On September 1, 2014, the Executive Steering Board of EIT ICT Labs has accepted four new Affiliate Partners from Spain: Telefónica I+D, Atos, Indra and the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), who join the IMDEA Software Institute as official members of the KIC. While these four new partners have been active within the Spanish Associate Partner Group (APG) of EIT ICT Labs since 2013, they are now taking a major step forward in increasing the level of their commitment to the KIC, and their participation in the KIC's collaborative activities.
The four new Affiliate Partners are leaders in the ICT research, education, innovation, and entrepreneurship arena in Spain and abroad.
Telefónica I+D (TID)
Telefónica I+D (TID) is a member of the Telefónica group, Spain's leading telecommunication service provider that operates in 24 countries. TID is the leading company in Spain by the number of patents, participates in a wide spectrum of European technology leadership initiatives, such as FI-WARE, and global standardization bodies, such as ITU, W3C, and IETF. Telefónica's Wayra is a leading global network of business incubators for ICT-based SMEs and start-ups in Europe, United States, and Latin America.
Atos
Atos is one of the largest European IT companies with international presence in 52 countries, and over 25 years of involvement in research, development and innovation. Atos delivers IT services through consulting and systems integration, managed operations, and transactional services through Worldline, the European leader and a global player in the payments services industry. Atos works with a wide spectrum of clients across different business sectors: manufacturing, retail and transportation, public and health, financial services, telecommunications, media, and utilities.
Indra
Indra is the leading consulting and technology multinational in Spain and Latin America. It provides solutions and services for the transport and traffic, energy and industry, public administration and health care, financial services, security and defence, and telecommunications and media sectors. Indra participates in a large number of research projects, and supports development of entrepreneurship and innovation through its initiative "Emprender es posible."
Technical University of Madrid (UPM)
UPM is the oldest and largest technical university in Spain, with a high profile in engineering, and especially in ICT and entrepreneurial education. The education offer in ICT and entrepreneurial education is comprehensive and deep including bachelor and master degrees as well as PhD programs in several schools, departments, and research centers. UPM's "ActúaUPM" entrepreneurship support program has created 161 new technology-based companies over the past 11 years, nearly two thirds of them in the ICT sector.
The incorporation of these four new Spanish Affiliate Members into EIT ICT Labs also marks a significant step forward in the development of the Spanish Associate Partner Group of the KIC, coordinated by the IMDEA Software Institute as the EIT ICT Labs Associate Partner in Spain. The Spanish APG was started in 2013, and has since extended significantly its involvement and participation in EIT ICT Labs activities.
