TECNALIA anticipates the needs of companies and society and will seek a 27% increase in its activity with industry by 2027
- In a context of uncertainty and complexity in the markets, the applied research and technological development centre is launching its new Strategic Plan to address the needs of companies and help them through the following axes: boosting reindustrialisation, promoting excellent talent, anticipating the problems of the industrial sector and maximising economic and social impact
- To do so, its strategy is built on two pillars: the promotion of strategic focuses of excellence, such as flexible automation, cybersecurity, digitalisation of electricity grids, generation and distribution of hydrogen, smartisation of construction or technologies for the manufacture of medicines, among others; and the development of critical technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum, intelligent robotics and advanced materials.
- As a result of this plan, it seeks to continue to grow in order to increase its capacity to impact the environment, whereby it plans to obtain income of €170 million within three years. To do so, it has also announced investments in infrastructures of more than €120 million until 2030, such as the new Mubil building in Gipuzkoa for mobility, the extension of the electrical network facilities in Bizkaia or increasing fire management infrastructures.
Bilbao. 12th December 2024. TECNALIA, the applied research and technological development centre has launched its new Strategic Plan focusing on the coming 3 years to address the needs of companies and society, in the current context of market complexity. Having been approved by its Board of Trustees, the Strategic Plan 2025-2027 aims to promote TECNALIA's role as an actor of transformation for companies and to help them adapt to the challenges of the future through the following axes: boosting reindustrialisation, promoting excellent talent, anticipating the problems of the industrial sector and maximising economic and social impact.
According to the Managing Director of TECNALIA, Jesús Valero, "as a society, we are facing new challenges that are leading companies into a situation of uncertainty and great complexity. The speed of change is straining the business sector and reindustrialisation has therefore become a necessity to adapt to new market demands and the challenges of transitions. Our Strategic Plan is a tool to address these challenges because TECNALIA has the responsibility to transform technological research into prosperity, to help companies and build a better world".
To do so, its strategy is built on two pillars: the promotion of strategic focuses of excellence and the development of critical technologies. Through these levers, TECNALIA seeks to collaborate with the transformation of the environment, relying on the recruitment of excellent professionals, and through its open innovation strategy to go further and faster.
First of all, the strategic focuses of excellence are technological and market areas that are considered to be strategic because of their market potential and value to society. These strategic focuses of excellence that TECNALIA is going to promote for its growth include flexible automation, cybersecurity, digitalisation of electricity grids, fire control technologies, hydrogen generation and distribution, manufacturing processes and materials for unique infrastructures, smartisation of construction and technologies in the development and manufacture of medicines. According to Valero, "our aim is to find new solutions to the strategic needs of business and society in these areas and anticipate the possible strategic needs that will arise in the future".
Secondly, the critical technologies that will be the main focus are: artificial intelligence, quantum, smart robotics and advanced materials, to address the challenges of transitions and develop solutions in digital transformation, smart manufacturing, energy transition, sustainable mobility, urban ecosystem and personalised health.
Furthermore, boosting the generation of a new industrial sector based on high added-value technologies is another challenge faced in this Strategic Plan, in order to contribute to the reindustrialisation of the area and promote the creation of innovation hubs. Therefore, in addition to creating new start-ups, the challenge lies in doubling turnover, job creation and the value of the companies generated by TECNALIA. The forecast is to reach revenue of €25 million by 2027, with a team of more than 220 people and to increase the value of these start-ups to €250 million.
As a result of this plan, the objective is to continue to grow in order to increase its capacity to have an impact on the environment. The centre expects to grow by 27% and obtain turnover of almost €170 million by 2027. In impact management, growth of more than 10% is foreseen in terms of contribution to the GDP, job creation, fiscal impact and impact on customers.
On the other hand, coinciding with the launch of this Plan, TECNALIA has announced investments of more than €120 million in infrastructures until 2030, in order to increase its capacity to provide solutions to companies, such as the new Mubil building in Gipuzkoa for mobility, the extension of facilities for electrical networks in Bizkaia or the increase in infrastructures for fire management.
Balance and Success Stories
This 2025-2027 Plan continues the work carried out in the previous Strategic Plan which, in the words of TECNALIA's Chairman, Alex Belaustegui, "was ambitious, but we have more than fulfilled its objectives, both qualitatively and quantitatively. We have increased support for business innovation and the creation of a new industrial sector through the creation of start-ups, we have increased the organisation’s attractiveness for talent and we have made TECNALIA a more open organisation. We have done so thanks to the perseverance and impeccable work of a team of 1,500 professionals".
Throughout this Strategic Plan, TECNALIA has focused on the development of technologies that generate impact for companies and society. These include the Decarbonisation Strategy, which has enabled it to make its direct business carbon neutral in 2024 and it will extend this to the supply chain by 2030.
In terms of energy, a pioneering laboratory has been set up, devoted to the development of technology for the generation, storage, transport, distribution, use and safety of hydrogen. More than 50 projects are currently under way to carry out research and validation of hydrogen technology, as well as scaling up in order to accelerate its industrialisation.
In the field of health and in conjunction with the University of the Basque Country, the first multifunctional 3D bioprinter in the Basque Country has been developed for the pharmaceutical industry, which will enable the development of personalised therapies in paediatrics, healthy ageing and regenerative medicine and tissue engineering through additive manufacturing technology.
In the field of industrial digitalisation, the implementation of three disruptive platforms that combine a Supercomputing Centre, a Data Lab and a private Cloud, to accelerate the digital transformation of companies stand out. International leaders in the digitalisation of business networks, such as Arista, Dell, Nvidia and Red Hat have worked on their development and this supercomputer is currently working on more than 100 projects in more than 60 companies.
Furthermore, TECNALIA has promoted the growth of start-ups throughout its latest Strategic Plan, such as H2Site, a pioneer in the field of hydrogen; Fesia, which develops functional electrostimulation devices for rehabilitation; Crisalion, for the development of advanced, efficient, safe and sustainable electric mobility solutions both in the air and on the ground; and Neos Surgery, which creates devices for implants in the field of cranial and spinal neurosurgery.
