The Governing Council of the Regional Government of Andalusia has approved the formulation of the Action Plan for the Promotion of Innovation in the Aerospace Sector for the period 2023-2027, an instrument that will be approved before the second half of 2023 and that will make available 140 million euros to the business network and the Andalusian knowledge system operating in this industry. This plan aims to guide and channel during that period both funding and public actions of the Board aimed at promoting R & D + i and innovation in this activity, considered strategic in the community as an engine of growth and competitiveness of the regional productive fabric.
The tool, which is being developed within the framework of the Andalusian Aerospace Strategy, will be nourished by European funds from the new 2023-2027 Community framework and by the Andalusian Regional Government’s own resources. With both funding sources, several actions will be promoted, among which the Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) formula stands out, a contracting system of the Administration that will strengthen the collaboration of public-private capital. Similarly, lines of aid are envisaged for R&D&I and technological innovation projects, measures for training the sector and improving the provision of advanced services, as well as infrastructure funding. Of the overall amount foreseen, 47 million correspond to the amount previously planned by the Junta to favor innovation in this sector and the remaining 93 million will be implemented through ERDF funds.
Both the Strategy and the Action Plan are decisive tools for planning the future of this sector, which is characterized by its high added value and its exporting muscle, as well as by its high innovative and technological component and its great capacity of dragging for the rest of the productive segments and for generating highly qualified and quality employment. In addition, aerospace activity provides services of various kinds to other areas such as transport, logistics, security, defense or the environment and contributes to the economic conversion towards a knowledge-based model.
According to the latest data for the financial year 2021, the aerospace industry has a turnover of more than 2,000 million euros per year in the region and is supported by a business network made up of more than 140 companies and generates 12,161 direct jobs, which translates into a contribution of 1.26% to the regional GDP. Despite the serious impact that the health and economic crisis has had on this activity in the national and international context, the Andalusian industry has demonstrated its resilience in the face of the difficulties and has recovered better than other segments of the Andalusian economy.
Apart from this economic and business strength and Andalusia’s historical tradition in this field, the region has other competitive factors that reinforce this strategic character, among them, the wide network of science and technology parks that provide an ideal environment for research and innovation, including Aerópolis, located in the municipality of La Rinconada (Seville), which is the only enclave specializing in the aerospace sector in the country as a whole. In addition, there is the public university system, made up of nine academic institutions with a wide range of training in Aerospace Engineering, which generates specialized human capital. In terms of R&D&I, almost 80 research groups have been identified that are related to this activity.
Together with these actors, other centers, organizations and infrastructures with proven activity in some of the areas of interest for this industry carry out their work. These include the Andalusian Center for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) and the Atlas Experimental Flight Center in Villacarrillo (Jaén). In addition, the CEUS project (Unmanned Systems Test Center) in Huelva, an action promoted by the Junta de Andalucía and the Ministry of Defense, will be added to them. All these factors have led to the choice of Seville, and therefore Andalusia, as the headquarters of the Spanish Space Agency, an asset that will consolidate the community as a national and world reference.
Source: Junta de Andalucía
