Villamandos presents the approved bases that regulate the 6 lines of incentives included in the initiative, which will be published before the summer
The Regional Ministry of University, Research and Innovation has activated the ‘InnovAndalucía’ initiative, which brings together six incentive programs endowed with 59 million euros to promote business and technological innovation in strategic sectors for Andalusia. The counselor José Carlos Gómez Villamandos has presented in Córdoba the regulatory bases approved and published today in BOJA that allow this public support strategy to be launched.
These lines of subsidies, which will be supported by the Andalusia FEDER 2021-2027 Program, will inject resources both to promote innovation and technological development actions in companies, innovation clusters and technology centers in Andalusia, and to launch novel technological solutions in the aeronautical segment in favor of sustainable aviation. All of them will be published simultaneously before the summer, with the application period opening in July 2025 for three of them and, after the summer period, for the remaining three.
The incentives will be aimed at companies, innovation clusters, technology centers and other knowledge generation agents, including universities, which may apply individually or in collaboration. These subsidies range, in the case of companies, between 50% and 80% of the eligible budget, depending, among other factors, on the size of the entities. They may also reach up to 100% in the case of knowledge generation agents that do not carry out economic activity.
The programmes, which will be announced on a competitive basis, have been designed to encourage collaboration between companies and the different agents of the Andalusian knowledge system, including universities, technology centres and innovation clusters.
Additionally, and apart from this allocation, the Department of University will allocate another 15 million euros to support research technicians in non-university structures.
Gómez Villamandos stressed that ‘InnovAndalucía’ is an initiative that is not just a set of financial aid, but “a declaration of intent”. “We want Andalusia to consolidate itself as a benchmark in innovation, generating opportunities, attracting talent and contributing to economic and environmental sustainability”, he stressed, emphasising that “the community is facing a transcendental challenge at the moment, which is none other than improving its position in the European innovation landscape”. Currently, according to the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), the region is in the category of moderate innovator, although with significant advances compared to previous years. For the university minister, this means that “we have enormous potential, but also a clear margin for improvement.”
Gómez Villamandos has also highlighted that “innovation is not only technology, it is the ability to transform ideas into solutions that generate value for society” and the objective of the regional government is to convert “Andalusia into a favourable environment for ideas to grow, develop and become drivers of employment and growth in our own land.” In this context, he has stressed that “for the first time, the community has a policy and roadmap for innovation clusters, designs incentives aimed exclusively at the aeronautical sector to promote sustainable aviation and supports the consolidation of technological centres.”
Six lines for innovation clusters, technological centres and companies
Two of these six programmes, which total ten million euros, will be aimed at financing the actions of innovation clusters, funding both growth and consolidation actions (two million) and industrial research or experimental development projects (eight million), with the ultimate goal of promoting the competitiveness of SMEs and the regional economy.
These entities group together, in a geographical area or productive sector, a set of companies and research and training centres. They constitute a vector of competitiveness and business growth, capable of attracting talent, promoting innovation and attracting investments in their sectors. In addition, they offer SMEs the opportunity to collaborate and participate in this dynamism and in the sectorial strategies that they advocate. These specific incentives for these strategic business groups are part of the Andalusian cluster policy that comes fromThe regional government is deploying these centres with the aim of providing them with an appropriate framework for action that promotes their capacity to generate innovation. This deployment also includes the consideration of innovation clusters as agents of the Andalusian knowledge system, taking into account a series of requirements.
The regional government’s planning within the ‘InnovAndalucía’ initiative also contemplates the allocation of 22.68 million to boost the activity of technology centres by supporting industrial research or experimental development projects (16.18 million) and the acquisition of equipment to improve their infrastructures (6.5 million). Technology centres are agents that seek to contribute to improving the competitiveness of companies, especially in the case of SMEs, participating in the generation and development of technology, in its dissemination and transfer and in the implementation of innovative actions. In addition, these entities maintain close ties with universities, the main generators of knowledge.
Likewise, the Department of University has reserved 26.4 million to call for two lines of incentives aimed at companies. Of this amount, 11.4 million will fund the launch of industrial research or experimental development projects aimed at offering innovative technological solutions to administrations, companies and citizens in general, through technological transfer and cooperation between these entities and Andalusian knowledge agents. This line of work aims to increase the business network that is committed to R&D&I and knowledge transfer and improve the intensity of innovation in the productive system, especially in small and medium-sized companies.
Companies may participate in this call both individually and in cooperation mode. In any case, the participation of a knowledge generating agent and the presence of SMEs will be required.
15 million for business initiatives in favour of sustainable aviation
In this section of business incentives, 15 million have also been budgeted to support industrial research and experimental development projects that favour the implementation of more sustainable aviation with less emissions and noise, in line with the principles advocated by the European programme ‘Clean Aviation’.
The regional government has doubled its commitment to this line, going from an initial allocation of ten million to this final 15 million, in order to respond to the demands of this strategic sector for Andalusia, which requires the generation of new, more ecological technologies in favour of zero-emission aviation. This line of aid is aimed at companies, which may compete alone or in cooperation with other firms and with Andalusian knowledge agents.
The order of bases that includes the characteristics and requirements for obtaining the incentives is aligned with key strategies such as the Smart Specialisation Strategy for the Sustainability of Andalusia (S4 Andalusia), the R&D&I Strategy of Andalusia (EIDIA) and the Aerospace Strategy of Andalusia.
