The innovation and technology awards for energy efficiency in the digital era (enerTIC Award 2017) aim to recognize and disseminate commitment to the use of ICT in issues related to the improvement of energy efficiency and sustainability. These awards recognize both individual projects as well the work and personal involvement of private and public directors in this field.

These prestigious awards are recognized internationally and are granted by an Expert Committee of partner companies, the Institutional Collaboration Network and in addition the vote of pubic for the projects. In past editions, some of the award winners were renowned figures like Íñigo de la Serna (the current Minister for Development). In this edition, 76 projects were presented and 45 directors were nominated, from which finalists were selected for various categories. The event took place on the 12^th of December in the Assembly Hall of the Ministry for Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda.

On this occasion, Juan Manuel Corchado Rodríguez has been granted the award in the category of the best director in the category of Universities and Research Centers, in which he competed with other important figures in the field of ICT, such as Fernando Galván, rector of the University of Alcalá de Henares and Daniel Saez, Strategic and competitive Intelligence Director in ITI (Instituto Tecnológico de Informática). The award for the best director recognizes his work as manager in the field of ICT, as well as his active contribution to research focused on making cities smarter and more energy efficient. This work comes from the projects he has been developing over the years as the director of the BISITE research group.

Juan Manuel Corchado together with Sergio Fernández from Everis (on the left) y Agustín Delgado from Iberdrola (on the right) 

On the 20^th of October, Juan Manuel Corchado had been interviewed on his candidature for these awards, it is interesting to hear him speak on the challenges that the technological and industrial sector is facing as well as the trends in energy efficiency and ICT. These thought-provoking statements can be read on http://www.enertic.org/CentroConocimiento?param1=2627