The main agents of the Galician innovation system met at the presentation of the Galicia Feder 2021-2027 programme and the new Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) Galicia for the same period, held on 28 March at the Cidade da Cultura. In the RIS3, the people are the protagonists. More than 800 representatives of 500 different agents, including companies, knowledge and technology centres and administrations, took part in its preparation.

The 2021-2027 period adds three new priorities to the great challenges of the previous one: sustainability, digitalisation and a focus on people's needs. New features include setting up missions to support between 4 and 6 major transformative projects, the development of the Galicia Brand at international level in R&D&I and the promotion of women's leadership in innovation.

While the total investment of the Feder for the new period amounts to 1,567 million euros, RIS3 will involve the implementation of an unprecedented effort in R&D&I aiming to generate nearly 5 billion euros between public and private funds. At the event, the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, stressed that the priorities of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the 2021-2027 period are to build a more competitive, greener, smarter, more connected and more social Galicia.

What is RIS3?

The RIS3 or Smart Specialisation Strategy is a broad plan aimed at improving competitiveness, economic growth and sustainable and quality employment through innovation in Galicia.

Smart specialisation consists of identifying our strengths, capabilities and opportunities, and working with them to find answers to the great challenges that lie ahead of us. RIS3 promotes an economic model based more on research and innovation, through coordinated action involving all the departments of the Xunta de Galicia, companies, knowledge centres and citizens.

This strategy focuses on three priority challenges for which Galicia can develop solutions at a global level:

• Challenge 1. To apply innovation to modernise Galicia's traditional sectors, promoting optimal use of our most unique natural, cultural and tourism resources, through new products and services.
• Challenge 2. To improve the competitiveness of the industries wielding the most weight in the Galician economy, moving towards the smart and sustainable factory and strengthening our capacities to promote new emerging sectors.
• Challenge 3. To make Galicia a point of reference in the application of innovation to active ageing and healthy living, including designing new functional foods and personalised drugs to improve quality of life, as well as innovative solutions to promote active ageing.

RIS3 Galicia 2021-2027, in addition to being an essential requirement for accessing European structural funds, is configured as a comprehensive strategy to articulate all R&D&I actions in Galicia. It also incorporates the European Union's major 21-27 objectives: a new industrial policy marked by sustainability, the European Green Pact and digital transformation.

Videos of the launch event

Take a look at the brochure

Download the Smart Specialisation Strategy Galicia RIS3 2021-2027