Antonio Sanz Announces a Grant to Fundación Innova-IRV to Promote Innovation, Attract Investments, and Generate Employment
Antonio Sanz, the Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue, and Administrative Simplification, announced after a meeting with the President of Fundación Innova-IRV, Ezequiel Navarro, that the Andalusian Government will approve the Andalusian Microelectronics Strategy, for which a grant of €150,000 has been allocated to the Fundación Instituto Ricardo Valle de Innovación (Innova-IRV). Sanz confirmed that “the strategy will be ready in four months, definitely before summer.” This grant is part of a public-private collaboration aimed at creating technological hubs, business clusters, and strengthening major Andalusian groups.
The Microelectronics Strategy will define Andalusia’s roadmap to become a leading hub for microelectronics and semiconductors in Spain and Europe. This initiative benefits from the expert knowledge of the Foundation and its relationships with companies and institutions, according to Antonio Sanz, who also highlighted that “Innova-IRV is a key player in promoting research and development in microelectronics and collaborating with universities and international centers.”
The microelectronics sector is of paramount importance today for sustainability, advanced technology, and reducing global dependencies, in addition to creating economic opportunities in areas such as health, telecommunications, and automotive, the minister pointed out.
Antonio Sanz emphasized that “this strategy will also promote collaborative innovation, attracting technological investments, and generating qualified employment. It will be crucial to create, develop, attract, and retain digital talent, promote employability, offer training, and support the development of an ecosystem around this technology while strengthening the existing industry.”
As part of the strategy, a roadmap has been developed with key collaborations for the academic and innovation ecosystem, alongside specific projects in the microelectronics field. The goal is to bring together all the companies currently working on the development of microelectronic components to boost the growth of this sector in the region.
The President of the Andalusian Government, Juanma Moreno, signed an agreement on Friday for the land transfer needed to build the new center for the Leuven-based Microelectronics Center (IMEC), which has chosen Málaga for its second major European facility. The Andalusian Government has been collaborating on the development of the Andalusian cyber shield with Innova-IRV, the University of Málaga, and the ADA, under the leadership of the National Cryptologic Center.
Ezequiel Navarro, President of Fundación Innova-IRV, emphasized the importance of public-private collaboration for advancing innovation, particularly in Andalusia. He stated, “This meeting has been an opportunity to highlight the joint work and projects we’ve been developing with entities like the Digital Agency of Andalusia, which will allow us to significantly advance in developing a regional microelectronics strategy that attracts investments and promotes talent development and new companies in the semiconductor field.” He added, “At the Foundation, we reiterate our commitment to contributing with ideas, resources, and experience to designing and implementing strategic lines that accelerate technological development in Andalusia. I am confident that together, we can make a significant difference.”
Advancements in Quantum Computing in 2025
Minister Antonio Sanz also announced the launch of a new line of collaboration focused on implementing quantum computing, creating an innovation environment that facilitates its knowledge, development, and application to the economic and social fabric. This initiative will include identifying challenges, enabling businesses and institutions to access these technologies for experimental testing, and fostering collaboration among them.
Quantum computing has the potential to significantly enhance the capacity and performance of artificial intelligence. “That’s why the Andalusian Government is driving an active quantum ecosystem to bring together efforts from the scientific and university community, technological centers, businesses, and the public administration,” explained Sanz.
He also announced that “by the first quarter of 2025, we plan to launch services to implement an innovation system for exponential technologies and remote access to quantum computers, thanks to the contract awarded in September, which is currently in the final stages.”
This contract will establish and consolidate a technological innovation center, promoting knowledge dissemination and transfer, developing tests, collaborating with other innovation centers in emerging technologies (including quantum), and implementing a governance system for tracking results. Additionally, a quantum emulation software will be implemented on the Hércules supercomputer owned by the Andalusian Government, allowing the development and testing of algorithms, with remote access to universal quantum computers, essential for designing and coding algorithms applicable in various fields. This aligns with the Andalusian Cybersecurity Strategy 2022-2025 and the Andalusian Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2030.
To boost the quantum ecosystem, the Andalusian Government will develop four strategic lines of action, including research and development of algorithms, creating and retaining talent to attract this new specialized sector, facilitating access to quantum computing capabilities as a catalyst, and promoting local economic development through an industrial network adapted to a global network, driving a new economy based on quantum computing.
