The Institute for Business Competitiveness of the Junta de Castilla y León (ICE) and the AIR Institute have held an information day on the European R&D programs Cluster 4 of Horizon Europe, “Digital, Industry and Space Cluster”.

The event took place last Wednesday at the facilities of the Junta in Salamanca. About fifty businessmen from Salamanca attended the event to learn about the opportunities offered by this call and how to apply for the € 940M with which digitalization and innovation projects will be funded throughout this and next year.

The event was opened by the delegate of the Junta de Castilla y León in Salamanca, Eloy Ruiz, who was accompanied by the territorial director of ICE, José Francisco Diego, and the president of AIR Institute, Juan Manuel Corchado. Afterwards, the national contact points of this call and members of the CDTI, Fernando Martín, Andrea Pérez-Calvo and Carlos Toledo, explained the different funding models, what projects and technologies are eligible and how to apply for them.

Finally, Javier Llorente, from the company Reciclados Sostenibles, described his experience in a Cluster 4 project; Isabel Peláez, from ICE’s European Projects Unit, spoke about the support provided by this entity, and Corchado concluded the day with a presentation of the Centr@tec program.

The attendees were also able to hold bilateral meetings with the national contact points from Cluster 4 to present their specific case and review possible proposals.

Organization and upcoming events

This conference was organized within the framework of the Centr@tec program, an initiative promoted by the ICE and the regional technology centers to promote innovation, digitalization and internationalization of the region’s business network. Over the course of its third year, a series of training sessions and technological demonstrators are being organized in all the provinces of Castilla y León with the aim of increasing the presence of local corporations in national and international innovation programs.

For its part, the AIR Institute, as a technology center focused on the development of solutions based on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the Internet of Things, will organize over the coming months from Centr@tec a series of conferences in the provinces of Salamanca, Avila and Zamora in which the application and usefulness of these technologies for different productive sectors will be addressed.