The Basque Minister of Industry, Mikel Jauregi, visits TECNALIA, a benchmark centre in the Basque Country's technology and applied research ecosystem
- "Research and technology make real sense when we put them at the service of our productive economy and our businesses, which is what TECNALIA consistently does. In 2023, 73% of TECNALIA’s customers were SMEs, which form the basis of the Basque economy," said Jauregi.
- With areas of activity in smart manufacturing, renewable energies, sustainable mobility, and artificial intelligence, TECNALIA is currently the largest applied research and technological development centre in Spain.
The Basque Minister for Industry, Energy Transition, and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, visited TECNALIA’s facilities at the Bizkaia Technology Park in Derio today. He was received by its general manager, Jesús Valero. They were also joined by the Director of Energy, Climate, and Urban Transition, José Luis Elejalde, the Director of Industry and Mobility, David Sánchez, and the Director of Corporate Development and IR, Elena Schaeidt.
TECNALIA, a benchmark research and technological development centre in Europe, is a member of the BRTA—Basque Research and Technology Alliance, along with 16 other Basque technology centres. Although its headquarters are located in Donostia, in the Gipuzkoa Technology Park, it also has multiple facilities in Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Zaragoza, and Madrid, as well as delegations in China, Colombia, France, Italy, and Serbia. Its main areas of action are: smart manufacturing, digital transformation, energy transition, sustainable mobility, health and food, urban ecosystem, and circular economy.
During the visit, Basque Minister Mikel Jauregi shared with the TECNALIA management the Department's priorities for the current legislature in the fields of research and technology and gained first-hand knowledge of the centre's strategic lines in these areas. They then visited some of TECNALIA's unique facilities, including the areas dedicated to Smart Grids, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, Offshore Renewable Energies, Quantum Sensorics, Artificial Intelligence based on Computer Vision and Sustainable Mobility - Autonomous Driving.
R&D&I at the service of the productive economic tissue
TECNALIA currently has a workforce of more than 1,520 people, 315 of whom are PhDs. TECNALIA’s total turnover was 137 million euros in the last financial year. For all these reasons, TECNALIA is currently the largest applied research and technological development centre in Spain.
Basque Minister Mikel Jauregi said, "TECNALIA is a benchmark for the technology and research ecosystem in the Basque Country, Spain, and Europe, and has become one of our flagships in the field of innovation. We’re convinced that R&D&I truly makes sense when we use it to serve our productive economic tissue. We aim to generate wealth, quality employment, increased competitiveness of our companies, and responses to complex future challenges that improve our standard of living as a society. Technology transfer to the company really comes true at TECNALIA, which in 2023 had 73% of its clients in SMEs. This fits in with the economic reality of the Basque Country, whose base is made up of small and medium-sized companies."
"TECNALIA is one of the pioneers in key areas for our future as a country, such as smart manufacturing, renewable energies, sustainable mobility, and artificial intelligence,” said Jauregi. "As a country, we are proud to count on such an important ally as TECNALIA to face the challenges that will define the future of the Basque Country. We’re convinced that it will be a key partner on our path to have more industry, a better industry, and lower emissions.”
