Galicia goes high-tech
The region of Galicia in northwest Spain, traditionally known for its fishing and manufacturing industries, is making large investments in its ICT sector. The Galician Research and Development Center in Advanced Telecommunications (Gradiant) is a key stakeholder in this respect, striving to balance business demands with university research and development (R & D) capabilities. Against this backdrop, the EU-funded project 'Lifting up the research potential of the Galician telecomms center' (LIFTGATE) is unlocking Gradiant's research and innovation potential in key ICT sectors. These are multimedia security and satellite communications, as well as information processing systems such as cloud computing and big data analytics. To achieve its aims, the project team is strengthening human resources at the centre, which now boasts over 70 researchers, through staff exchanges and by hiring more competent researchers. Beyond supporting the recruitment of top researchers, the project team is positioning and promoting Gradiant as a research facility of excellence and a promising business partner for companies seeking cutting-edge research capabilities. The facility is also benefiting from a number of conferences, workshops, seminars and training activities that promote technology transfer, intellectual property rights and the latest ICT technologies across Gradiant’s research and industrial ecosystems. This endeavour is being supported as well by the procurement of new research equipment for all key topics targeted by the project. Overall, LIFTGATE is enabling Gradiant to produce quality research, both from a technical and managerial perspective, setting the stage for participation in different European collaborative research projects, in which Gradiant is being able to involve regional companies. This will help integrate Galicia more effectively in the European Research Area (ERA) and contribute to diversifying its economy. Lastly, R & D in the region and in the field of ICT is expected to flourish, especially within the private sector, thanks to the boosted technology transfer capabilities that LIFTGATE has made possible.