Indra signs an agreement with the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona to collaborate with r&d&i

Today, 13 September, at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona's campus, the rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Ferran Sancho, the director of Innovation at Indra, José Luis Angoso, and the technological multinational's director of University Relations, Carlos Fernández, presented the framework collaboration agreement between both institutions for carrying out joint Research and Development activities.

Both institutions will promote signing specific agreements between Indra and various research groups within the UAB, as well as the execution of joint R&D&i projects along various lines of activity, including the aeronautical sector. Plans are also in place to promote academic relations for carrying out seminars and training sessions, exchanging experiences, and supporting the mobility of professors and UAB graduate students to receive training in research matters at Indra.

This agreement creates a stable cooperative framework and strengthens the multinational's relationship with the UAB, which has participated in a number of R&D&i projects, primarily in the aerospace field, since 2007. Indra is already a member of the UAB's Cluster for Technological Innovation in Aeronautical Management, which is one of the UAB Campus of International Excellence's main bids together with associations that include BAIE (Barcelona Aeronautics & Space Association) and leading industry companies.

The university as a source of innovation and talent

This initiative falls within Indra's commitment towards innovation, which is the basis for its business and the axis for its sustainability as a company. In its open innovation model, the company searches for and promotes innovation internally and also through its relations with customers, partners, vendors, universities and knowledge institutions, as well as with society in general.

For the IT multinational, universities are an essential source of knowledge that allows it to maintain this commitment with innovation. For this reason, Indra has established relationships with approximately 200 universities and research centres, primarily through chairs, agreements and R&D projects.

Indra in Catalonia

Indra has nearly 3,000 professionals in Catalonia, distributed in eight work centres in the provinces of Barcelona and Lleida. Its regional office is located in Barcelona's 22@ technological district, where it was one of the first companies to establish its presence.

It has a Software Lab at the Scientific and Technological Park in Lledia that, as part of Indra's Software Lab global network, supports the company's operations throughout the world. It also has a User Support Centre (CAU) in Lleida that provides 24x7 support for companies located in Spain as well as abroad.

Indra

Indra is the leading technology multinational in Spain and a leader in Europe and Latin America. It is the second European company in its sector in terms of R&D, with €550 million invested in the last three years. Its turnover in 2011 was €2.688 billion, and more than half of its income is currently from international markets. The company employs 40,000 professionals and has customers in 118 countries.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

The UAB is a multidisciplinary framework that combines teaching, research, technological platforms, technology transfer and business creation. It has more than 3,500 research professors and nearly 35,000 students. In leading international rankings, it is positioned amongst the top 200 universities in the world and the top 100 in Europe. It is renowned for the quality and innovative nature of its research, as well as the quality of its training in the areas of social sciences, humanities, experimental sciences, biosciences, health sciences, engineering and technology.

The UAB's Cluster for Technological Innovation in Aeronautical Management was established from the need to associate training and research with the development of the new European air traffic management system. In recent years, the UAB has positioned itself as a training reference in the field of Aeronautical Management. It has been selected to form part of the training plan for AENA's executives and middle management team, it is an associated member of SESAR JOINT UNDERTAKING, and it has participated in research and technology transfer projects with leading companies from the aeronautical sector.