Extremadura Region Foresight Exercise

Extremadura Region Foresight Exercise

Luis Casas LuengoManaging Director

FUNDECYT

Third International Seville Conference onFuture-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA):

Impacts and implications for policy and decision-making

16th- 17th October 2008

Paper Extremadura Region Foresight Exercise

Extremadura Region

Location

Extremadura is a region situated in the South-West of Spain and on the border of Portugal. It is located in a strategic triangle, Madrid-Seville-Lisbon. Divided into 2 provincies, Cáceres and Badajoz.


Foresight Exercise

Reasons to Foresight

• New regional operational programme that has been the starting point of the exercise

• New regional research programme 2008

• Coordination of the Regional System of RD+I

• Fundecyt: central role due to its objectives

- First essay on multidisciplinary foresight at regional level- High participation of experts- A change on our vision of Extremadura Potential

Extremadura Foresight Exercise


Foresight Exercise

Participants:

. Presidency of the Region

. Regional Ministry on Agriculture

. Regional Ministry on Economy

. Directors of Research and Technology Centres . Relevant Enterprises of the Region. University of Extremadura. Representatives from Agricultural Cooperatives. Extremadura clusters and associations

TOTAL: 91


Foresight Exercise

Methodology:Designed into two expert panel meetings for each sector:• General Meeting to decide on the priority sectors• First meeting panels.

– Current situation of the region related to the given sector– Future visions considering strategic challenges.

• Second meeting panels.– Critical factors to reach visions previously identified– Actions and actors that should be involved


Foresight Exercise

Key sectors:

General Meeting to decide on the priority sectors (08/03/07)

Sectors selected:1. Information and Communication Technologies

(08/06/07 and 17/07/07)2. Energy (21/06/07 and 19/09/07)3. Food Farming Industry (10/05/07 and 07/06/07)4. Materials (20/06/07 and 18/09/07)

Biotechnology has been analysed as part of both the Food-Farming Industry and the Energy sectors

Environment has been discussed as an horizontal issue


Foresight Exercise

Axes of the Operational Programme:

• Knowledge Society (6%)

• Enterprises (18%)

• Environment (27 %)

• Transport and energy (28.5%)

• Sustainable Development (12%)


Key Sectors Results – Food Farming Industry

Actions- Encourage business cooperation

- Promote RTD projects

- Provide customised information and personalized training

- Market studies

- Orientate the marketing to promote the region attributes and skills.

Critical factors- Human resources

- Adaptation of RTD centres supply to companies’ needs

- Information, awareness and training

- Innovation culture

- Cooperation

- Financing

- Quality consumption.

Challenges- Low RTD investment rates and innovation culture

- Lack of networking and cooperation

- Financial needs

- Farmer inertia through other non agricultural activities

- Small and dispersed companies

Visions1. Adding value through technological innovation

on products and processes

2. Agriculture land restructuring through other uses

3. Market supply concentration to reach a critical mass

4. National Quality Guarantee to global markets and an Extremadura trade mark to the internal market.


Key Sectors Results – ICT

Actions- Foster and promote Extremadura capacities

- Creation of new financing instruments

- Value leading technologies

- Cooperation and association as decisive roles

- Training on marketing strategies

Critical factors- Technological and innovative capacity

- Financing and marketing

- Economic assessment of digital contents

- Technology unawareness

Challenges- Low specialization

- Small size and dispersed companies

- Lack of entrepreneurship culture

- Low cooperation and lack of association culture

- Unawareness of the technological transformation

- Absence of marketing business models

- Lack of identity and outside recognition

Visions1. Development of a local sector with a global

scope based on applications and services oriented to specific and social interest sectors

2. Reach a leading development on digital contents

3. Place Extremadura as a global reference node on ICT


Key Sectors Results – Materials

Actions- Identification of new products demand

- Design incorporation

- Hire scientifics and technicians

- Reinforce regional financing for process innovation

- Technology wath unit / market observatory

- Identify referent projects and companies

- Design a training plan

- Workshops about specific technologies

Critical factors- Products and processes innovation

- Knowledge of national and international markets

- Business cooperation and organization

- Human resources

- Access to technological information

- Business models

- Financing

Challenges- Low investment rates

- Difficult access to external markets

- Lack of innovation and productivity culture

- Lack of specialists with high qualification

- Unconsolidated market for recycled products

- Business risk to create a sector on Biomaterials

- Long time to introduce products in the market

- Last vision dependent on an entrepreneurial project

Visions1. Companies participation on the construction

market by means of new and improved products

2. Productivity improvement through technology implementation

3. Become a reference on recycled and environmental friendly products

4. Create a sector on Biomaterials development

5. Create a sector on Plastic materials production


Key Sectors Results – Energy

Actions- Give incentive to the local biomass demand and to

agroenergetic crops

- Promote forrest wastes colletion

- Create a biomass storage centre

- Inventory of the biomass and regional distribution

- Dissemination activities. Training plan.

- Technology transfer / technology watch services

- Assessment of the energy efficiency in projects

Critical factors- Security of supply guaranteed / Logistics

- Technological development

- Information about technological solutions

- Business model diversification

- Training

- Overall and sustainable planning

- Stable and sufficient incentives policy

Challenges- Insufficient raw materials and small size of farmings

- Unawareness / change resistance of farmers

- Lack of initial investment / need of financing

- Need of bringing the technology up to date

- High logistic costs

- Lack of human resources training

- Coordination between all agents for projects

- Absence of a strategic regional plan on energy

Visions1. Biomass as an option for rural development

2. General awareness of the information related to new renewable energies

3. Development of a local supply that sustainably integrates every link of the value chain

4. Development of a stable and coherent energy policy


Follow up

INNOVEEX

• The business organization to reach critical mass: CLUSTER

• Innovation model to implement in Extremadura: INNOVEEX

The CLUSTER is a business organization model that allows the implementation of an innovation system in order to increase Extremadura companies competitiveness

INNOVEEX is a regional cluster, a BUSINESS INNOVATION INTEGRATED MODEL IN EXTREMADURA


Follow up

INNOVEEXServices offered to clusters:• A Technological Centre to support the Research and Innovation needs

• Business incubators

• Support to internal organization and marketing


Follow up

Creation of new clusters6 existing ones: Ornamental Rocks, Building Materials, Metalmechanic, Wood and Furniture, Knowledge and Packaging.

2 new ones: Energy cluster (recently created) and Food-farming industry cluster (it will be created during this year)

Technology watch units and observatories• Technology Watch Unit - FUNDECYT

• Other specific units and observatories:– ICT Sector: Extremenian Observatory on ICT

– Food Farming Industry Sector: Technological Observatory on Fruit

– Materials Sector: Metalmechanic Technology Watch Unit

Scientific and Technological parkIt will be established in 2009 with two headquarters (Cáceres and Badajoz ) and it will integrate RTD companies with the aim of fostering collaboration between companies and researchers


Conclusions

Achievements

• Awareness of the foresight process and knowledge of its methodology have been enhanced

• Key sector areas and key technologies have been identified

• Strategic plans for the key sectors of the region have been built up

• The decision-making process for the development of investment priorities has been supported by strategic information from the Foresight Exercise

Thank you for your attention

Luis Casas LuengoManaging Director

FUNDECYT

Third International Seville Conference onFuture-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA):

Impacts and implications for policy and decision-making

Documents

Extremadura Region Foresight Exercise