• Teresa Gutiérrez, director of Augas de Galicia, and Iván Cacheiro, project manager and European funds of the entity, defended today the candidacy of Innovaugas 4.0 before the Jury of the European Innovation Council. 
• Innovaugas is a semi-finalist along with 5 other projects from France, Spain, United Kingdom and Belgium: Airbus, Fundacio Pac Tauli, Nido, Ritmocore, YQ Purchasing bv. The winning project will be unveiled at the awards gala on 8 December in Brussels. 

The project Innovaugas 4.0, Advanced management of Galician water resources, promoted by Augas de Galicia, was chosen as a semi-finalist in the European Innovation Awards 2022 (EIPA 2022), granted by the European Innovation Council in the framework of the Horizon Europe programme, in the category of innovation purchasing strategy. Today took place the audience with the members of the jury, in which they made a brief presentation of the Innovaugas project and answered the technical questions that were raised.

These awards recognise the most outstanding projects throughout Europe in promoting the procurement of innovation by public and private purchasers, also highlighting the collaboration between the purchaser, Augas de Galicia, and the innovation suppliers (the consortia awarded in the three tender processes held as part of Innovaugas 4.0 and the three Galician universities with which Augas de Galicia has just signed collaboration agreements) to bring innovative solutions to the purchaser.

EIPA 2022 differentiates three categories, strategy to meet the challenges of society, leadership in public procurement of innovation and innovation purchasing strategy, in which it was a semi-finalist in the Innovaugas 4.0 candidacy along with the projects Airbus (France), Fundacio Pac Tauli (Spain), Nido (Belgium), Ritmocore (UK and Spain), YQ Purchasing bv (Belgium). The winning project will be announced on 8 December at the awards gala in Brussels. 

INNOVAUGAS 4.0
Innovaugas 4.0 is a project promoted by the Public Business Entity Augas de Galicia, dependent on the Department of Infrastructures and Mobility of the Xunta de Galicia, which seeks to achieve new solutions for advanced integrated water management, optimise water resources and provide a long-term response to the demands of the different uses of water, in balance with the natural environment and river ecosystems, respecting the achievement of the environmental objectives established for bodies of water and taking into account the new scenarios determined by climate change. 

The Innovaugas 4.0 project has an elixible budget of 7 million euros and is 80% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Plurirexional Operational Programme of Spain (POPE) 2014-2020.

Innovaugas 4.0 was selected by the Ministry of Science and Innovation in 2020 in the Line of Promotion of Innovation from the Demand and Innovative Public Procurement, has an aid of European funds of 4,200,000 euros, will also be co-financed by the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) with 700,000 euros and Augas de Galicia will bring 2,100,000 euros.