Last November, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) granted the Center for Innovation of Intelligent Infrastructures (CI3) a grant within the state program 'European Networks and Managers Technology Centers 2017' to strengthen its structure as European Projects Office. This financial aid is intended to provide public and private research bodies with the structure and knowledge necessary for the proper preparation and management of European projects, so that both research organizations and Spanish companies improve their chances of obtaining community financing of the Horizon 2020 program (H2020) during the final term of the same.
Since its creation, the CI3 Foundation has been very active with Ferrovial in the preparation of proposals and the subsequent participation in subsidized projects, participating throughout its history in different projects co-financed by Spanish and European programs such as: Interconnecta, Mire-3d, City-2020, Fotsis, Teds4bee, Outsmart, Prende, Dinatrans, Look 3d, Smartimpact, Dry4gas, TT (Transforming Transport), IoRL (Internet of Radio Light). These last two projects already belong to the H2020 Program.
Obtaining the present aid constitutes a boost to the activity of the CI3, which will allow it to achieve the following objectives:
- Strengthen the structure of the CI3 Foundation, consolidating its capacity and increasing the training of its resources for the adequate preparation and management of European projects.
- Allow greater presence and leadership of the CI3 Foundation in the H2020 projects.
- Support access to H2020 of companies and entities without previous experience.
- Increase the number and importance of the companies that rely on the CI3 Foundation to manage and develop their Projects co-financed by the European Commission.