Driving Innovation Through Collaboration: A2A’s Journey with Wazoku and BlueThink

Innovation isn’t just about generating ideas—it’s about turning those ideas into real, scalable solutions. That’s exactly what A2A, Italy’s largest multi-utility company, did by leveraging the power of open innovation through Wazoku’s Total Innovation Platform and BlueThink’s engineering expertise.

The Challenge: Automating Cable Joint Installation

Medium-voltage (MV) cable joints are a critical component of electrical distribution grids. However, their manual replacement is labor-intensive, prone to human error, and costly. A2A needed a solution that would:

• Reduce installation time and costs
• Improve quality and reliability
• Enhance worker safety by minimizing manual intervention

The Approach: Open Innovation Meets Engineering Expertise

To solve this problem, A2A launched a challenge on Wazoku’s Platform, calling on global innovators to propose automation solutions. The challenge attracted submissions from around the world, with 29 proposals from 18 countries.

The best ideas were selected, but none were immediately ready for implementation. This is where BlueThink stepped in, refining and validating the winning concepts to ensure technical and economic feasibility. The result? Two prototype concepts developed and tested in parallel, bringing A2A closer to a scalable solution.

The Power of a Collaborative Ecosystem

This case study highlights the power of combining open innovation with expert refinement. By involving a diverse solver network, A2A accessed groundbreaking ideas. Through structured collaboration with BlueThink, those ideas were transformed into viable, scalable solutions.

For organizations looking to accelerate innovation, this approach offers a model for success—leveraging external expertise while ensuring solutions are tailored to real-world needs.

Want to learn more? Download the full case study to see how open innovation can drive real impact:

A2A’s Open Innovation Journey

For a deeper look at A2A’s approach to open innovation and the impact of their collaboration with Wazoku, visit the full customer story here

A2A Customer Story