The Smart and Sustainable Factory programme is aimed at promoting R&D and innovation business initiatives of a strategic nature for the Galician industrial fabric, in line with European priorities in terms of digitalisation and ecological transition.

In order to make further progress in this transformation, the new call for proposals has a budget of 24 million euros, which is expected to mobilise up to 70 million euros. The grants are aimed at both SMEs and large companies, as well as research organisations and technology centres.

There are two participation modalities (individual or cooperative) and projects related to the following activities will be supported:

• Industrial research, aimed at acquiring knowledge and skills to develop new products, processes or services; or to enable significant improvement of existing ones.
• Experimental development, consisting of the acquisition, combination, configuration and use of existing knowledge and techniques for the development of new or improved products, processes or services, including digital ones, in any field, technology or sector.
• Organisational or process innovation, based on the implementation of a new organisational method at the enterprise or production level through new or innovative use of digital technologies or solutions.

The support will have an intensity of between 15% and 60% and the deadline for applications will be open from its publication in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) until 2 October.

So far, 24 projects have been supported in the first four calls of the Smart and Sustainable Factory programme, with a total of 62 beneficiaries (15 of them technology centres) and a mobilisation of 270 million euros.

Among the initiatives developed are, among others, efiFACTORY, a project promoted by the Galician Automotive Technology Centre (CTAG) and the vehicle component manufacturer BorgWarner Vigo; the work of Navantia in its drive towards the 4.0 shipyard; the initiative of Hijos de Rivera with Anfaco for the application of 4.0 tools to the production of fermented beverages; or the work of Finsa to develop the efficient manufacture of new high value-added boards.

Intelligent Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) Galicia

This initiative is one of the measures included in the Galicia Industrial Agenda 2025. It is also part of the challenges of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) Galicia 2021 - 2027, which defines the framework for research and innovation policies in the Community.

Specifically, it responds to challenge 2, which consists of developing a new industrial model based on competitiveness and knowledge, highlighting sustainability and digitalisation as the priorities to continue improving the transition of the main Galician productive sectors.