Innovation

The TV, fridge and even your coffee maker will be smart appliances. Virtual assistants will operate them according to your orders, helping you in many of the day-to-day tasks. Change is here and it will become a reality in a decade.

With a customer base of around 30 million people, Amazon has become a benchmark in terms of innovation and customer loyalty. What is its secret? One of the people behind it is Amazon Business UX Manager, Chuck Ames, who gives us an insight into the reasons behind the company's success, he also shares with us his passion for design and his dedication to the customer.

According to the first list published by Fortune magazine in 1955, 429 of the 500 most important companies in the world no longer exist. In a volatile society like ours, where the digital revolution is changing the way we consume, communicate and get information, companies — like species — must adapt to survive.

From the National Control Center (NCC) in Portland, Avangrid Renewables — the Iberdrola group's subsidiary in the USA — controls and operates more than 55 wind farms and photovoltaic plants spread across the entire country in real time. Kit Blair, the centre's director, tells us about the daily operation of the most advanced renewable energy facilities in the nation.

Industry 4.0 is the origin of a new revolution — the much-hailed Fourth Industrial Revolution — a fusion of leading-edge production techniques and smart systems that integrate with organisations and people. Come with us on a journey through the technologies driving this process and its accelerating advance.

The Remote Control Centre (RCC) is Iberdrola group's renewable energy operation centre (CORE) in the United Kingdom. From there its subsidiary, ScottishPower Renewables, controls and operates 37 onshore and 2 offshore wind farms in real time, with the aim of ensuring that they are operational over 97% of the time. Its manager, Mark Gailey, shows us around the centre.