⋅ The regional minister visits ‘The Green Ray’ space, a collaboration project between the University of Málaga and Málaga TechPark that hosts 36 innovative companies that employ over 650 people
Carolina España, the regional minister for Economy, Finance and European Funds visited ‘The Green Ray’ building last Monday, located in the campus expansion area of the University of Málaga (UMA), which hosts 36 companies that employ over 650 workers.
This space, which is a result of the collaboration project between Málaga TechPark and the UMA, is conceived as a hub for entrepreneurship, technology and knowledge and home to the most innovative companies.
This project’s event was attended by the regional minister Carolina España, José Ángel Narváez, rector of the UMA; Felipe Romera, director of Málaga TechPark; and Carlos García, the representative of the regional delegation of Economy, Finance, European Funds.
“This space is the paradigm of how we understand the Technology Park, which must continue to be that space where companies and entrepreneurs can work efficiently and promote creativity, where effective relationships are built between the University and research centres, and where the transfer of knowledge is encouraged”, said the regional minister.
The aim of ‘The Green Ray’ is to “be a common space between companies and the university community. We are proud to say that it is a benchmark space in knowledge transfer, where companies and the university share talent,” claimed Carolina España.
It is structured around two basic ideas: on the one hand, entrepreneurs and companies can use the knowledge developed by the university. On the other hand, they have the necessary tools that the market and the competitive context they belong to need to carry out global entrepreneurship projects.
Carolina España, who recalled how important the collaboration between the Junta de Andalucía (regional government of Andalusia) and the University is for the development of the activities of this space, highlighted ‘The Green Ray’ building contribution to creating opportunities in the region.
The regional minister stated that “it is essential that we continue to contribute to creating an appropriate ecosystem in the region. This is what people are asking of public administrations and that is what the Junta de Andalucía is doing: working to create work spaces for entrepreneurs, to develop ideas and, more importantly, to implement these ideas in order to build wealth,” said she.
Present and future collaboration
‘The Green Ray’ is conceived as a great space for entrepreneurship, technology and knowledge whose aim is to host the most innovative companies of the sector. The project is based on the commitment of the Junta de Andalucía and the University of Málaga to innovation, not only in the productive processes of companies, but also in every aspect involved in the development of society with the aim of creating value.
The building, which is 6,500 square metres, is located in the expansion area of the campus in the Business and Science Park (PCEM in Spanish). The University of Málaga occupies a total of 2,150 square metres of the building, a space to promote entrepreneurship and innovation, including the incubation of spinoff projects, tech-based companies or common rooms for interaction, open innovation and meeting point between the university community and companies. This entails occupancy levels of 96% of the building due to the very changes of incubation spaces for entrepreneurs.
Due to the success of the collaboration project between the Technology Park and the University of Málaga itself, and in order to continue developing the strategy of consolidation and growth of the Business and Science Park, the development of two new infrastructures in this area has been planned to carry out projects with the University, as well as to provide new spaces for innovative companies and intensive R&D&I projects.
At the moment, these two basic projects are already in place and the implementation projects for the construction of the two buildings, which will be located on plots adjacent to ‘The Green Ray’ space, are in the process of completion. They will be 4,258.80 and 4,169.43 square metres, respectively, enabling spaces for technological development where the University’s research groups and companies will come together with the aim of strengthening knowledge transfer and increasing business innovation.