The regional government of Andalusia is investing 27 million euros for the implementation of smart cities in the southern Spanish region. The announcement was made by Andalusia’s minister for Research and Innovation, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos.

Gómez Villamandos stated that funding will go to two separate programmes. One of them is the CITI funding which will benefit some 311 Andalusian municipalities and 1.3 million inhabitants. The regional government is investing 7.1 million euros through the Andalusia FEDER Program 2021-2027. Local corporations are topping up this investment with a further 2.15 million euros. The CITI programme will support all smart city elements including: mobility, well-being, governance, economy, environment and smart platforms. In the case of the province of Córdoba, the actions will reach 70 municipalities.

Three of six major procurements have been put out to tender and the plan is to be able to put the remaining three out to tender “before the end of the year”.

The second programme being funded is the eCitySevilla project. This is receiving 20 million euros and is for developments in ICT, mobility and energy efficiency in the Cartuja Science and Technology Park (PCT Cartuja), located in the Andalusian capital of Seville.

With this financing, which also comes from EU funds from the new community framework 2021-2027, twelve measures are covered aimed at transforming the enclave into an open, digital, decarbonised and energy self-sufficient ecosystem. This intervention is carried out through the Public Procurement of Innovation (CPI), a contracting system of the Administration that aims to satisfy a demand for advanced products and services not yet available on the market by encouraging the response of private activity.

The first innovation cluster policy has been activated by the Andalusian government to be a catalyst for the regional economy. According to Gómez Villamandos, it constitutes an “essential piece” to strengthen the knowledge and competitiveness of the community.

For the minister, the clusters constitute “key actors of business growth”, capable of attracting talent, of promoting innovation and of promoting cooperation, since they offer SMEs the opportunity to collaborate and participate in the dynamism and sectorial strategies that they carry out. For this reason, he has put the emphasis on continuing to reinforce the support of the regional Administration to these agents in order to take full advantage of the potential that they have and give them the strategic relevance that they have in the region.

Gómez Villamandos said that ten million euros will be committed to promote the activity and development of projects from innovative business groups. The Ministry Research and Innovation is finalising the preparation for this funding as well as other business innovation subsidies.