At the suggestion of the Industrial Competitiveness Committee, the PEMB has designed a programme to promote the connection between the industrial business fabric of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and the basic research centres established within it. This initiative is intended to stimulate industrial innovation to encourage competitiveness, and may come at a good time in view of the general situation of economic recession and company offshoring.

The objectives of the programme are:

• To facilitate the appearance of rupturist innovations in the production and logistics processes, among others, of participant companies, which may improve their competitiveness.
• To establish links which create habits of collaboration between industry and basic research centres, for mutual benefit.

The programme, with a practically non-existent cost, is based on the voluntary involvement of a group of tractor companies of the MAB, which select the companies with most potential for innovation among their collaborating industries, inviting them to participate in the programme. Starting with a series of familiarisation meetings between hosting companies and research centres, participants are matched up, respecting company preferences and the possibilities of collaboration of the centres. This collaboration entails establishing a series of contacts between the company and the assigned researcher or researchers, to offer maximum knowledge about the company to the researchers, so they can identify possible innovations that may improve the company’s competitiveness, and draw up a report of possible proposals for management.

2013 saw completion of the pilot edition of the programme, and in 2014 it is expected to agree the transfer of its implementation to an interested party.

ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL DATA

• Participating tractor companies: 16
• Participating Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: 40
• Participating Research Institutes: 12
• Programme budget: can be considered 0, since the only costs in time and dedication are borne by the participants themselves