The solidity of the training and research of the Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia (CEICS), along with its orientation towards the leading economic and productive sectors in the region, has allowed it to consolidate a powerful network of organizations dedicated to the transfer of knowledge and technology to the business sector and society. This can be demonstrated by the numerous contracts related to technology transfer and the volume of employment achieved both by university transfer structures and other affiliated organizations of the CEICS.

This relationship with the socio-economic environment is founded on four science and technology parks and the establishment the four centres of technological innovation located at the parks, strictly linked to the most productive areas of the counties of southern Catalonia. These have become centres of very high strategic value in the economic development of the region.

The four science and technology parks are a response to R&D&I needs in specific fields of specialization. They are located near the university campuses, with which they have close ties. Areas are reserved for companies, which can set up business in an environment focusing on research into their own productive field. More than 150 hectares are currently in development which will eventually contain halls of residence for students and researchers, halls for congresses, conference rooms, sports facilities, spaces for companies, spin-offs: structures that facilitate links between knowledge generation, companies and society.

Strategic sector clusters

This group of stakeholders and institutions form a comprehensive network made up of all the different participants in the CEICS with structures covering training, research, innovation and industrial and commercial production.

The primary goal of collaboration between researchers and companies is to promote the establishment and growth of technology-based companies. This is an on-going relationship that allows for the designing of new projects that drive both the establishment of new productive processes and the manufacture of new products.