Innovation in Spain
Source: Fundación Cotec, 2019
The Cotec Report has been published annually since 1996. It reflects the situation of the R&D sector in Spain. In 2019 the Cotec Report presents the innovation indicators in Spain with small advances compared to the data of 2018.
In Spain, the investment in R&D grows 6%
According to the data, this growth did not have as the main funder to public administrations; it was the private companies who boosted the progress on research spending by increasing their investment by 8.2%. This evidence, contrasting with the general perception of living in a context of global change. The advances have not been enough to recover the position prior to the crisis, a position that European Union countries have already achieved.
Evolution of investment in R&D respect to GDP in Spain and EU 28, 2009-2017
Source: Fundación Cotec, 2019
In the case of Spain, the Autonomous Communities have fallen by 6.25 percentage points between 2014 and 2016, which have placed the Autonomous Communities at a historically low level of execution.
Promotion and funding of Social Innovation in Europe
The Report dedicates an entire chapter to the progress in promoting and funding Social Innovation in Europe. In this regard, it highlights the role played by the European Commission in recognizing Social Innovation as an opportunity to respond innovatively to the social challenges that Europe faces in this 21st century. Thus, the report reviews the main achievements and trends of a decade of Social Innovation in Europe (2008-2018).
As a result of this analysis, it is evident that during the 2008-2018 decade a European ecosystem of Social Innovation was created, taking into account the number of countries, projects, platforms, networks, and stakeholders involved.
The maximum impetus to Social Innovation through the funding of projects has been given within the framework of the H2020 Program, this has increased the number of projects developed. The topics of the projects have been progressively incorporating a wide variety of fields in order to disseminate the concept of Social Innovation, shaping it as a polysemic and polyvalent concept, applicable in different contexts of social reality.
At the same time, the report highlights the idea that Social Innovation will be identified as a set of valuable instruments designed for cooperation between social groups with the aim of solving the problems and demands of our society.
For further information, visit: Fundación Cotec