Cristina Garmendia highlights the role played by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development as a benchmark centre for the State Innovation Strategy
News - 2010.10.6
In her speech, the Minister pointed out that this new era for the organisation "will support business innovation and offer a comprehensive service that includes financing, technical-sectoral advice, the identification of ideas, the search for potential partners in Spain and abroad and the search for potential sources of complementary financing for the projects".
According to Cristina Garmendia, "in today's world, we our economic recovery is inconceivable without a firm and urgent commitment to internationalisation and innovation". A commitment, she added, that the Government of Spain has remained true to since 2004 and that has had such decisive effects as the growth experienced by the amount of direct financing provided by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development in recent years, which has almost quadrupled its resources from 368 million euros in 2004 to 1,251 million euros in 2009.
The Minister for Science and Innovation underlined that a complicated economic situation requires significant sacrifices, "the Government has excluded R&D from the demanding austerity measures being imposed on all administration services". This has enabled the Ministry to receive a budget, as per the 2011 Budget proposal, which is even larger than the budget that appeared in the proposal submitted to Parliament last year. This will enable the current levels of investment linked to the National R&D+i Plan and the State Innovation Strategy to be maintained.
The Centre for Industrial Technological Development, a key organisation for the "e2i"
The Ministry of Science and Innovation has developed the State Innovation Strategy (e2i), the purpose of which is to convert Spain into the ninth company on the global innovation ranking list by 2015. The objectives to be achieved by then revolve around the need to mobilise approximately 6,000 million euros of private investment in R&D (1.9% of GDP), doubling the number of innovative companies (by incorporating 40,000 more companies) and creating 500,000 new jobs at high- and medium-technology companies.
In this new era, the Centre for Industrial Technological Development is a key Centre for the State Innovation Strategy; its principal mission consists of contributing towards the transformation of the current Spanish economy into a Sustainable Economy based on Innovation that will need to focus on the development of technological products and services aimed at the international markets.
Cristina Garmendia highlighted that "it is precisely within the framework of the 'e2i' that we must interpret the process of transformation and organisational innovation we have implemented at the Centre for Industrial Technological Development", a transformation that will consolidate the central role played by this organisation as "a one-stop shop" and a benchmark centre in terms of the corporate financing of innovation in Spain. Furthermore, it will enable its management efficiency and business-orientated approach to be improved".
In this new relationship with companies, access to this organisation has been simplified and the international approach has been incorporated as an essential and inherent feature in all innovation projects. Cristina Garmendia said that "it should not be forgotten that, at a critical time such as this, the production fabric demands new financing formulae and the design of programmes adapted to the new challenges being faced by Spanish companies, particularly in the field of internationalisation".
New organisational structure
This new organisational structure, which will be based around technological areas and activity sectors, proposes a change of philosophy regarding its relationship with companies and also in the provision of services to those companies.
The new structure consists of the following:
- One Global Innovative Markets Department, which channels all interaction with companies, promotes programmes, proposes policies and strategies and analyses and monitors progress in the sectors at the same time as defining the needs of the companies;
- Two Technical-Financial Assessment Departments, which integrate the entire assessment value chain (technical, economic-financial and business) irrespective of the type of instrument or the source of funding;
- One Global Innovative Programmes Department, which is responsible for designing the programmes run by the Centre, as well as undertaking all necessary monitoring and adjustments, in search of obtaining a range of instruments that can be adapted to the needs of companies;
- One Indicators and Results Control Department, which monitors and performs the final assessment of results from technical, technological and market perspectives for all programmes run by the Centre; and finally
- The Operational Management Department, which structures and gives shape to all organisational support from the Centre for Industrial Technological Development, providing a service to the other Departments.
