The pursuit of innovation is a routine element of Vale’s work. More than just producing minerals, our employees create ideas. In order to further encourage the spirit of innovation among team members, Vale holds the annual (i)nova Vale! contest to recognize creative ideas for improving the company’s businesses and reducing its impact on the world. This year, the program attracted a record number of ideas – over 22,000.
Most of these ideas relate to safety, increasing production capacity, the environment and energy efficiency. The aim of the program is to identify innovative ways of cutting costs, operating more sustainably and generating new sources of revenue.
New features of 2010 contest
This year’s (i)nova Vale! contest attracted three times as many entries as last year’s inaugural edition. In 2010, the contest was expanded beyond Brazil – to Australia, Canada, Indonesia and the United Kingdom – in line with Vale’s global development plans.
The ideas are now being analyzed by a technical committee that will select the best 100. Prizes will be given for the winning ideas, which will be implemented at the company. The other ideas will be entered in a database and may be implemented in future.