The Andalusian secretary for Enterprise and the Valencian Regional Government seek synergies in this field to collaborate on future projects.
A municipal office of Valencian Government headed by the Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society, Carolina Pascual, visited málaga TechPark to get to know this technological hub as well as the Andalusian innovative ecosystem and its capacity to drive the Andalusian economy. The secretary for Enterprise, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Regional Ministry of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities, Pablo Cortés, accompanied these representatives of the Valencian Community, including the Regional Secretary for Universities, Carmen Beviá, on their visit to the facilities, scheduled for two days and which includes DEKRA and The Green Ray on the agenda. This meeting was already repeated last summer when a representation of the málaga park travelled to Valencia.
Cortés and Pascual shared experiences in order to support the promotion of their two models of technological implementation, considered to be at the forefront in Spain. They also explored collaboration formulas for future projects and for joint actions between the university and the park aimed at strengthening the transfer of knowledge and the creation of companies.
Cortés told the Regional Minister of Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society “the dynamisation and strengthening of the innovative ecosystem that make up the technology parks in Andalusia, where the Administration, business, innovation and the university go hand in hand”. In her opinion, these spaces are strategic axes for promoting advanced economic activities through the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship and through the support of clusters, while stressing that they are “the destination for attracting investors and business projects”.
Additionally, he pointed out that the possible coordination between the two regions, with similar ecosystems, “opens up interesting avenues of work that will result in the improvement of both models and their positioning at national level”.
The secretary stressed that málaga TechPark is “a fundamental part of the network of parks in Andalusia, which has continued to be, despite the pandemic, the driving force behind new strategic initiatives with high added value that generate employment, boost priority sectors and improve competitiveness”. In his opinion, this park has established itself as “one of the most important innovation ecosystems in Spain and a showcase for attracting strategic projects”. A capacity for attracting projects that has been extended to málaga, taking into account its choice as a destination for important initiatives such as Google, Dekra and TDK.
To these cutting-edge projects we must add the recent birth of Innova IRV (Ricardo Valle Innovation Institute), which will be based in the málaga TechPark itself. This project,” he said, “will be decisive in advancing the technological transformation of Andalusia and málaga”. Innova IRV, which has the Regional Government as a trustee, was created with the aim of contributing to scientific and technological innovation, promoting the transfer of knowledge between the academic and business worlds and bringing these advances to the market and society.
The málaga technology park is also immersed in the development of the eCity málaga project, promoted by the Department of Economic Transformation, together with málaga City Council and Endesa, with the aim of converting the site into an open, digital, decarbonised and energy self-sufficient ecosystem. The initiative has already managed to get 21 companies from the technopolis to join.
Carolina Pascual stated that the Valencian and Andalusian innovation models have many similarities. In her opinion, “working in coordination is important to establish interesting feedback between autonomous regions. The aim of the Generalitat Valenciana is to achieve a knowledge society involved with innovation as an engine to strengthen traditional sectors, transform them and thus make them more effective and profitable. “Our policy hinges on the need to give value to traditional sectors and decentralise access to innovation, and any alliance that facilitates the transformation of our economic model is welcome,” he added.
Promoting innovation and knowledge transfer
Pablo Cortés and Carolina Pascual agreed that the commitment to science and technology parks is part of the policy of promoting innovation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship deployed by the governments they represent.
They have also indicated that the measures implemented are intended to achieve the transformation of the Andalusian productive fabric into a new intelligent, sustainable and knowledge-based model.
621 enterprises at málaga TechPark
Last year, málaga TechPark received more than 40 applications for the installation of new companies on a total surface area of approximately 13,000 square metres. These requests came from the autonomous community itself as well as from the national and international spheres. málaga TechPark closed last year with an increase in employment of 0.36% over the previous year, reaching 20,345 people (57% men and 43% women). Its companies number 621 and turnover reached 2,104 million euros.
Its facilities already host some 60 foreign companies that account for 35% of total employment at the site and employ professionals of more than 30 nationalities.