Bilbao As Fabrik is a project promoted and led by Bilbao City Council, through the Bilbao Ekintza Municipal Society, and co-funded by the European Commission through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), after being selected as a UIA (Urban Innovative Actions) project.
The aim of the project is to promote advanced services for Industry 4.0 and the digital economy based on the consolidation of the Isle of Zorrotzaurre as an innovative ecosystem.
Participants of the Bilbao As Fabrik project, alongside Bilbao City Council, are strategic partners including the Mondragón Corporation, the University of Mondragón, MIK, Orkestra, GAIA, IDOM and EIKEN. This serves to highlight the importance of public and private collaboration in the promotion of major initiatives which contribute to the sustainable economic, development of the city.
The project aims to improve the competitiveness of local businesses in the KIBS (Knowledge Intensive Business Services) sector, through a collaborative capacity building process. This allows a suitable response to be offered to the challenges associated with the digital transformation of the industrial sector, consolidating the Isle of Zorrotzaurre, where it is located, as an innovative ecosystem of reference in the area of advanced services for Industry 4.0 and the digital economy.
The epicentre of the project is the Beta 2 Building, which has been fitted out as a centre of reference for the project and a meeting point for the proposed activities.
The key areas of action in the project include:
- Training programmes directed at university students, entrepreneurs and professionals, designed to address the challenges of Industry 4.0 in the digital economy.
- Networking actions between the leading public and private stakeholders or interest groups to coordinate a single strategy, which is effective and efficient in addressing the current and future needs of the industrial sector.
- Proposals which boost and enhance the launch of start-ups based in Bilbao, related to technology, specialisation and intelligence which require Industry 4.0 to establish themselves internationally.
- The setting up of an observatory and laboratory of ideas, where trends in technological areas, Industry 4.0 and the digital economy will be analysed to identify the challenges faced by local companies and to propose innovative solutions to address these challenges.
