Basque Country is waiting for you
Getting ready for the future
Almost 100,000 people work in the Spanish state. About 15,000 of them do so in Basque technology parks.
The success model of these centres relies on three key aspects:
? Bid for R&D+i investment
? Internationalisation
? HR training and specialisation
The technology park network of the Basque Country(comprised of the Bizkaia Technology Park, the Álava Technology Park, the Gipuzkoa Technology Park and the Garaia Innovation Hub) accounted for 3.4% of the Basque GDP in 2012 and a €3,758Mturnover, as well as for 3% of the total number of jobs in the region.
R&D activity in Basque technology parks represents 35% of the total R&D expenditure in the Basque Country (as made in companies, organisations, private and public agencies, universities, and so on) and 46% of the total R&D expenditure in the business sector. Companies fuel 14% of turnover into R&D.
Bid for technology and growth
The Bizkaia Science and Technology Park was established in 1985, being a pioneer in its kind in the Spanish state. It emerged to diversify industry in the Historical Territory and the Basque Country at large, as well as to encourage research, innovation and development, and to disseminate the results.
Currently, the park, with facilities in Zamudio and Derio, covers 250ha. It lies 2km from Loiu International Airport (Bilbao Airport), 10km from Bilbao and 10km from the campus of the University of the Basque Country in Leioa. It comprises more than 220 companies – some of them areKutxabank, Gamesa, Siemens, Tecnalia and Euskaltel – from various sectors: aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, environment, R&D, engineering, medical and biomedical, advanced services, general services, IT.
Many of these firms are ahead of the curve in technological matters and have highly qualified staff from Spain and abroad. Several of the employees hold university degrees from educational and training centres in our Historical Territory, and their knowledge translates intohigh value-added products and services, thus enhancing businesscompetitiveness.
In the past five years, there has been a huge growth in the number of people working at the Bizkaia Science and Technology Park. Today, they amount to 7,700, and they belong to 223 different companies whose total turnover in the last fiscal year amounted to€2,550M.
The park is an ever-changing, ever-growing living organism, housing lots of new business initiatives and innovation projects. In 2014, the park will be home to the largest business incubator for technology companies in the Basque Country. Developed by the Basque Government and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the incubator will have a 6,000m2 area, divided into 38 modules, laboratories and workshop facilities.
Prestige in Europe
The Bizkaia Science and Technology Park is a renowned facility in Europe. In fact, when the European Commission set up the Advisory Group on SMEs under HORIZON 2020, they took on the park’s Innovation Manager, Marian Ibarrondo, as the only representative of the Spanish state. This Advisory Group was created to take specific measures to increase SME participation in European research and innovation.
What is more, last summer, the EC congratulated the Bizkaia Science and Technology Park on its communication of ZERO-HYTECHPARK, a project under the LIFE+ Programme for the development of fully sustainable technology parks.
The growing interest in the park beyond European borders is reflected in the high number of international visitors coming to get first-hand knowledge of its creation, development and situation, as well as in theBizkaia Park’s presence in such international events as the 1stConference on Science and Technology Parks held in Colombia.
