The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has honoured José María Zabala, Managing Director of Zabala Innovation Consulting, for his ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ at the ceremony celebrating Zabala’s 30th anniversary in Brussels on Tuesday, 12 April. The award was presented by the Director-General for Energy at the European Commission, Dominique Ristori, together with the President of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons.

The event was attended by around a hundred institutional representatives (offices of the autonomous communities in Brussels, representatives of the European Commission), as well as representatives of companies based in the Belgian capital and European business associations.

In its recognition, the Chamber highlighted the personal and professional merits of José María Zabala, who founded Zabala Innovation Consulting in 1986, a company that started with two employees and now has more than 200 professionals spread across nine offices: Pamplona, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Vigo, as well as Brussels, London and Paris.

For his part, Dominique Ristori stated that ‘Europe needs creators like José María Zabala, capable of working with actors from all over Europe, promoting unity and bringing them together around common projects’. He also pointed out that innovation and the Energy Union are strategic elements for the future of Europe. In this regard, he highlighted Zabala’s contribution to promoting innovation as a strategic element in companies.

During his speech, José María Zabala reviewed Zabala’s track record and recalled that Brussels is a place of special importance for the company, as Europe has been present in the organisation’s DNA since its inception. Specialisation in European projects led to the opening of the Brussels office in 2003, and since then, activity in this area has continued to grow.

Its opening was decisive for the international dimension of the company. Specifically, in Europe, it has meant achieving a return for its clients of €500 million from the Seventh Framework Programme and obtaining more than €120 million in the second year of the Horizon 2020 Programme, leading nearly 300 projects.

To achieve these milestones and manage a portfolio of 1,500 clients, Zabala now has a team with expertise concentrated in four main areas: Life Sciences (health, biotechnology, chemistry and agri-food), Social Challenges (Smart Cities, energy, transport, environment and socio-economics), Technologies (ICT, open data, security, materials and the internet), and Industry (production technologies, industry, processes and products).

José María Zabala also believes that innovation must improve a company’s bottom line, stating that ‘without VAT, there is no innovation’. In this regard, he explained that Zabala achieves this goal by ‘helping its clients transition from idea to project.’ He also emphasised that to achieve this goal, ‘it is essential to cooperate, which is why we accompany the organisations we work for in their search for effective partners.’

In conclusion, he thanked everyone who has contributed to the company’s history and current presence: ‘Clients who, from outside, believed in us and placed their trust in us; collaborators, partners, research organisations, universities; European, national and regional administrations; small, medium and large companies… an entire ecosystem that revolves around our activity and is our raison d’être’.

Zabala currently manages major European initiatives such as the European Secretariat of Smart Cities (Market Place of the EIP on Smart Cities and Communities) and the main European initiative for the promotion of the electricity grids of the future (Smartgrids), as well as several studies and projects in the field of Smart Cities in which it participates (Replicate, Sinfonia and Eugugle).

During 2016, Zabala plans to hold various events dedicated to innovation at some of its headquarters, with the participation of institutional representatives, as well as social and business agents.