create more jobs, obtain greater profitability from operating agreements and improve cooperation
and improve cooperation for innovation.
The network of Spanish technology centers faces a new stage, with renewed challenges and aligned with the country's strategic objectives. This was made clear at the LXIII Ordinary General Assembly of FEDIT, the Federation of Technology Centers of Spain, where the organization presented its action plan for 2026, coinciding with a particularly symbolic date, its 30th anniversary. In these three decades, technology centers have established themselves as drivers of innovation in Spain.
Asturias has an example of that strength in CTIC Technology Center, a member of FEDIT and a national and European benchmark in advanced digital technologies. CTIC faces 2026 in one of the strongest scientific-technological, institutional and economic moments of its trajectory, with a reinforced European positioning, national leadership in technological excellence, new strategic infrastructures and a strong multisectorial impact on the regional business fabric
FEDIT groups the main technological centers of the country and acts as a common voice before the administrations, Europe and the productive fabric. Its action plan reinforces the idea that without knowledge transfer there is no real innovation, and without technology centers it is difficult for science to reach companies, especially SMEs. In a context marked by the digital transition, sustainability and European technological autonomy, the role of these entities is more strategic than ever.
Technology centers not only mobilize more private investment in R&D&I, but also generate employment, improve the profitability of operating agreements and strengthen cooperation for innovation. In fact, in the first three years of Horizon Europe (2021-2023) they have doubled the amount captured during the equivalent period of Horizon 2020 (2014-2016): one in eight euros of the Spanish return comes from technology centers. Since 2017, the growth of R&D&I spending in these entities has reached 65.3%, above that recorded by other agents of the Spanish Science and Technology System.
The balance of 2025 yields figures that endorse this evolution, while 2026 is shaping up as a decisive exercise in a context that requires strengthening technological autonomy, accelerating the transfer of knowledge to companies and maximizing the economic and social impact of R&D&I. These challenges were the focus of much of the debate at the FEDIT Assembly.
Consolidation of technology centers
One of the challenges for Fedit in 2006 will be to work to consolidate stable and competitive funding models that will enable technology centers to maintain their research capacity and expand their economic and social impact. Fedit will continue to provide data to improve access to public and private funding, as well as to promote participation in national and European collaborative R&D&I programs.
The aim is to ensure that technology centers continue to develop high added-value technologies and to strategically accompany companies in their innovation processes.
CTIC, national leadership and reinforced European positioning
The evolution of CTIC illustrates the impact that technology centers can have when they combine vision, talent and a close connection with the territory.
The Asturian center has established itself as a key player in attracting European funding for Asturias, with an outstanding presence in projects of the Horizon Europe program. At the national level, it is the Spanish technology center with the highest number of CERVERA Excellence awards, an endorsement of its scientific quality and its capacity for transfer to the market.
These results connect directly with the vision defended by FEDIT. Technology centers not only generate knowledge, but also transform it into real solutions for sectors such as industry, agri-food, services, health or public administration. They are strategic infrastructures at the service of economic development, capable of attracting investment, talent and high added value projects.
The 30th anniversary of FEDIT invites us to look back, but above all to underline the evidence that Spain has a network of technology centers that is mature, competitive and aligned with Europe. And territories like Asturias show that this network has a direct impact on the real economy. CTIC, with results that exceed the expected objectives and a growing recognition inside and outside the country, is an example of how innovation, when articulated from the local level and projected towards Europe, becomes a real lever for the future.