3.3 Social Responsibility RDI

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

The VIAS RDI management system is certified under the standard UNE 166002:2006, with implementation of the system having the following benefits:

• Systematising RDI activities to take advantage of the organisation's in-house knowhow.
• Planning, organising and controlling RDI units to save resources and improve the motivation and involvement of VIAS employees and sites.
• Provide added value of trust in the company's RDI undertakings through a management system for public tender processes, official subsidies, etc., with transparent innovation activities.
• Improving the company's image and capacity to compete with other firms in the sector.
• Carrying out the necessary technological surveillance to plan for changes in the market and identify new opportunities for improvement.
• Integrating RDI management into the other systems implemented at the company - Quality and Environment - and interaction between the department and other departments. l

The scope of this certification, according to the types of projects undertaken, is as follows:

• “Research and development in: Environmental engineering and technology for waste removal and sludge treatment, wastewater reuse for irrigation and soil decontamination by phytoremediation. Agricultural engineering for the management and automation of irrigation and re-vegetation. Materials technology for surfaces and stabilised soils. Building technology for land treatment and retaining systems, geothermics and heat-transfer process in buildings, IT applied to building-works management, remote- management systems for equipment and machinery, methodological analysis for railway-building, automated predictive-maintenance systems applied to railways, OHS systems for building works and access-control systems (personnel and plant) by advanced recognition on sites.

• Development in: Building technology in the field of OHS systems, management and recycling of building and demolition waste, concrete technology, structural engineering and aerial photogrammetry for monitoring linear works. Remote-management services for railway equipment and machinery.
• Development and innovation in: Building technology in quality, environment and RDI system management applications on building sites, measuring and monitoring techniques for railway works, building techniques, systems and processes related to bridges tunnels and agglomerates for roads and airports.
• Innovation in: Building technology in dynamic compacting techniques, concrete structures for aeronautical applications, temporary metal structures for vehicles, manufacture of modified asphalt mixes, railway renewal process and systems for access to operational urban-transport routes.”

In addition to the maintenance of the management system and RDI areas included within this scope, several new projects have been developed in the following scientific and technological fields:

• Building technology: road-building, structural engineering, housing, underground works and works planning.
• Information technologies: data-transfer devices.
• Materials technology: properties of materials and asphalt materials.
• Environmental engineering and technology: organic-waste treatment.
• Agricultural engineering: optimised irrigation, combined use of fertilisers and water and crop production.
• Energy technology: energy distribution

VIAS maintains an active presence in various forums related to research, technological development and innovation, including:

• The Spanish Building Technology Platform (PTEC), leading the strategic area of ICTs. (www.construccion2030.org).
• The SEOPAN RDI commission.
• AENOR committees.