Orbital 40 is the Terrassa Science and Technology Park brand, inaugurated today, which aims to become a new knowledge hub that will attract talent to Catalonia thanks to the implication of benchmark partners like the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the Leitat technology center.
Located in northern Terrassa –a city with a long industrial tradition– with good road connections via the B-40 motorway, the Park’s main assets include the Audiovisual Park of Catalonia, which currently houses more than 20 companies; Leitat, which is about to open their new 10,000-square-meter headquarters; and the future Nexus III building driven by the UPC and the Barcelona Zona Franca Consortium, which will be a new university/business technology transfer center.
It is important to remember that the UPC has their second most important campus in Terrassa, which focuses on optometry and optics and has 37 research groups. In fact, it is this organization that is scheduled to define the new Park’s key roles in political science and research. Likewise, Leitat has two business divisions that are currently expanding, which are biomedicine and biotechnology.
The Terrassa Science and Technology Park is one of the 10 innovation hubs in Catalonia defined by the Government of Catalonia, aimed at creating innovation centers and strategies to attract companies. They share characteristics like cutting-edge infrastructure, a consolidated productive fabric, business incubation systems, network connections and a quality environment.
Minister of Science and Innovation, Cristina Garmendia; president of the Government of Catalonia, José Montilla; and mayor of Terrassa, Pere Navarro, presided over the event, which took place in studio 2 at the Audiovisual Park of Catalonia. Garmendia explained that initiatives like this “allow local administrations to participate in the country’s science and innovation fields.”
The Ministry of Science and Innovation earmarked 6.7 million euros for investment in Terrassa between 2008 and 2010, 4.8 million of which went to the Audiovisual Park of Catalonia; 1.8 million to Leitat; and the rest to strategic projects in nanoscience, nanotechnology, transport and aerospace.