The Spanish Government has made official the candidacy of Sant Cugat to become the headquarter of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Three other cities have applied as well to host the headquarters of this new institution: Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary) and Wroclaw (Poland). The decision will be made during the European Council of June in Brussels.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology is supported by the European Commission. Its network structure will be focused on research, innovation and training in different important areas, such as global warming, media technologies and new energies. The Institute will cooperate with universities, research centers and enterprises.
The Spanish Government will hold an official presentation of the candidacy in Brussels the 14th of May.
The candidacy is based on the important economical, scientific and educational position that Sant Cugat has. This town of 77.000 people is at 15 minutes from Barcelona and is just of the main highway to the French border. In the last 25 years many international enterprises have chosen Sant Cugat for their headquarters in Spain. In 2005, Sant Cugat registered an economic growth of 5,6% of the GDP.
The candidacy of Sant Cugat has already the support of the Catalan universities and enterprises.
The candidacy of Sant Cugat has already the support of the Catalan universities and enterprises.
Catalonia has 15 scientific and technological areas, 20.000 researchers and 1.700 ICT enterprises.
The two most important business schools in Europe, ESADE and IESE, can also be found in the commercial area of Sant Cugat. This area of 3.500 national and international enterprises has also many different trade centers, venture labs and headquarters of multinationals such as Hewlett Packard, Sharp, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche Diagnostics, Pfizer and Accenture.
For further information, please consult the website: http://www.eitsantcugat.com.
