• The scientific paper, in which the Ministry of Agriculture of the Andalusian Government has collaborated, explains how to use Digital Innovation Hubs to promote the bioeconomy based on ICT-BIOCHAIN project experiences.

• The publication has a Q1 rating, that is, the article is among the 25% most influential on its subject

CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia) has led a scientific paper in the high-impact publication Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity (JOItmC). The article explains the lessons learned during the design, creation and implementation of a Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) as an open innovation tool for the development of the regional bioeconomy.

The JOItmC publication has a Q1 rating, which means that they are among the 25% most influential publications on their subject. It is an international, scientific, peer-reviewed and open access journal on open innovation, business models, entrepreneurship, complexity, and evolutionary change in the economy, published quarterly online by MDPI.

Andalusia and Southern Ireland pilot experiences

The CTA's Business Development consultant Marta Macías has coordinated the preparation of this paper, in which the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Andalusian Government, the Circular Bioeconomy Research Group (CIRCBIO), the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation, Sustainable Innovations, IBioIC, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and VTT have collaborated. All of them are the ICT-BIOCHAIN project partners.

The article explains how to use the Digital Innovation Hubs to promote the bioeconomy based on the experiences in Andalusia and the South of Ireland in the framework of the European ICT-BIOCHAIN project. This project has been funded by the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) under the European Horizon 2020 programme, to promote the digitization of biomass supply chains.

Strategic partner in Bioeconomy

At the beginning of the year, the European Commission (EC) included CTA as one of the key players (specifically, as one of the three prominent clusters in Spain) in the interactive online map of the European bioeconomy. This map was published on EC website, within an online radiography of the situation and main players in this sector to help design public policies in this area.

CTA has positioned itself as a benchmark entity with expertise in bioeconomy, supported by its participation in several projects funded by the EC in this area, its activity in the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking as a member of the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) and more than 14 years of promoting biotechnology in Andalusia..

CTA participates as a partner in European projects related to the bioeconomy such as BIOSWITCH, MPowerBIO, SuperBIO, EXCornsEED, ICT-BIOCHAIN ​​or UrBIOfuture, destined, among other topics, to accelerate value chains in this field, to develop new bioproducts, to digitize biomass supply chains and promote the adaptation of training in Europe to guide professional careers towards this growing sector.

In addition, CTA is a full member of the European BIC consortium, a Brussels-based entity that represents the private sector within the BBI JU, in charge of mobilizing this sector in collaboration with the EC. Belonging to this consortium allows CTA to contribute to the European strategic bioeconomy agenda.

  Read the article here