During the last 25 years the Basque Country, and especially the business sector, has multiplied by 20 its economic effort in R&D activities, standing at about 1.5% of the GDP (2006), well above the Spanish average (1.12%) and with the aim of reaching the European average. In the Spanish R&D system, the Basque Country has a share of about 8.1% of the expenses and 7.5% of the personnel is in Full-Time Equivalence (FTE). The figures are generally higher than the Spanish average and very close to the European Union - in some cases they even go beyond - mainly due to the relevance of the industrial sector and the feeling that exists towards technological innovation.

The Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network, known as Saretek, was founded in 1997, promoted by the Basque Government to combine the efforts of all public and private entities that try to promote the use of Science Technology and Innovation to improve business competitiveness and contribute to the economic and social development of the Basque Country. It is presently made up by more than 90 Entities, Technology and Sectorial Centres, Laboratories, Business Units, Universities, etc. which, working together, provide different enterprises and sectors with technological solutions and work in specific developments. Saretek’s members actively collaborate with the Basque and European business industry in the participation in European Technological Research and Development programmes. The activity of Eurobulegoa as a coordinating agenda of the Basque presence in European R&D, has signified a step forward, providing the capacity for detailed planning, monitoring and correcting progress, revitalizing European projects and technology agents and developing Europeanization programmes from the R&D programmes themselves. As a result of the constant improvement in this field, during the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission, the return obtained by Bassque organisations has been 41% higher than in the Fifth Framework Programme, reaching 131 millions euros by means of the participation of 462 approved projects.

The Government of the Basque Country has taken a decisive step towards transforming the Basque Country into an example of innovation in Europe; Innobasque, the Basque Innovation Agency, is a private association, with no profit making motive in mind, created to co-ordinate and promote innovation in the Basque Country in all fields, encouraging an enterprising spirit and creativity. It comprises Saretek, private companies, public Basque institutions, institutional representatives from Basque companies and workers, as well as organisations of all kinds related to innovation. Innobasque wishes to offer a powerful co-operation platform and network for all the above-mentioned agents through the development of activities that promote innovation-related values and attitudes in the Basque society, actions that spread about the image of an innovative Basque Country, of an advanced R+D centre, and contributes to generating innovation in Basque companies and organisations.

Finally, we must mention that ESS-Bilbao has confirmed its candidature as the headquarters for the European Spallation Neutron Source; this possible location of the ESS in Spain has been supported by the central and regional governments, as well as by the main scientific bodies. Furthermore, corporate groups and the largest companies in the country are being informed of the Spanish candidacy with a view to obtaining logistic and financial support to locate the ESS in Bilbao. The ESS – Bilbao candidacy to receive this great centre also includes, apart from the ESS as the main pillar of the project, a number of additional initiatives that, all together, comprise an ambitious project aimed at creating a centre of knowledge at an international level combining science, technology, companies, city, culture and information.[move up]

Technology Parks

The Basque Network has, nowadays, four Technology Parks that offer companies the most advanced services: a communication network involving voice, image and data, conference and videoconference rooms, auditoriums, etc. Their goal is to facilitate, promote and stimulate business initiative and investment. Therefore, the infrastructures that have been generated make possible the implementation of high technology companies, research centres and advanced services, together with highly innovative content that encourage the transfer of technology and knowledge between the University, Technology Centres and the Companies. This participation represents 20% of the state´s total.[move up]

Bizkaia Technology Park

The Technology Park of Bizkaia, founded in 1985 and the first in the Spanish State, was created with the aim of offering the highest quality and the best services for the companies committed to technological innovation. It is strategically located 10 km from Bilbao, the industrial and financial city, 3 km from the International Airport of Loiu, 15 km from the port and 6 km from the main campus of the Basque Country´s University, in an area of a high natural and environmental attraction, occupying a surface area of over 200 hectares and 50,000 square metres of rent premises, making growth and development possible for the companies renting out premises to their consolidation in land where they can set up their own buildings there is the possibility to buy a site. The Technology Park has an outstanding R&D structure to support the business innovation, embodied in the Technology Centres located in the Park: Gaiker, Labein, the European Software Institute, Azti, Robotiker and the Aeronautical Technologies Centre. Furthermore, the CIC Biogune, the Cooperative Research Centre in Biosciences and the multidisciplinary research groups of the University of the Basque Country are involved with the Park's science sector. The Technology Park has a high-quality communications infrastructure:.all the buildings are connected to the fibre optic network with GIGABIT ETHERNET electronics, and it additionally offers all kinds of support services to business activity. [move up]

Alava Technology Park

The Miñano Technology Park is located in the heart of a big logistic node in the South of Europe, with an excellent access to various European motorway and railway networks, only 7 km away from the airport. It constitutes an area of 117 high-quality environmental hectares located to 5 km from the University campus and Vitoria, the capital of the Basque Country. It has an important technological offer, such as the Aeronautics Technology Centre, Ikerlan Energy, Enerlan Foundation and LEIA Foundation, as well as the Basque Weather Agency, Euskalmet. The park is an excellent support for the creation of new technology companies offering high-quality shared services, such as their telematic equipment, which enables the interconnection of the companies through the fibre optic network with GIGABIT ETHERNET electronics, and it additionally offers all kinds of support services to business activity.[move up]

San Sebastián Technology Park

The Miramón Technology Park is located in a beautiful natural area in the park of the same name, yet only 5 minutes away from the centre of San Sebastián and 10 minutes from the French border. The park has excellent aerial, maritime, railway and road communications, since it is located in the central node of the Atlantic axis and in the western part of the Pyrenees. The park hosts outstanding research centres, such as the Aranzadi Study Centre, the Fraunhofer- VICOMTech, Inasmet, Inbiomed, CEIT, CIDETEC, ITEA, Tecnolat, the University of Navarre, and the CIC Biogune Biomaterials Research Centre with its outstanding Molecular Imaging Unit, the tourism R+D, CIC Tourgune, and the agencies for science and technology research, CIC Microgune, CIC Nanogune and CIC Biomagune. The park develops top research projects at international level with such prestigious companies as MIT, European Space Agency, and actively participates in the creation of technology based enterprises. The park has advanced telematic equipment, which includes fibre optic network to the work place, with electronics that allow communication through ATM, Gigabit Ethernet via satellite and lEEE802.11b. [move up]

MondragónTechnology Park - Polo Garaia (Arrasate)

The Mondragon Technology Park, known as the Garaia Innovation Centre, became a reality in 2006 as a project in support of innovation activities. It is sponsored by the private initiative of the Mondragón Co-operative Corporation, the scientific knowledge of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, the investigation resources of the Ikerlan Technology Centre and the backing of a number of public institutions. Its aims at encouraging research and the development of projects, among other tasks, in the following fields and emerging sectors: energy, technology of materials, business and management, corporate organisation and administration, electronics, microelectronics and nanotechnology, ICTs and surface finish machines and processes.[move up]

Telecommunications

The Basque Country offers at present New Generation Lines which fluctuate between 200 bits/second, 64Kbits/second and 34 Mbits/second, suitable for the transfer of data through the Internet, Intranet, fax, etc. There is a wide range of telecommunications operator companies. This reality involves the existence of a good level of competence with reference to the access to the Internet and the services related to cable telecommunications, e.g. the integrated services. The Basque Country, apart from the conventional telephone infrastructure, has fibre optic networks, offers Flat Rate services, and technologies such as RDSI and ADSL are completely integrated in the communication system of the Basque Country. An initiative of the Basque Government called Konekta Zaitez (get connected), managed by SPRI, has contributed to the fact that the Basque Country is the fourth in homes with connection to the Internet (45.8%).
The Network of Technology Parks in the Basque Country is a member of the I2BASK Network, whose objective is to organise the R+D community, providing telecommunications infrastructures and ICT services to the agents of the Basque Science and Technology Network. This Network includes Universities, Scientific and Technological Centres, Hospitals and Biomedicine Research Centres as well as R+D institutions. Therefore, the I2BASK network provides the above-mentioned agents with the sufficient capacity to undertake advanced projects in fields such as multimedia communications, virtual reality, improved communications, intensive calculations and other similar issues.
I2BASK provides a first level of broadband connectivity in the Basque Country; a second state level is provided by the IRIS2 Network link and a European level is achieved via the GEANT Network through the IRIS2 Network. [move up]