The Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Community (REDIT), which encompasses the 11 technological centers that operate in this Autonomous Community, broke its record of client companies in 2023 with more than 15,500, for which they developed more than 2,600 R&D projects. Yo. These good results have made it the Spanish network that works with the most SMEs. Today, 61% of the clients that collaborate with the national network of technology centers do so with one of the REDIT institutes.
What has been the key to this success? One of them has been, without a doubt, the Valencian technology center model, based on public-private collaboration. As Gonzalo Belenguer, general director of REDIT, comments, “last year the centers received 160 million euros, of which 56 percent came from companies and the other 44 percent from public funds, mainly from the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE). ). With public financing we develop R&D lines and it makes it possible for us to have cutting-edge infrastructures, some unique in the world made up of more than 200 laboratories and 14 technological, market and trend observatories. The remaining 60% is direct transfer to companies.”
“For the 2,000 professionals in the technical-scientific field that make up REDIT, it is a pride to help these companies, which are based in the Valencian Community but also outside our borders, to be more competitive through R&D,” explained the director of REDIT.
“The centers have also played a structuring and connecting role for the companies in our territory and these specificities of our industry, far from being a handicap, are a reality that validates our model,” highlights the director of REDIT. “The common denominator of all our centers is proximity to the company, their vocation for service to meet the needs of the industrial sectors. As strategic allies of these, we understand their reality and help them increase their competitiveness, based on the I D i that we develop,” says Belenguer.
Without a doubt, REDIT centers are an important asset for the region. Proof of this is that the centers captured 144 million euros from national and European R&D programs, and helped the companies they work with raise another 117.2 million euros. “The induced investment due to this activity – explains Belenguer – was greater than 208 million euros. In total, the centers contributed to attracting more than 144.7 million euros from national and European programs that, otherwise, would have gone to other regions and countries.”
Another issue in which REDIT scores very well is its social impact. In recent years, the Network has carried out two studies with the aim of monetizing the social and environmental impact of IITTs and monitoring responsible innovation indicators (RRI). The results of this analysis have been very good: for every euro invested in the activities of the REDIT institutes in 2022, a social return of €14.48 was obtained. With a total investment of almost 241.5 million euros, a total current social impact value of 3,495 million has been achieved.
