The regional government and the business and research community join forces for innovation
To drive change in the regional production model, the fundamental pillar is the innovative ecosystem, made up of researchers, companies and institutions working together for a common benefit, as a real team. This is the way to bring about economic transformation and ensure that resources are used efficiently, projecting the business fabric into the future. That is why, under the slogan 'We are team', the Instituto de Fomento de la Región de Murcia held yesterday an event within the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization-RIS3, in order to know the success stories that have been welcomed to this initiative and make analysis of the challenges ahead of hand of experts in the field to identify new opportunities for business development.
The RIS3, which is supported by the Feder Fund, promotes R+D+i among companies in the Region to evolve towards a new productive structure, giving tools to what is a "dynamic, strong and cohesive" ecosystem in the Region of Murcia, as highlighted during the welcome ceremony María del Valle Miguélez, who explained that the objective is to "create more and better jobs through an economic transformation based on knowledge and innovation".
The strategy's ability to boost R&D&I through the public-private initiative has been rewarded, as this aspect accounted for 0.99% of GDP in 2019, compared to 0.87% in 2009, which motivates to continue advancing to be on par with the national average and reach the European target of 2%. However, the counselor highlighted the excellence of the projects presented in this time and that have captured 50 million euros of funding at the national level, in addition to growing by 4% in medium-high technology exports, assuming, in 2019, 19.5% in the Region. In view of this, Valle Miguélez encouraged to "move forward together knowing what we have to improve".
He encouraged that the challenges that open up in the new period 2021-27 be achieved "working together as a team and looking for synergies to design a better future, based on knowledge and innovation, which brings together companies and researchers with the support of the institutions", and recalled the importance of communicating all that potential in the Region.
A vehicle of opportunities
Transformation, innovation and leadership. These are the three key words that Mikel Landabaso Alvarez, Joint Research Centre European Commission, highlighted during his presentation, pointing out the RIS3 as "the main vehicle for recovery to seize the historic opportunity that lies ahead". He stressed that innovation, as a precondition for economic transformation, is a broad concept that makes the entrepreneur modernize his company and diversify, with "new, different and cheaper products and services that attack new market niches and provide added value". At the government level, he stressed that "they must look collectively for that individual sum of concerns that are the companies and transform the economy at a global level, redirecting it to the Green Pact and the digital transformation". He added a fourth word: sustainability, as a new paradigm in the journey towards this pact, stressing that it must be done in a coordinated manner, "all at the same time, with a synergistic effort of the entire institutional chain", in addition to the value of resilience in this path.
"The RIS3 is the best example on which to rely on to design innovation policies," he stressed, inviting to flee from improvisation and apply knowledge on the ground and explore new opportunities, with a business and market approach, and moving towards a RIS4 with consistency, clarity and coordination, focusing on content. In this regard, the director of Info, Joaquín Gómez, analyzed the results of the 2014-2020 strategy, which show the investment effort, as the Region is the fourth autonomous community with more research staff in recent years. "This makes you feel that we are able to continue to move forward and provide a space of economic freedom where to put in value the knowledge that is generated, raising the level of strategic sectors and those that could become strategic."
Gómez pointed out that in the last 5 years, 30% of the certification of innovative companies are achieving it in the Region of Murcia thanks to the policies that are being implemented and the public-private coordination. "In the technology-based company, 95% of the jobs that are being generated are getting degrees of investment and financing unthinkable," he added, stressing the need to be aware in the Region of "the ability we have to generate knowledge and put it in value."
"We are at an ideal time to work together and design the RIS3 strategy that the Region needs and that can allow us to continue raising the level of excellence of strategic sectors," he said.
Constant reinvention
In the face of such rapid innovation, which has advanced in the last 10 years more than in the last century as a whole, economist and speaker Marc Vidal inspired joint reinvention for the future, as this innovation will be even more exponential in the coming years, in a technological revolution that must be understood, "enjoyed and lived intensely". He stressed that, despite being in the 21st century, the capacity of technology was not enhanced until Covid-19 forced to do so, going beyond telework and automation, since what has changed is "the social contract we call employment and the relationship between human beings and technology". To get out of the situation, he encourages being more efficient instead of taking the "business as usual" way out, with technology and new business models to achieve more productivity and more employment.
"Technology is not going to be optional, but how we use it is. The immediate and absolute change is in technology, which allows us to do incredible things," he said, while highlighting uncertainty as an opportunity if we take advantage of flexibility as a tool.
This will require new skills and training in those that cannot be digitized or automated in the future or replace people with robots, so that they have greater value, such as unlearning, critical thinking, knowing how to ask questions, socialization, emotional intelligence and technological creativity.
The event concluded with a recognition to the companies and researchers protagonists of regional R+D+i, after which the president of the Community, Fernando López Miras, took the floor, who thanked the commitment of the sector to make "more Region", motivating not to remain in complacency, despite the good starting point, but to "set goals to achieve excellence", making progress together and sharing the best and brightest ideas. "We must humanize technology and research, because in everything you do the ultimate goal is to improve people's lives," he added.
He stressed the need to continue improving the positioning and "converge with the regions of Spain that are better positioned in R+D+i", in addition to making a framework for cooperation between companies and researchers to create "new business opportunities that position the Region of Murcia at the international level".
