Archive for category: Sin categoría

Following the presentation on 20 June of the cross-border projects “Early Warning Networks” and “Environmental Monitoring for Civil Protection”, the aim of which was to learn about and analyse the main applications offered by this satellite, such as the study of the physical properties of clouds, atmospheric monitoring, land monitoring, ocean monitoring, meteorological and biological changes, crop monitoring and the monitoring of natural disasters. A working group has been set up to work on the early detection of invasive species.

The group is made up of public entities dedicated to the control of invasive species, research groups from the University of Extremadura related to remote sensing, data analysis, technology centres specialised in the agro-industrial sector, various regional administrations, and private companies in the region of Extremadura.

With the support of Fundecyt-PCTEX, in the framework of Horizon Europe funding, the following topic has been identified: HORIZON-CL6-2024-BIODIV: Invasive alien species. The objective is to be able to work on the development of a cooperative proposal for the detection of invasive species in inland aquatic areas using Sentinel 1 imagery.

The European Commission will allocate EUR 6 million to adequately address the following expected results:

– The establishment of alien species accidentally introduced into the EU environment, minimising and, where possible, eliminating them.

– Establishment of early warning systems to inform stakeholders of the introduction of invasive alien species.

– Effectively prevent the introduction of invasive alien species and systematically manage those already established.

– Support and improve public awareness, literacy and engagement on the monitoring and management of invasive alien species.

According to the European Commission, the call for proposals is expected to open on 17/10/23 and close on 22/02/24.

Companies and entities linked to the Badajoz Hub of the Novexport project will be part of the proposal to be submitted in 2024.

A Colombian delegation composed of Leonardo Rodríguez Urrego, Research and Transfer Manager at EAN University (Bogotá); Juan Camilo López Bermúdez, Peace Project Advisor and Technical Director of the Secretariat of Nonviolence of different Development Support Agencies, Mayor’s Office of Medellín;  and Hugo Alberto Buitrago Montoya, Director of the Special Peace Unit at  the University of Antioquia in  Medellín, visit the Basque Country these days in a Reverse Trade Mission organized by GAIA with the support of the Basque Government (SPRI Group).

The objective of this visit is for Colombian agents to know and experience the model and experiences in the process of digital transformation towards the industrial and service sectors, administration and Basque universities, in terms of public-private collaboration models, in order to adapt and implement some of these practices in their country. Likewise, the opportunities for collaboration with Basque companies that support the digital transformation in public and private agents in Colombia are analyzed.

To this end, the programme of the visit has integrated an intense agenda on November 9t – 10th in which they had their first contact and meetings with heads of Mondragon University and University of Deusto.

During the second day of their visit, they met with Iñaki Suárez, head of the Digital Transformation area of SPRI and Javier Múgica, program manager of SPRI and, in the afternoon, at the headquarters of Lehendakaritza with the Director of Social Innovation, Asier Arambarri.   From there, traveled to the Basque Cibersecurity Centre in Miñano where they met with Raquel Ballesteros, responsible for Market Development and Governance.

This Reverse Trade Mission of Colombia visited the Basque Country as part of the close collaboration that the GAIA Cluster and the Basque Government have maintained for years with entities in Colombia.

The European project NOVExport was designed to support the growth and increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in western Europe.  The project has also sought to accompany its internationalization in the agricultural, environmental and maritime markets of Latin America, through the technological innovation of its products and services, using space technology, digital data and IoT (internet of things).

In the project, funded by the Interreg Sudoe Programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), seven partners from France, Spain and Portugal have worked together.

Less than 30% of European SMEs export their products and services and, for many of them, access to a new market, especially outside Europe, “becomes a long and complicated process”. This reality, together with the global expansion of data markets whose information represents a great opportunity as a business accelerator for SMEs, is at the origin of the NOVExport project that started in November 2019 and ended last September 2022.

As RESULTS of the project, which has been intended to support SMEs in southwestern Europe in their internationalization thanks to the technological maturation of their products and services, the following stand out:

• Creation and launching of 6 local hubs (Occitanie, Coimbra, Badajoz, Bilbao, Madrid and Basque Coast).  These are local networks of companies with a common interest in international markets. For its dynamization, more than 50 events with more than 500 attendees have been held with the participation of more than 150 SMEs. These hubs are the physical spaces in which all the activities of the NOVExport project have been developed. While each has its own mode of operation, adapted to local ecosystems and practices, they are all linked in the virtual resource platform (VRC), with a common database for the project accessible to all. In addition, these centers are spaces for exchange with local ecosystems: groups of partners, incubators, etc .

• Creation of a Virtual Resource Platform (https://crv.novexport-sudoe.eu/).  This virtual resource center (VRC) is an open web platform that centralizes all information, events, courses, market research, technological data and any information that may be of interest to SMEs in any area of their activity or sector. Constantly updated it currently has more than fifty registered companies and more than 500 resources (news of interest, commercial reports, country sheets, trainings …) .

• A methodology for identifying and maturing innovative products and services has been created.  Accessible in the VRC, this methodology is aimed at innovative SMEs that seek the technological maturation of their products and services thanks to the use of space and digital data, to support their internationalization. More than 40 SMEs have participated in the process. The created methodology helps, among other things: designing or updating new products or services; applying rapid prototyping strategies to refine and improve new products and services; or analysing the feasibility of a new product or innovation, as well as possible challenges.

• Creation of a methodology for international development of SMEs through coaching, technical training and B2B sessions. 3 target countries have been selected: Mexico, Brazil and Chile and more than 20 SMEs have been lent to support. Access to the methodology is also done through the VRC and its objective is to prepare SMEs to successfully face a B2B meeting with agents, organizations, administrations etc. of international markets that may be future customers.

As part of working package 4 from European projet NOVExport, exports acceleration, we set up a tailor-made program that included 3 main parts:

– B2B meeting preparation sessions

These sessions were held in order to acclimate companies to the business culture of each country.

– Technical sessions with decision makers

The purpose of these sessions was for each decision marker to present their current projects, their problems and their needs so that the companies could present their solution in response to them.

A session on each country took place, with a representation of 5 decision makers per country.

– B2B meetings with decision makers.

More than 20 French, Spanish and Portuguese companies participated in this program targeting Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

Many actors were present, such as: Véolia Mexico, ENGIE Brazil, the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture, the Municipalities of Sao Paulo, Pato Branco or Guadalupe, or even intermediaries such as ITESA in Chile…