1,3 million inhabitants, within an
urban area of 2,7 million inhabitants.
Being the heart of administration
for Europe, Brussels’ economy is
largely service-oriented and it is
dominated by regional and worldwide
headquarters of multinationals, by
European institutions, by various
administrations, and by related
services.
F. Iniciativas opened recently a new
office just in front of the main
building of the European Commission
and the Council. With its presence at
the heart of the European district,
F. Iniciativas strengthens its European
Grants services to provide our clients
with better access to the opportunities
of the Horizon 2020 program.
The office is under the supervision of
Paula Oses.
Rond Point Schuman 6 – 5
1040 Brussels
C/ Colón de Larreategui, 26 2º F
48009 - Bilbao (Bizkaia)
Tel: +34 944 98 76 92
FI News 01
21
NANTES
(France)
Nantes is a city in western France,
located on the Loire River, at about
50km from the Atlantic coast. The
city has a population of 290,000
inhabitants, within an urban area
of 900,000 inhabitants. In 2010,
Nantes was named a hub city for
innovation in the “Innovation Cities
Index” released by “2thinknow”,
an innovation agency. The city was
ranked 36th globally from 289 cities
and 4th overall in France, behind
Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg, for
innovation across various sectors of
the economy.
LYON
(France)
Lyon is a city in east-central France,
located in the Rhône-Alpes region,
it has a population of 490,000
inhabitants, within an urban area of
2,2 million inhabitants.
Regarding economic aspects, Lyon
is the second richest city after Paris
and a major centre for banking as
well as for chemical, pharmaceutical,
and biotech industries. The city has
a significant software industry with
a particular focus on video games,
and in recent years it has fostered a
growing local start-up sector.
The first opening was in September
2010, but since then, the offices have
been moved to its actual location,
in August 2013, as more space was
needed. The office counts with 23
collaborators under the supervision of
Thomas Garel, Technical Coordinator.
Immeuble Ehundura,
3 Mail du Front Populaire
44200 Nantes
Tel: +33 1 80 18 88 00
TOULOUSE
(France)
Toulouse is a city in the department
of Haute-Garonne in south western
France.
It has a population of 450,000
inhabitants, within an agglomeration
of 1,2 million inhabitants.
Toulouse is the centre of the European
aerospace industry, where the
headquarters of Airbus and Galileo
Positioning System are located. With
also SPOT satellite system, EADS, ATR
and the Aerospace Valley which are
considered as a global cluster.
Opened in January 2013, the
office counts nowadays with 17
collaborators, under the supervision
of Jean-François Mena, Technical
Director.
The office opened in September
2013, and it counts now with 9
collaborators under the supervision
of Alexandre Brinette, Commercial
Team Manager and Sergio Caldeira,
Technical Coordinator.
94 Quai Charles de Gaulle
69006 Lyon
Tel: +33 1 80 18 88 00
102, Rue du Lac
31676 Labege
Tel: +33 1 80 18 88 00
22
FI News 01
MONTREAL
SANTIAGO
(Canada)
Montreal has a population of 1,7
Million inhabitants, within an urban
area of 3,4 million inhabitants and
it has the second-largest economy
among Canadian cities based on
GDP and the largest in the Quebec
Province. The city is today an
important centre of commerce,
finance, industry, technology, culture,
and world affairs.
Opened in 2009, the Montreal
office moved in October 2012 to the
historical centre of the city due to the
growth of our activities in the country.
It counts with 10 collaborators under
the supervision of Lila Abid, Executive
Director in Canada.
417 Rue St Pierre, #808
H2Y 2M4 Montreal, Quebec
+1 (514) 507 8320
(Chile)
SÃO
PAULO
Santa Beatriz 170. Of. 802-904.
Providencia – Santiago
+56 2 787 8441
(Brazil)
São Paulo is the capital of the São
Paulo State and it is located in SouthEastern Brazil, with a population of 11
million inhabitants, within an urban
area of 19,9 million inhabitants.
São Paulo is considered as the
“financial capital of Brazil”, as it is
the location for the headquarters
of several major corporations and
most renowned Brazilian banks and
financial institutions. São Paulo is
Brazil’s highest GDP city and the
10th largest in the world. The city is
unique compared to other Brazilian
cities for its large number of foreign
corporations.
The office of São Paulo has been
moved to the Avenida Paulista in
April 2013, due to the growth of
our activities in the country. This
“Avenida” is the economic heart and
financial centre of the city. The office
counts now with 34 employees, under
the supervision of Jacobo Alvarez,
Executive Director in Brazil.
568 Avenida Paulista - 7º Andar
01310-000 Jardim Paulista
São Paulo
+55 11 3031-3292
FI News 01
23
International
transfers
With its presence in 7 countries, F. Iniciativas
offers great opportunities for its employees
who are willing to participate in these projects.
Here is the list of the people who moved
thanks to F. Iniciativas in 2013.
Filipe de Almeida
Portugal (Sales Director)
Manuel Santos
BRAZIL
Sales Director
Isabel Figueira
Portugal (T. Consultant)
If you are interested in living abroad,
please contact your Human Resources Department.
FI News 01
SPAIN (Sales)
CHILE
Sales Representative
FRANCE Junior consult.
CANADA
Engineer consultant
Guillaume Pelletier
BRAZIL
Sales Manager
Congratulations to all of them!
24
CHILE
Technical Manager
Marie-Laure Valmain
BRAZIL
Technical Consultant
Antonio Valente
Portugal (Sales)
SPAIN
(T. Consultant)
Giovanna Muñoz
BRAZIL
Technical Consultant
Feliciano Aldazábal
SPAIN (T. Consultant)
CHILE
Executive Director
Ferran Codony
BRAZIL
Technical Consultant
Angel Suárez
SPAIN (T. Consultant)
Spain (Sales Manager)
FRANCE Junior consult.
CANADA
Engineer consultant
F. Iniciativas
in numbers FY (12/13)
40 M
(3869)
444
20,5 M
(1714)
15 M
(1324)
256
185
165
188
121
85
2,5 M
(561)
1M
(140)
79
65
0,5 M
(79)
32
14
Spain
France
5
5
Portugal
Gender M
Gender F
Employees
Age average
Number of nationaliies
6
7
Brazil
Chile
4
3
30
35
13
14
8
31
0,5 M
(51)
26
5
Canada
2
10
29
33
10
18
38
32
Total
31
22
Turnover in euros (Clients)
FI News 01
25
2013
Events
Reports
FRANCE
Jan’ 13
· Soirée de l’innovation
· Petit déjeuner Syntec Numérique
Nov‘ 13
· Petit déjeuner Cap Digital CIR/CII
Dec‘ 13
· Conferencia RAILCORNER
“Financiación de la I+D+i en
el sector ferroviario” Barcelona
· Congreso APD - F. Iniciativas Madrid
Dec‘ 13
· Jornada CTAEX Extremadura
· Jornada AMEC Barcelona
· Jornada AMEC Madrid
· Jornada AMEC Bilbao
· Petit déjeuner avec la CGPME Rhône Alpes, CIR/CII
BRAZIL
· Petit Déjeuner, CIR et CII pour
le pôle de compétitivité Elopsys
Oct’ 13
· Soirée des entrepreneurs à Lyon
· Presentation at the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce
· Participation and sponsor
of the French Innovation Week
SPAIN
Oct’ 13
· Jornada Garrigues
Parque Boecillo
Ley Emprendedores - Valladolid
· Presentation at the 5th Innovation Forum of the French Chamber of Commerce
· Presentation at the French Chamber of Commerce
Nov’ 13
Nov‘ 13
· Financiación de la I+D+i Jornada - Ciudad Real
· Jornada AEBALL/UPMBALL “La nueva ley de Apoyo a Emprendedores y la optimización del IBI” Barcelona
· Jornada BCN RAIL - RAILGRUP
“Financiación de la I+D+i en
el sector ferroviario” Barcelona
26
FI News 01
· Participation at FIAM (Feira Internacional da Amazônia)
PORTUGAL
Nov’ 13
· Clarification session - Fiscal incentives: CFEI, SIFIDE II and RFAI
· 2º Fórum Iniciativas à I&D+i
CREDITS AND CONTACT
Articles
Frederic Bouté - Manuel Santos - Alex Alvarez - Antoine Dangleterre
Jean-François Mena - Antonio Lodeiro - Telma Paz - Joan Arbones
Johan Beaurain - Antoine Abbatucci
Translation & Edition
Lucia Jimenez - Antonio Lodeiro - Didier Goron
Johan Beaurain - Antoine Abbatucci
Thank you all for your participation
For any suggestion or proposal of article
for the next number of the international newsletter, please contact:
Antoine Abbatucci
[email protected]
+34 93 661 60 00
ESPAÑA · FRANCE · PORTUGAL · BELGIQUE · BRASIL · CHILE · CANADA
www.f-iniciativas.com