The backbone that will allow the creation on the Island of a favorable environment for the implementation and creation of innovative companies. Through the attraction of infrastructures, the climate, human and material resources or the tax regime. This is the meaning of the Master Plan for Innovation (PDI) presented yesterday by the insular councilor for the area, Enrique Arriaga. This is the roadmap for the next ten years with the aim of converting Tenerife in reference in R+D+i (Research, Development and innovation).
Arriaga values: “The Cabildo de Tenerife is aware that innovation is essential for the economic and social development of the Island.” That is why he leads “the need to develop a culture aimed at it as the axis for improving the competitiveness and quality of the local socioeconomic fabric.” Hence the development and consensus of this document “with all the key agents of the Island.”
The plan will govern decision-making for the next decade with fundamental axes in the areas of sustainability, mobility and energy; smart tourism; creative industries; blue economy; medical sciences and health.
Arriaga was accompanied by the insular director of Innovation, Aránzazu Artal, and the coordinator of the Innovation Master Plan, Gustavo gonzalez. The project details, draws and designs six key lines: the improvement of technological infrastructures; the empowerment of talent; the reformulation of the transfer model; promoting entrepreneurship and competitiveness; support for internationalization and development of leadership capacity.
Enrique Arriaga emphasizes that “given its importance, in the drafting of this document all the key agents on the Island have been taken into account, such as private companies, research centers, the University of La Lagunaassociations and foundations and the public administration itself»
twenty%
Private investment in R+D+i
Private sector business spending on R+D+i in Tenerife represents only 20% of the total, compared to 56% of the national average and 66% of the European average. An imbalance to overcome.
Tenerife “can and should” lead internationally in economic fields based on knowledge and innovation such as smart tourism or the blue economy. For this, the Island has ideal conditions with a view to the establishment and creation of innovative companies, both due to its location and its climate. its tax regime, its human and material resources or its infrastructures. Arriaga summarizes: “This project will channel all these factors to make the Island a world reference center in innovation and technology.”
The counselor appreciates that the improvement of technological infrastructures is a basic axis to be able to obtain a scientific-technological environment that favors innovative processes. In addition, he assures that it is necessary to “improve the orientation of the existing ones and promote their link with the business sector.”
Aránzazu Artal explains that the Island Plan “makes a significant effort to promote talent around four specific programs.” These are Talentum Future, Talentum Project, Talentum Business and Talentum Research. In this sense, he comments that each of them “adapts to the age and profile of its participants to increase training in key sectors.”
So Talentum Future is aimed at the youngest, between 4 and 18 years old. It seeks to encourage interest at these ages in subjects related to science and technology, “since they are the training that our companies demand the most,” explains Artal.
“This roadmap lays the foundations for the decisions to be made over the next ten years”
For its part, Talentum Project offers specific programs adapted to different profiles that provide a guide when solving challenges and in accelerating or accompanying projects. Regarding Talentum Business, the insular director details that she places emphasis on the companies and spaces that Tenerife can offer with the aim of revitalizing the Island, promoting the consolidation of companies and promoting the attraction of local, national and international investment in entrepreneurial projects.
Lastly, Talentum Research is defined by Artal as “a tool that promotes high-potential research to provide real answers to questions related to health, energy or the blue economy, among others”.
investment effort
The coordinator of the Plan, Gustavo González, highlights the great investment effort made by the public sector in R+D+i. He affirms that “business spending, of the private sector in R + D + i in Tenerife represents only 20% of the total, compared to 56% of the national average and 66% of the European average”. Along these lines, he stresses the importance of “investment having a real impact on the insular economy.” For this, he adds, “we have created a technology transfer table in charge of detecting needs to define innovative opportunities with an impact on the market.”
González spins the need to promote entrepreneurship, internationalization and leadership. He highlights that “a technical office will provide coverage and advice in the different phases between the birth of the idea and the marketing of the innovative product.” Subsequently, he concludes, “it will be necessary to carry out work to accompany internationalization, so that Tenerife companies can export their goods and services, becoming leaders in the rest of the world.”
