- The research and technological development centre launches its new Strategic Plan with which it aims to achieve income of 140 million euros over the next three years and build up a team of 1,525 people.
- The aim of this new Plan is to boost economic and social impact through technological research and innovation, as agents in the transformation of companies and society to adapt to the challenges of the future, including digital transformation, smart manufacturing, energy transition, sustainable mobility, the urban ecosystem and personalised health
- To make this possible, it will launch new initiatives such as an action plan for SMEs and micro-SMEs, creating an intellectual property transfer fund and implementing a new model of alliances that make an impact
- It is also revamping its image and launching a strong brand that reflects the centre's leadership and graphically represents the two spheres in which TECNALIA operates: economic and social impact.
Bilbao, September 30, 2021. The TECNALIA research and technological development centre is launching its new Strategic Plan with a focus on the next 3 years, the aim of which will be to increase its impact on industry and society. Having been approved by its Board of Trustees, TECNALIA's 2024 Plan aims to promote economic and social improvement through technological research and innovation and to position itself as an agent in the transformation of companies and society in order to adapt to the challenges of the future, specifically digital transformation, smart manufacturing, energy transition, sustainable mobility, the urban ecosystem and personalised health.
At a press conference today, the Managing Director of TECNALIA, Jesús Valero, stated that “our mission is to transform technological research into prosperity and to build a better world through technological research and innovation. We are embarking on a new strategic phase with the aim of extending our impact on the environment, growing intelligently, increasing our technological excellence and building a TECNALIA that is attractive to people, open and connected, and of course, efficient”.
Quantitatively, the aim is to grow intelligently to increase the company's activity by 26% to 140 million euros by 2024, build up a team of 1,525 people, create an average of 5 start-ups per year and generate income from the sale of intellectual property of up to 8 million euros. To make this possible, it will launch new initiatives such as an action plan for SMEs and micro-SMEs, creating an intellectual property transfer fund and implementing a new model of alliances that make an impact.
Key technologies to be targeted include high-value hydrogen, competitive renewables or electrification, smart industrial maintenance, artificial intelligence for optimising processes and quality control, process automation and robotisation, digital solutions for buildings, smart infrastructure management, circular economy and eco-materials, data spaces for smart digitalisation, privacy technologies and blockchain for secure digitalisation, quantum technologies, and, in the field of health, personalised health food, neuroengineering and medical robotics and regenerative medicine.
It is also revamping its image and launching a strong brand that reflects the centre's leadership and which, through the two dots that make up the “I”, graphically represents the two spheres in which TECNALIA has an impact: in the economic and social spheres. According to Valero, “the two orthographic dots also symbolise an invitation to reflection and are the first step towards a solution and a new approach, as TECNALIA faces the challenges of the future, providing innovative solutions”.
A new phase
TECNALIA is entering a new strategic phase, as its Chairman Alex Belaustegui, explained: “following the conclusion of the previous Strategic Plan, with which we achieved income of 113.6 million euros by 2020, despite difficulties. These results stem from the R&D transfer strategy to companies that TECNALIA had implemented since its creation ten years ago. Furthermore, the number of companies with which we collaborate has not stopped growing over this time, a sign of the confidence they have in TECNALIA as a key instrument of innovation to emerge more competitive. Thus, in 2020, we managed to collaborate with more than 750 companies, 75% of them SMEs, and we have created a growing network of more than 25 alliances”.
Belaustegui stated that “in 2020, TECNALIA approached the end of a strategic cycle, intending to maximise the impact of our R&D and innovation activity. During this cycle we have been able to observe the increased positive impact of our activity on different scopes: economic, scientific-technological, social, and environmental”.
Success stories and technological excellence
Based on transformation of technology into GDP and technological excellence, the initiatives carried out under the previous Strategic Plan include success stories in the fields of sustainable mobility and smart manufacturing, energy transition and personalised health, which continue to be particularly important and strategic projects for TECNALIA and are among its principal pillars of excellence and growth for the next 2024 Plan.
In the case of sustainable mobility and smart manufacturing, TECNALIA has been a pioneer in developing the first air taxi to cover short journeys in cities autonomously, and is currently developing it for its forthcoming industrialisation and progress in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles.
As far as energy transition is concerned, TECNALIA developed the first floating laboratory in Europe to carry out tests in a real offshore environment, called HarshLab, a facility that provides accurate information to predict the behaviour of materials, components and equipment in this hostile environment, in order to develop offshore energy systems with high survival rates. It recently launched a new version to further advance research into offshore technologies and help the industry improve its competitiveness.
In the field of personalised health, thanks to the joint work with the University of the Basque Country, it set up the first 4.0 laboratory in the Basque Country for the pharmaceutical industry, located in the Alava Technology Park.
About TECNALIA
TECNALIA is the largest applied research and technological development centre in Spain, a European benchmark and member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance. We work with companies and institutions to increase their competitiveness, quality of life of people and achieve sustainable growth. We do so thanks to people who are passionate about technology and committed to building a better society. Its main areas of action are: digital transformation, smart manufacturing, energy transition, sustainable mobility, urban ecosystem, and personalised health.
