Scientific Research Areas

Main Scientific Research Areas

Other institutions

In the Canary Islands there are two Universities; one in La Laguna which is a fundamental reference point in the sphere of the research of Tenerife, and another one in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It intensive research and educational work is acknowledged at an international level. Every year the Universities runs a series of scientific projects that seek to contribute to the progress of society.

The University of La Laguna was named after the city of its location. It is a public institution that offers a higher education service as demanded by Spanish Constitution and Law. The University counts nowadays more than 26,000 students, almost 800 technical and administrative staff and about 1,700 lecturers.

The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was created during the period 89-90. The university is now an assembly of 19 centres, some of them where created at the beginning of this century , other are even older.

The university is situated on different campuses:

• The Campus of Tafira, the biggest one, it is situated at about 10 Km of the centre of the town in the middle of a beautiful and green landscape. The Campus of San Cristóbal is situated in the south part of the town, there you can study biomedicine.

• The Campus of Montaña Cardones is situated at 8 Km of the north part of town, nearby the historical village of Arucas. There, you can study Veterinary, Sciences and Alimentary Technologies

• Diagnosis of the Canarian System of R&D+I
• Regional Policy Objectives/and Goals in terms of Knowledge/Innovation Policy
• Strategic Objectives of the Canary Islands integrated plan for R+D (Pic)
• Innovative activity of Canarian companies
• Education
• Research and Development
• Investment Incentives
• Financial System
• General Indicators
• Industry

DIAGNOSIS OF THE CANARIAN SYSTEM OF R&D+i

The Canary Islands are the Spanish region which has most increased its spending on Research and Development over the last few years. Most of this spending has gone to the two Canarian universities and to Public Research Organisations, attached to the Autonomous and central administrations.

R&D costs represented in 2000 0.49% of Canarian GDP, below the national average (0.94%) and far below the average for the European Union (1.8% in 1999). In relation to other Spanish regions, the Canary Islands represented in 2000 2.1% of the national R&D cost, a more favourable situation than that which existed in 1990, which represented only 1% of national spending on R&D.

The majority of this cost is paid by the two Canarian universities and the Public Administration (both regional and national) with 78.6%, while the R&D carried out by companies was only 21.4 % of the total of R&D costs.

The Canary Islands Government, being aware of the economic and social importance of Information and Communications Technologies, is drawing up a Plan for the Development of the Information Society in the Canary Islands, in accordance with the existing guidelines for the period 2000-2006, within the framework of the Plan for the Development of the Canary Islands and the Plan for Infrastructure in the Canaries.

The Canary Islands Integrated R&D+i Plan details an analysis of the Canarian System of Science-Technology- Business and is characterised, in general terms, in the following way:

Business Environment

• The Canarian SME is characterised by a pattern with a strong family presence (50.7%) and a low level of association.
• Imbalances due to the low industrial diversification and excessive concentration of the service sector on tourism.
• A great concentration of R&D activity in large companies (90% of the total)

Scientific Environment and Intermediate Organisations of Innovation

• The Canary Islands are one of the regions that has the largest number of Public Organisations of Research.
• This area has 88.1% of the R&D staff, spread among different organisations dependent on the Canary Islands Government, the General Administration of Spain, the Island Authorities and the Local Authorities.
• There is a wide technological offer.

Characterisation of business demand

• Limited systemisation of technological planning.
• Policies of technological assimilation based on the purchase of technology.
• A low level of participation with other companies or Public Research Organisations.
• Difficulties for funding innovation.
• Demand for training in advanced management.

Characterisation of the technological offer

• Qualified human resources.
• An ample infrastructure for the development of technological activities.
• Limited culture of use of industrial property.
• Limited use of marketing activities.

REGIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES/AND GOALS IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE/INNOVATION POLICY

This chapter presents the strategic objectives for the three plans that are set up in the Promotion and Development of Scientific Research and Innovation Act. These plans are:

• The Canary Islands Plan for Research, Development and Innovation.
• The Canary Islands Plan for Scientific and Technical Co-operation with International Networks.
• The Canary Islands Plan for Training of Research Staff.

In order to maximise the synergies between the different activities planned in these three instruments, these three instruments have been pulled together into a single "Integrated Canary Islands Plan for R+D+I (PIC)". As a result, it is intended to put emphasis on the coherent and integrated focus of the policy of R+D+I to be carried out by the Canary Islands Government, which is expressed in the PIC as an instrument at the service of the general objectives of the Act.

• Volumen I del borrador del Plan Integrado Canario de I+D+I (PIC)
• Volumen II del borrador del Plan Integrado Canario de I+D+I (PIC)
• Presentación del Plan Integrado Canario de I+D (PIC)

On 28th November 28 2002, the Consejo Económico y Social de Canarias (CES), has approved the Dictamen 14/2002, sobre el Plan Integrado Canario de I+D+I, applied by the Canary Islands Government.

On 29th January 2003, it was Publisher in the regional oficial bulletin BOC the DECRETO 203/2002, of 20th December, in which the Comisión de Coordinación de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación y el Consejo Asesor de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación is regulated.

Through the following web link, you may enter into the Publich Technology Offer map from the Canary Islands mapa de la Oferta Tecnológica Pública de Canarias, where you can enter into the website of the representing research centres.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE CANARY ISLANDS INTEGRATED PLAN FOR R+D (PIC)

• To raise the level of competitiveness of Canarian companies and to strengthen their innovative character.
• To improve the level of quality of scientific and technological activity in the Canary Islands in relation with other regions of Spain and to improve their orientation towards social and economic problems and challenges for Canarian society.
• To mobilise the human resources of the Canarian System of Science and Technology.
• To increase the contribution of economic terms by the productive sector of the Canarian System of Science and Technology.
• TO improve the transfer, use and absorption of knowledge and results of R+D generated by the public system, by Canarian society in general and the productive sectors in particular, increasing the cooperation between the different agents.
• To strengthen the internalisation of the activities of R+D+I carried out in the Canary Islands.
• To deepen cooperation and coordination in the matter of R+D+I between the Regional Government, the Island Authorities and other local bodies.
• To increase interaction between policies of R+D+I and other sectorial policies.
• To raise the scientific and technological level of Canarian society.

INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY OF CANARIAN COMPANIES

Within Spain, the Canary Islands presented, in 2001, one of the greatest concentrations of researchers within the staff employed in activities of R+D, which reflects the situation of this region in which practically the only source of research activity are the two universities. Thus, as the percentage of researchers in the total of R+D staff is greater, the region is characterised by a greater presence of the university as a key sector in R+D activity, and it is likewise necessary to emphasise other institutes and centres of research located in the Canary Islands.

The majority of innovation costs paid out in the Canary Islands correspond to companies which do not carry out activities of R+D, making up 85% of the total, while at the national level the average figure is 35%. Within this field, it is the SMEs with between 20 and 50 workers who stand out for their innovation activity.

One point of interest is the high level of concentration of innovation costs on a limited number of activities and sectors such as energy, which is explained by the small size of the companies and by the type of products which in most cases do not require processes which are technology intensive.

Canarian companies generate only 1.1% of the national costs on innovation, which makes clear that the innovations carried out are more related to the purchase of technology and other intangible assets and that the industrial sector shows little diversification.
Sources: Canary Islands R+D+I Plan 2003 - 2006
COTEC Report 2003: Technology and Innovation in Spain

Key remarks/conclusions on the present implementation of Local/Regional measures/ regulation/directives aimed at fostering innovation and R&D

The encouragement of research and innovation is especially difficult in regions that are distant from the centres of innovation. Thus the public administration must promote a suitable environment which favours the development of the innovate process in companies and of scientific research which supports it. For this reason, over the last few years regional innovation programmes have been conducted, taking into consideration the lines set down by the European Union within the initiatives of regional strategies of innovation -RIS- and of the regional strategies and infrastructures of innovation and technology transfer -RITTS-. In this context, the Government worked out the Strategic Plan of Innovation in the Canaries -PEINCA-, which came to an end in 1999. On the other hand, the PDCAN - the plan for the Development of the Canary Islands 2000 - 2006 - is the framework for the identification of the key elements to design development strategies. The formal horizon, set in 2006, coincides with the period of effectiveness of the Regional Development Plan and the Community Support Framework. Within this last community structural interventions in the Objective One regions are contemplated. Thus the funds devoted to global subvention -FEDER- for the technological and industrial development of the Spanish Objective One regions and nationalities come from this.

In mid-2001, the Canary Islands Parliament approved the Act of Promotion and Development of Scientific Research and Innovation, which is an important advance in the regulation of research in this Region.

In March 2003, the Canary Islands Government approved the Canary Islands Integrated Plan of R+D+I and it is foreseeable that in the next legislature the Office of Science, Technology and Innovation will be started up and the Plan of R+D+I will be developed in all its content.

In this scenario, the data corresponding to 2000 for internal costs in the matter of research, development and innovation in the GDP are 0.85% of those for the whole of Spain and 0.49% in the Canary Islands. More recently, data from 2002 from the Office of Science and Technology, at that time attached to the Presidency of the Government of Spain, attributed a weight of research, development and innovation of 1% of GDP to Spain as a whole and in the Canaries of 0.51% of the GDP.

The existence of insufficiencies and problems in the system of R+D+I in the Canary Islands is undeniable, which give rise to a small specific weight of activities of research and development in comparison with other Spanish and European regions.

The lack of correspondence between the results obtained and the volume of human resources available, the absence of coordination and management of the programmes set up by the public authorities, the small effort in innovation of Canary Islands companies and the manifest maladjustment between the lines of research carried out and the real needs of the business sector make it difficult or impossible to transfer the results obtained.

The implementation of the following measures is necessary in this connection:

• Coordination and rationalisation of the system of science and technology in the Canary Islands (coordination of diverse organisations of the regional administration). It is important to study formulas for coordination of the National Plan of R+D and for participation in European programmes.
• Planning of basic and applied research in areas of interest for the islands, so that the social effort carried out in the investments devoted to knowledge and research leads to the solution of problems and the general improvement of life in the Canary Islands.
• Encouragement of scientific research in the Canary Islands, both as regards the strengthening of scientific competitiveness of Canarian teams and the training and help to new teams of researchers in the areas of interest to the Region.
• Encouragement of technological innovation and of the synergetic relationships between research centres and the productive sector, in such a way that technological development is given encouragement in Canarian companies and exchanges and the provision of services of research and advice by the academic scientific-technical communities to the productive sector are advanced.
• Development of the Economy on the Net for Regions of Knowledge for the purpose of generating the effective interrelationship between the agents of one particular activity of R+D+I

EDUCATION

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Expenditure

INVESTMENT INCENTIVES

The Canary Islands have historically enjoyed special economic and fiscal arrangements for the purpose of compensating for their remoteness and the problems associated with being an archipelago. Spain's membership of the European Union has led to modernisation of this special economic status, which is reflected in the new Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands (REF), which lays down exceptional conditions for the islands in order to foment trade and investment, since, although all European Union policies are applicable to The Islands, the geographical situation of The Islands enables them to benefit from a number of highly favourable exceptions and modulations in the application of European Law.

The Fiscal and Economic Regime (REF) contains a number of fiscal incentives in relation to the creation and conduct of business activity, which are contained in Spanish law and are authorised by the institutions of the European Union. Among these incentives, the most important is the Canary Islands Special Zone, within which a corporation tax rate of between 1% and 5% is payable, which makes this Autonomous Community not only an ideal holiday destination but also a highly attractive tax area for investment.

As a further component of the Fiscal and Economic Regime (REF), there are Free Port areas where goods can be stored, processed and distributed without application of duties and indirect taxes. Those companies established in the free port areas of the Canary Islands, can also take advantage of the full range of benefits offered by the Fiscal and Economic Regime (REF).

It must finally be mentioned that the Canary Islands are an integral part of the European Customs Area, even though VAT and other special taxes existing in the European Union are not applicable in The Islands. The Canary Island General Indirect Tax (IGIC), which substitutes the communitarian VAT, taxes final consumption and it present additional advantages like lesser type of taxation. Its general rate is 5%.

FINANCIAL SYSTEM

The sources of European financing of which the Canary Islands Autonomous Community is a recipient include the Structural and Cohesion Funds, the principal instruments of regional and cohesion policy of the EU.

The Canary Islands, classified as an Objective One region, enjoy privileged access to the Union's structural funds. The special characteristics of outlying regions such as the Canaries, have given rise to a specific and targeted European initiatives from which the Canary Islands now benefit.

All of these actions make clear the importance of European Union initiatives within the Regional Development Programme, making the Canary Islands the Autonomous Community which has received the most financial resources from the EU to reduce internal differences.

Most Spanish banks are represented in the Canary Islands as well as the most important overseas institutions. Some forty banking institutions operate a structure of approximately one thousand branches. The role of the Cajas de Ahorro (Savings Banks) is also worthy of mention. They are institutions which enjoy great respect among all sectors of the Canarian population, and have a significant market share of credits and deposits.

It should be mentioned that the Canary Islands are the Spanish region with the highest per capita rate of savings, which leads to greater liquidity and availability of capital for financial institutions when providing loans.

Owing to the significant growth of the Canarian economy, which has generated a high level of profits for business, there has been a change of mentality in the smaller investor, which has led him to search out alternatives for his savings in products with greater liquidity which also permit a fiscal saving to be made, or investment on the stock exchange, as a way of achieving greater returns although with some risk attached, bringing the Canary Islands ever more closely into line with the most highly developed countries.

GENERAL INDICATORS

Total area: 7,447 Km²
GDP: 26,010,406 million euros
GDP Growth (%): 4,14
Population: 1,781,366
Active population (%): 54.3
Unemployment rate (%): 13.1
Minimum wage(01/01/02): 442.20 euros/month
Average earnings: 1,242.33 euros/month
Exports: 2,092,145.63 million euros
Imports: 10,406,566.32 million euros

Principal exported products:
- Fuel
- Vegetables
- Live plants and flowers
- Various foodstuffs
- Fish, crustaceans and molluscs
- Tobacco and tobacco substitutes
- Paper and cardboard
- Processed cereals and cakes

Principal imported products:
- Fuel
- Vehicles
- Tobacco and tobacco substitutes
- Fish and crustaceans
- Meat and edible offal
- Machinery, equipment and electrical materials
- Milk and dairy products
- Paper and cardboard
- Salt, sulphur, soil and stone, plaster, lime and cement
- Soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and vinegar

INDUSTRY

Principal industrial activities:
- Food, drinks and tobacco
- Chemicals
- Non-metallic mineral products
- Metallic products
- Transport materials
- Rubber and plastic manufactures
- Machinery and equipment, optics and similar
- Wood and cork
- Electrical and electronic material
- Textiles and clothing

Priority Sectors:
- New Information Technologies
- Telecommunications
- Bio-medicine and Tele-medicine
- Renewable energy sources
- Agro-industry
- Pharmaceuticals
- Textile
- And in general those sectors in which transformation implies considerable added value.

Last updated: 20-07-2011