The director of Espaitec, Juan Antonio Bertolín, has participated in the conference and in the III General Assembly of APTE

The XXII International Conference of the Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE), held this Thursday at the Alicante Science Park (PCA)), brought together representatives of Spanish science and technology parks, European experts in research, transfer and development, as well as regional development agencies with the aim of strengthening coordination between key agents in the technology transfer and innovation process. Thus, the director of Espaitec attended the conference, as well as the III APTE General Assembly held last Wednesday.

The conference began with a ceremony attended by the Vice-Rector for Transfer, Innovation and Scientific Dissemination of the University of Alicante, María Jesús Pastor; the Councillor for Employment and Development of Alicante City Hall, Maria del Carmen of Spain; and the president of APT, Felipe Romera. In this regard, they have highlighted the importance of science and technology parks as spaces for direct collaboration between the academic and business spheres, and as drivers of development and incubators of new companies, ideas and projects that add value to the regions.

Program XXII International APTE Conference

The program included two round tables. The first of them, moderated by Soledad Díaz, managing director of APT, has had the participation of: Alicia Shelley, Director of Operations and Partnership of the International Association of Technology Parks and Innovation Areas (IASP); José Izquierdo, advisor to the Business Development department of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO); Olga Francés, member of the OTRI of the University of Alicante; Juan Antonio Bertolin, director of Espaitec; Roberta Dall'Olio, director of the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA) and Pedro Navalón, general manager of Labaqua (PCA company).

In the second table, moderated by Marzia Mazzonetto, founder of Stickydotm, participated: Iphigenia Pottaki, Head of the Knowledge Valorisation and Intellectual Property Rights Unit, DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission; Mireia Manent, co-founder and senior project manager of WeDo; Esteban Pelayo, manager of the PCA; Elzbieta J. Ksiazek, Head of Consulting and Technology Transfer at the Poznan Science and Technology Park; Xiaoni Li, member of the Business Management Department of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, and Juan Carlos Trujillo, co-founder and scientific director of Lucentia Lab (PCA company).

Award for the best practice in science and technology parks in 2024

The conference ended with the presentation of the Best Practice Award for Science and Technology Parks 2024 that has ended up in the Cartuja Science and Technology Park for its initiative: 'Cartuja Smart Mobility Challenges'. Gabriela Garcia, Head of Business Cooperation and Knowledge Networks at PCT Cartuja, was in charge of collecting the award.

The second prizes were awarded to: Tecnoparc, Technological and Innovation Park for the initiative: 'Foodtech & Nutrition Hub', And Granada Health Technology Park by practice: 'Aibot Experience'. Josep Baiges, CEO of Tecnoparc, and María Ogáyar, coordinator of Knowledge Transfer projects at PTS Granada, have been in charge of receiving the recognitions.

Award for the most active parks in the Network of Technicians during 2023

On the other hand, the award for the Most active parks in the Network of Technicians during 2023 has been for the Center for Innovation in Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence (C3N-IA) of the UC3M Science Park – Leganés Tecnológico. Beatriz Iribarren, Head of the Skills and Knowledge Development Area, and Ascensión Sáenz, Head of the Business Creation and Acceleration Area, received the award.

7th Awards for the dissemination of Science and Technology Parks in the Spanish press 

Finally, the media recognized in the 7th Awards for the dissemination of Science and Technology Parks in the Spanish press have ended up in: Cinco Días, El Español – DISRUPTORES and the IDEAL newspaper. María del Mar Jiménez, section head at Cinco Días; Alberto Iglesias, director of DISRUPTORES, and Miguel Cárceles, director of the Almería Delegation, were in charge of collecting the awards.

After the awards ceremony, Felipe Romera and Rafael Escamilla, director of External Relations of IVACE+i, have passed the baton to Ángela Pumariega Menéndez, deputy mayor and councilor for Economy, Employment, Tourism and Innovation of the Gijón City Council in the name of Gijón Science and Technology Park, organizer of the XXIII International Conference of APTE in 2025.