Science and Universities

The plenary session of City Council has given the go-ahead for Barcelona City Council to join the Cotec Foundation as a full member, with the intention of strengthening the city’s role in initiatives focused on promoting research, technology and innovation and boosting Barcelona as a science capital. By joining Cotec, the City Council is looking to increase its commitment to research, cross-sector collaboration, promoting start-ups and innovative companies, and innovation awareness-raising and training initiatives.

The City Council’s involvement in the Cotec Foundation involves financial and strategic collaboration to foster innovation and technology within the framework of sustainability. It is committed to an annual contribution of €18,000 for a period of four years, which may be renewed. It will also play an active role in the initiatives carried out by the Foundation, which has been recognised internationally with the creation of Cotec Italy (2001) and Cotec Portugal (2003).

The Cotec Foundation is a non-profit whose main mission is to promote innovation and technological development as essential aspects of economic and social progress. It focuses on becoming an R&D&I observatory in Spain and providing innovation, technology and economic analyses and guidance. By joining, Barcelona will make a local contribution to the foundation’s observatory and enable the city to expand the forums to connect with leading economic players that have a strong presence in regions such as Latin America and in strategic fields such as technology, science and research, energy, health and sustainability, among others.

The Foundation currently has around 100 members, which include private companies as well as regional and local authorities. It carries out its work through a wide range of initiatives of interest to City Council in terms of their content and potential. Examples include the Foundation’s studies and analyses to better understand the dynamics of innovation and technology, and its role as a bridge between the public and private sectors to drive collaborative projects that foster start-ups, especially those focused on innovation and technology.

The Foundation also works in the field of education and training to promote a culture of innovation through initiatives such as the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) education programmes, vocational training and other activities. It also participates in international projects that promote innovation and technology cooperation and in campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of innovation in economic and social development, and organises events and talks with experts in these fields.