Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, S.A.

Spain

Address:

Plaza de Sixto Machado, 3

Post Code:

38009

Town:

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Country:

Spain

Phone:

+34-922.568900

Fax:

+34-922.568901

Web page:

www.itccanarias.org

Email:

prompt@itccanarias.org

Description of the organisation

The Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias S.A. (ITC) is a publicly-owned company, created by the Canary Islands Government by means of Decree 130/1992 of 30th July, whose activities are within the fields of Research, Development and Innovation, all of which is at the service of Canary Islands companies. It is attached to the Regional Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies of the Canary Islands Government.

The mission of the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, approved by the Board of Directors is “to Lead Technological Innovation and Transfer in Strategic Sectors which Favour the Competitiveness and the Sustainable Development of the Canary Islands and of its geographical and cultural surroundings, being Excellent in its Management”.

The Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias has 200 employees, mostly highly-qualified graduates, and has over 180 projects in progress belonging to the different areas of which it is made up, composed of three fundamental divisions: Energy and Water Treatment Division, Business Innovation Management Division and Information Systems Division; in this way, it responds to the needs detected in diverse key sectors for the development of the Canary Islands such as, among others, the energy, business, training and new technologies sectors.

The Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias carries on its activities from its two main headquarters buildings, located on the two metropolitan islands. On Grand Canary, its facilities are at Pozo Izquierdo (Santa Lucía), where over 100 persons work. In Santa Cruz de Tenerife, it occupies the old Litografía Romero building, which was refurbished for this purpose in 1996. Over 80 persons work there.

Other significant installations apart from those already mentioned include the Centres of Innovation and Technological Updating (CIATEC) located in Tegueste (Tenerife) and Agüimes (Grand Canary), where all of the training activity requiring the presence of the trainee is carried out and the official Testing and Verification Laboratories of Industrial Goods and Products, located at Lomo Blanco-Las Torres (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) and Güimar (Tenerife).

Activities

The Division of Energy, Water and Bioengineering has as its purpose to develop, give incentives to and conduct those Research and Development activities and technical services which, directly or indirectly, are a support to the industrial development of the Canary Islands, putting special emphasis on applied research and R+D transfer to Canarian companies.

The activities of this division are in the fields of renewable energies, desalination and purification of water, and medical engineering.

Through its departments, this Division carries on its work with its own resources or through collaboration agreements with the two Canarian universities and centres of R + D of a regional or national nature. Its activity is centred on the creation of new products, overseas promotion and training of specialists in these areas.

The Information Systems Division has as its fundamental objective to transfer Communications and Information Technologies to Canarian society and in particular to its business fabric, developing and implanting new services of added value and advanced information systems, all of which it does with the support of the companies in the sector of new technologies.

Among the lines of activity, the conduct of projects in collaboration with companies, services for public administration and the Internet Data Centre stand out.

This division is structured into four departments: the Internet and Telecommunications, Software Engineering, Systems and Networks and Consultancy and Cooperative Projects, which have taken on all of the tasks that the Information and Integrated Telematic Support Services Centre had been undertaking.

The Division of Management and Business Innovation acts as a nexus of connection with the companies and business sectors of the Canary Islands, through the encouragement of collaboration and knowledge and technology transfer between the centres of R+D+I, technology centres, universities and companies in the Islands.

This division is structured into various departments which are responsible for a number of projects whose aim is to respond to the demands of Canarian companies and emerging sectors in the islands.