The Science, Technology and Innovation Plan of Navarra / Zientzia, Teknologia eta Berrikuntzako Plana 2021-2025, as a key tool for the planning and coordination of R&D policies, will mobilize approximately €2,800 million between public and private enterprise during its validity period. Through the link between science, industry, society and management, it aims to position the Foral Community as a European benchmark in this field.

Science and Innovation Minister Diana Morant and Navarra President María Chivite attended the public presentation of this new Plan this Friday at a ceremony held at the Civican auditorium in Pamplona/Iruña, highlighting Navarra’s ambitious commitment to science. He reminded that it is the third autonomous community that invests the most in R&D above the Spanish average.

He also underlined that the Science and Technology Foral Law, approved more than 4 years ago, is an inspiration for the new Science, Technology and Innovation Law in Spain. “Navarrese law – he added – pioneered in establishing a funding target for R&D and Development, which is the greatest proof of science”.

Likewise, Morant underlined joint management between communities and collaboration with companies around science and innovation, which is “a guarantee of prosperity and well-being in our country.”

In addition to the President and Minister, Unai Hualde, President of the Parliament of Navarra, attended the event; José Luis Arasti, Government delegate in Navarra; Health Minister Santos Induráin; Eduardo Santos and Juan Cruz Cigudosa, Ministers of Justice and Migration Policy and University, Innovation and Digital Transformation, respectively; Different representatives of the Navarra R&D System, as well as representatives of the science, technology and innovation-related sectors in the Autonomous Community.

Achieving an R&D and Development investment equivalent to 3% of Navarra’s GDP by 2030

According to 2020 data from the National Institute of Statistics, Navarra is already among the regions that spend the most on R&D per capita in Spain at 541 euros, well above the national average of 328 euros. Therefore, this Plan goes one step further and focuses on the challenge of positioning Navarra among Europe’s leading regions for R&D and Development.

With the first PCTIN drafted under the Law of Science and Technology 2018, the Government of Navarra makes a firm commitment to sustaining and promoting R&D in the public-private sector and also guarantees the financing of the Navarro System of I+D+i.

Therefore, Comunidad Foral undertakes the goal of achieving a public-private investment equivalent to 3% of Navarra’s GDP by 2030, with the investment in R&D established by the European Union, and the public sector accounts for one-third of this GDP. or 1%. This is a rate transferred to the General Budgets of Navarra, which means that 5% of the said Accounts are allocated to this issue, representing a total mobilization of 2800 million Euros between public and private investment during the validity of this Plan.

President Chivite’s intervention

“This Government is fully committed to knowledge, talent, innovation and digitization as pillars of public policy, which are the fundamental axes of the new social and economic model,” President Chivite said in his speech. The result of this commitment is the plan presented today, designed to position Navarra as “Europe’s leading region for R&D and Development”.

He said this is a cross-plan, aligned with other tools such as the Smart Specialization Strategy, the 2030 Agenda, the Plan to Reactivate Navarra, the Digital Strategy, the Green Strategy and the social and regional cohesion of the Foral Community.

Chivite concluded his speech by thanking the minister and the Spanish Government for their “decisive commitment to empowering science, promoting innovation and technology as transforming axes of our social and economic structure”. In the current epidemic and war conditions in Ukraine.

A participatory and measurable plan

On behalf of the Government of Navarra, the Minister of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation is responsible for presenting this Plan. During his speech, Cigudosa emphasized that “this new Plan will support digital and sustainable transformation, increase the competitiveness of Navarra and strengthen the necessary role of science, innovation and technology for society as a whole”.

Minister Cigudosa added, “With this Plan, we want to be at the service of the citizens of Navarra, meet the demands of companies and strengthen the relationship between the Administration and the scientific-technological field.” PCTIN is thanks to the contributions of various departments of the Government of Navarre, public institutions, SINAI agents, parliamentary groups and the Navarran society as a whole.

Likewise, the consultant highlighted two key elements in the design and implementation of this plan, the governance model and the scorecard. On this last issue, Cigudosa has valued the “robust indicators” set in the Plan that assess objectives, tools and programs, and consolidated itself as an important source of information on the status of innovation and the effectiveness of public measures. in Navarre.

Finally, with regard to governance, PCTIN includes three principles of planning and decision, consultation and execution, and finally a principle-oriented model that includes companies and society within which the initiative is framed within the framework of ‘Innovation Ecosystems’.

29 measures grouped in four main columns

Specifically, this new Plan includes 29 measures corresponding to 8 challenges, grouped in four areas or columns.

The first is knowledge production, which includes measures to attract and retain talent and meet the challenges of international talent projection and the achievement of scientific-technical excellence by SINAI agents.

The second pillar concerns cooperation and knowledge transfer, which depends on actions aimed at reducing barriers to cooperation between the business structure and SINAI agents and promoting joint developments with other regions.

The third area concerns the promotion of business R&D and Development through greater effort in SMEs and the tractor influence of large companies and the increase in innovative activity of the Navarra business fabric.

Finally, the fourth pillar aims to encourage new technology-based companies to strengthen the creation and consolidation of these companies in Navarra.

Objectives to encourage R&D and Development

Navarra establishes a ten-year plan of action in line with the Science, Technology and Innovation Plan for 2021-2025, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Reactivation of Navarra / Nafarroa Suspertu Plan and Navarra’s S4 Strategy, and specifically its Digital Transformation, Sustainability plans. Transformation of the Government of Navarre and Social Cohesion.

In addition to the Navarran Government’s commitment to achieve percentages of public investment in R&D, PCTIN sets more specific targets such as an average 15% increase in results achieved by SINAI representatives, promotion of innovation from the Administration. , promotion of the R&D value chain and return of national and European programs, promotion of STEM professions and the creation of the R&D Advisory Council and the Navarra Innovation Observatory, both are already underway.

Likewise, on this presentation day, Agurtzane Martínez, Director General of Innovation, Ana Ursúa, Managing Director of AIN; Daniel Antoñanzas, managing director of Exkal; and María Sanz de Galdeano, managing director of CEIN, discussed the application of this new Plan to the reality of Navarra.

PHOTO SUB: ID: Daniel Antoñanzas, Managing Director of Exkal; Ana Ursúa, managing director of AIN; Immigration Policy and Justice Advisor Eduardo Santos; José Luis Arasti, Government delegate in Navarra; Diana Morant, Minister for Science and Innovation; María Chivite, President of Navarra; Unai Hualde, head of the Navarran Parliament; Juan Cruz Cigudosa, Minister of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation; Health Minister Santos Induráin; Agurtzane Martínez, Managing Director of Innovation, and María Sanz de Galdeano, Managing Director of CEIN.