The Government of Catalonia has given the green light for the National Pact for the Knowledge Society (PNSC), which has been a work in progress for the past year, in order to make innovation the core focal point of Catalonia’s economic strategy. The Covid-19 crisis has even further highlighted the importance of research and innovation in responding to emergencies.
The main stakeholders in the Catalan R&D system and social and business worlds have participated in the PNSC, including CataloniaBio & HealthTech representing start-ups and companies in the health and life sciences sector. The health and life sciences sector currently generates 7.2% of the Catalan GDP. Innovation is one of CataloniaBioHT’s strategic focal points.
In the first phase, through 2024, the PNSC aspires to increase R&D spending to 2.12% of the Catalan GDP, which is the current EU average.
The final document includes 84 actions. Some of the ones that will be tackled most urgently include fostering open science, promoting business R&D under RIS3CAT 2021-2027, promoting a programme to help create and grow knowledge-based companies, establishing a roadmap of the technology offering for each company, creating agile financial instruments based on new mixed formulas, and investing 3% of the Catalan budget in innovative public procurement.
A committee will be set up to monitor and assess the agreements reached.
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