Foundation of the Autonomous Region of Valencia for the Urban Innovation and Knowledge Economy
In the framework of Urban Innovation, it should be underline that through the initiative RIMAV we pretend to promote the communication and cooperation among potential suppliers of goods and services for urban applicability (enterprises and technological centers) and the technicians of the City Hall of Valencia’s Departments (Services).
In the framework of the knowledge economy, one of the main activities is related to the local economic development through the creation and stimulation of networks to support the technology sectors in which Valencia has indisputable scientific and entrepreneurial capacities.
The first network created under this strategy is GECOBIO, the Network of cooperation for the promotion and transfer of technology and applied knowledge in the sector of health science and technologies in Valencia. In this network participate enterprises, universities, research centers, technological institutes, hospitals and public and private entities that support innovation. Based on the experience gained while developing this network, FIVEC is aiming now to extend this kind of initiative to other strategic sectors such as new energy, ICTs and logistics/transport in the Region of Valencia.
In addition to these activities, Fivec, in collaboration with the University of Valencia and the City Hall of Valencia, has launched the first Official Master Degree in “Creation and Management of Innovative and Technology-Based Companies” in the region of Valencia for training managers, businessmen and entrepreneurs so that they will be able to understand innovation and technology as the key factors that make the difference in the development of competitive strategies in the current context of global competition.
We present as follows a small summary of our main projects:
NATIONAL PROJECTS
RIMAV is the Network for Urban Innovation of the Valencia City Hall, which comprises the technicians of the different City Hall departments and the potential Valencian technology and services providers, i.e, companies, research centers and research groups from Valencian Universities. Its objective is to improve the technological knowledge transfer from the technology and services providers to the City Hall technicians through a Knowledge Management web-tool. This network has been recognised as a case of good practice at national and European level. Fivec is the promotor and coordinator of Rimav.
GECOBIO is a network of cooperation for the promotion of the health science sector in Valencia Region and the technology transfer among its stakeholders. In general terms, Gecobio is a cluster in the health science and technology sector that currently comprises over 120 members comprising companies, research centers, universities, hospitals and institutions supporting innovation. Its main objective is to boost the mentioned sector; to increase and improve the social welfare and the quality of life and to promote the scientific-entrepreneurial cooperation. Gecobio develop different activities to achieve these objectives: edition of a magazine and Tech-watch bulletins, provision of on-line services, organisation of thematic workshops, organisation of international entrepreneur missions, financial services, etc. Fivec is the promoter and coordinator of Gecobio.
In the case of these two projects, our goal is now to develop both activities at an international level.
SPLIRED is a Spanish network for alternative splicing that brings together different technological platforms which share information on alternative splicing research. The main objectives of the network are: to facilitate the access of scientific experts in the field of transcriptomics, maximising the efficiency of the available resources, to facilitate relevant information about cutting-edge studies and services to the industry. Fivec is member of the network.
Official Master Degree in “Creation and Management of Innovative and Technology-Based Companies:
FIVEC promotes and coordinates in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics of the University of Valencia the first edition of this official Master degree. Fivec is responsible of organising ten thematic seminars per year, as reference platforms for qualifying and empowering entrepreneurs and managers devoted to technology-based companies. This master intends to provide the necessary skills for a new boost in innovative and successful entrepreneur projects and leading advanced technology corporations towards excellence. This is the first master officially approved by the Regional Government on this field.
EUROPEAN PROJECTS
I2C: Innovation, Competiveness and Connection between Mediterranean Cities. It is a project, under the co-financing of the European Commission Programme INTERREG IIIB Medocc, which pursuits the implementation of concrete cooperation projects in order to enhance the potential of innovation and competitiveness on its territory. Its main objectives were to consolidate a framework for exchanges and best practices between the partners cities on urban issues; identify, select and discuss concrete international urban innovation projects in terms of innovation, competitiveness and connectivity; implement pilot projects within the framework; and maintain this platform of cooperation after the period of co-financing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION
Source: VCI and google website
The Valencian Community conforms an elongated territory which is located in central to south-eastern Spain in the east coast of the Iberian peninsula (north latitude 40 º and longitude 4º 12’ - 2 º 09'). It is bordered to the north by Cataluña, west by Aragón and Castilla-La-Mancha, to the south by Murcia and east by the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Statute of Autonomy, Valencia is recognized as a nationality. The official languages are Spanish and Valencian (as Catalan is known in this territory).
Its coastline oriented north-south has 451 km on the Mediterranean Sea and covers 23,255 km² of land.
Valencian Community’s population is five million inhabitants (about 11% of the Spanish population). Its density is twice higher than the Spanish average and above the average of the European Union.
The population is distributed among the three provinces that make part of the Valencian Community (identified by population density importance): Valencia, Alicante and Castellón, totaling 542 municipalities.
The capital is the city of Valencia, which has 805,304 inhabitants (January 1, 2006).
There are in Valencia 12 cities with a population above the 50,000 inhabitants: Valencia, Alicante, Elche, Castellón de la Plana, Alcoi, Torrent, Sagunt, Elda, Gandia, Benidorm, Orihuela and Torrevieja.
The demographic structure of this Community is balanced, both in terms of sex and age:
a) young population 50% of it has less than 34 years of age.
b) the life expectancy is 75 years for males and 81 for women
c) the mortality rate is lower than the European Union one, which is attributed to the existing standard of living, as well as the good weather and the so-called Mediterranean diet.
FILEDS OF COMPETENCE
Economics
Valencian Community is part of the so-called "Mediterranean Arc", an area with similar characteristics where it stands out GDP’s growth rates higher than the national average.
The natural resources of the Valencian territory are small with regard to minerals other than the important marble quarrying industry in the Alicante province.
Regarding the hydrological resources there is a demand of water superior to the supply. This situation is more serious in the Alicante province.
Due to the development of the secondary and tertiary sectors during the 1960s, the agricultural sector has seen its relative importance reduced over time, but it remains to be credited -under the form of citrus cultivation for the export market.
Castellón and Valencia provinces still have thousands of hectares of citrus producing groves and it continues to be a major source of income on the countryside. In the Alicante province, citrus is also present but agriculture is more diversified with a higher presence of vegetables.
Tourism is growing in this Community. Benidorm's represents the paradigm of mass seasonal tourism in Spain.
The weather allows tourism to be the main economic industry with a very high density of residential housing along the coast occupied by locals, people from inland Spain and from other EU countries (mostly from Britain, Germany, Belgium and Norway).
In addition to tourism, the Valencian economy is characterized by a marked exporting dimension, being the second exporting Spanish autonomous community. The major exports are agricultural products, ceramic tiles, marble products, cars among others, which make the port of Valencia one of the busiest in Spain.
The typical Valencian business is a small and medium company, mainly family-owned and operated, although there are some multinationals (see point 5 of this document).
Concerning the analysis of the Valencia's GDP see point 5 of this document.
Sources of Information: VCI, REDIT and City Hall’s Web pages
Education System and Human Resources Training
The educational system is compulsory and free for all persons between 5 and 16 years old and is mixed (public and private).
Regarding university education, there are 6 public universities in the Community:
University of Jaime I (Castellón)
Technical University of Valencia
University of Alicante (Alicante)
Miguel Hernández University (Elche)
In addition to these public universities there is the National University of Distance Education, UNED and two more private universities: the University Cardenal Herrera (CEU) and the Catholic University of Valencia - St. Vincent Martyr and several private centres associated to the different public universities.
Evolution of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), convergence and Economic Structure
Over the past decade, Valencian Community's economy has been showing a very dynamic history and its GDP reveals it.
In the period 1996-2002, the average growth of its GDP per capita were higher compared to the national one (18.9% and the national 17.0%) and it was demonstrated a slow convergence that exceeds the limit of 75% of the EU-15.
The analysis of the Valencian Community’s GDP by economic sector shows that its economic structure has gone from a traditionally agriculture activity to an industrial and service one, which is typical of a economically advanced society.
Mostly, Valencia is a city of services in which the final demand, the retail and wholesale trade and the specialist services to companies have great weight. Nevertheless, this city has an important industrial base formed by SME’s from different sectors: paper and graphic arts, wood and furniture, metal products and footwear and apparel.
Currently, Valencian Community has been taken as a reference in the economic field mainly because its recent economic development for which the vitality of some key institutions have been contributing a lot: the Feria Valencia, the Port of Valencia, the Stock Exchange, the Palace of Congresses or its universities.
En 2007, its GDP represented approximately 10% of national GDP and occupied the third place in industrial GDP between the autonomous communities of Spain.
Distribution of the GDP by Sectors. Year 2007 | |||
(% in Total) | |||
| Valencian Community | Spain | |
Agriculture | 2,01 | 2,60 | |
Industry | 14,67 | 13,50 | |
Energy | 1,76 | 2,64 | |
Construction | 11,61 | 10,97 | |
Services | 59,54 | 59,87 | |
Source: INE (EPA). | |||
In this year, services represented 59.54% of its GDP and its industrial sector revealed a higher importance (14.67%) compared to the whole of Spain (26.28% if we include too the construction sector); the agriculture sector reaches only 2.01% of the GDP, even though this sector is high competitive, it is characterised by a marked exporting dimension (specially the production of citrus).
The coastline concentrates 71% of the value added generated by Valencian’s enterprises, highlighting Valencia with 14.88% of the wealth generated, followed by L'Horta Nord ( 11.67%), La Plana Baixa (7.46%), La Plana Alta (6.61%), L'Alacanti (6.60%), L'Horta Sud (4.52%), El Baix Vinalopó (3.81%) and La Vega Baja (3.35%). It is in this area where it is concentrated almost 59% of the generated wealth of this region.
(Source: INE (2007). Data in thousands of €)
Industrial Sector
The industrial structure of the Valencian Community is structured in SMEs. According to the Directorate General of the SMEs, there are more than 299.460 companies in this region divided as follows:
| Services: 141.196 |
| 10,62 % of total national. |
| Trade: 89.467 |
| 11,22 % of total national. |
| Construction: 37.300 |
| 11,11 % of total national. |
| Industry: 31.497 |
| 12,70 % of total national. |
60% of the exports are concentrated in agricultural products, manufacturing proceeding from the stone, the cement and the ceramic and from the footwear industry.
Investment in R&D and Knowledge Society
According to the Lisbon strategy it is desirable that the level of R&D expenditure should represent 3% of the GDP.
According to the available data, the Valencian Community has, in the last decade, showed an improvement in the growth of R&D expenditures. However, this effort is not sufficiently enough to diminish the existing disadvantage in comparation to the national and EU average, since the structure of its R&D system is different from the national one.
At national level, the companies are running 55.7% of the R&D expenditure, while the ones runs only 38.2%. In this community, it is the higher education institutions that are responsible for the most part of this kind of expenditure (49.9%) compared to the national average (27.6%). Unfortunately, unlike from what had happened with the positive evolution of its GDP, the region of Valencia has not converged with the EU in this matter.
Regarding the level of investment in R&D, this region grew more 1% higher than the national average, making, thus, an important effort in this matter. The major part of this kind of expenditure reports to the following sectors:
- different non-metallic mineral products
- Machinery and Transport material
- real estate and services to companies
- Chemistry
Foreign companies in the Region of Valencia
During the period 1996-2001, there have been established more than 260 foreign companies in this Community dedicated to both the production and distribution of goods.
The multinationals established mainly belong to the following sectors:
- transports and automotive,
- chemical and petrochemical,
- electric material and electronic and metallurgy and metal products.
Aiming the growth of the Valencian Community’s industrial sector, in particular SMEs, it has been prepared specific programs for its technological development and information and communication systems. The main one is the Plan of scientific research, technological development and innovation of the Region of Valencia (PVIDI) that offers an integrated view of the Generalitat’s departments performance in this issue.
The future Science Parks Network has also been formed to attract and foster the creation of new productive sectors of medium-high technological intensity goods, which can accomplish higher growth rates and provide greater opportunities for investment and for technology transfer. This network that links the different universities of this region will complete the current network REDIT.
Some websites of Valencia’s science parks:
Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación, Valencia,
Burjassót Scientific Park – Paterna, Valencia
Mediterranean Scientific Park (Medpark), Alicante
http://www.ua.es/es/empresa/parque
Valencia Scientific Park, Paterna (Valencia),
The technological institutes also provide a broad range of support services to business competitiveness of the Valencian’s enterprises such as developing R&D projects, supporting internationalization of R&D, technology transfer that helps companies to identify technological partners in order to develop together business projects.
MOST IMPORTANT SERVICES
- Global Growth Network essential
- Personal business advisor
- Training services
- Etc.
We are not a services entity, but the companies can be beneficiated through our projects and initiatives:
- Training of high-level (Official Master Degree in “Creation and Management of Innovative and Technology-Based Companies”, Master EBT)
- Internationalization (international missions direct and reverse) organized in the framework of the Innovation Networks (Health, Energy, ...)
- National and international promoción and dissemination (sectoral catalogs and magazines)
- Disclosure of science (through newsletters)
- Organization of congresses, seminars, etc.. (national and international)
- Support to the search for funding for strategic partners
LINKS TO MOST IMPORTANT WEBSITES
Official website of your region (City Hall of Valencia)
Economic Development Organisation of the region
Chamber of Commerce of your region
http://www.camaravalencia.com/
Valencian Community Investments
Network of the Technological Institutes of the Autonomous Region of Valencia
Strategy and Development Centre of Valencia
Network of Valencian Universities for promotion of Research, Development and Innovation
Institut of the Small and Medium Companies of the Generalitat Valenciana
Valencia Institut for Finance
Fivec