Empowering PSOs Through Innovation: The Success of DIGIS3 & CIFP Simón de Colonia

The center was tasked with disseminating the outcomes of an advanced innovation project focused on robotics and intelligent industrial maintenance. This project had significant potential to benefit the local industrial digitalization ecosystem.

To achieve this dissemination effectively, the center needed a robust platform to share its findings and ensure the results were impactful. Additionally, there was a strong imperative to extend the reach of these findings beyond the local level to national and European audiences.

However, as a public educational institution, the center faced limitations in both capacity and resources to execute this dissemination effectively. It required specialized technical support to identify and connect with potential partners for future innovation initiatives and to navigate the complexities of securing European funding sources.

To address the center’s needs, EDIH DIGIS3, through its member DIHBU, proposed a comprehensive support service within the catalogue of “ecosystem services.” This service was designed to effectively facilitate the dissemination of the project’s technological innovations.

Key Components of the Solution:

1. Co-Organization of a Public Event: DIHBU collaborated with the center to organize a high-profile public event dedicated to showcasing the project results. This event provided a platform where teachers and students presented their automation prototypes to an audience of influential industrial and advanced engineering companies from the local and regional ecosystem. The event was tailored to attract a substantial number of key stakeholders, fostering significant opportunities for synergy and collaboration within the industrial digitalization community.

2. Facilitation of Networking and Synergy Creation: By bringing together key players from the industrial sector and showcasing the innovative work of the center, the event aimed to create a fertile ground for building relationships, sparking new collaborations, and integrating the center’s innovations into broader industrial applications.

3. Access to Future Funding Opportunities: To support the center’s need for ongoing innovation and expansion, DIHBU integrated the center into its “dissemination of opportunities” service. This included providing continuous updates on available European funding lines and opportunities. This service was crucial in helping the center identify and secure potential funding for future projects, ensuring sustainability and growth in their innovation efforts.

Through these strategic actions, EDIH DIGIS3 and DIHBU empowered the center to not only disseminate their project outcomes effectively but also to establish a foundation for future innovation and collaboration on both a national and European scale.

The event, organized with the collaboration of DIHBU (supported by DIGIS3) and the City Council of Burgos, featured an engaging business roundtable on the need for 4.0 talent in the industry. The discussion focused on strategies to train and attract young talent to industrial digitalization environments in the region.

Prominent industries with factories in Burgos, such as Benteler, L'Oreal, Grupo Nicolás Correa, and Adisseo, participated in the event, along with key IT talent management companies like Eurofirms.

Roundtable Participants:

• Moderator: Belén Lanuza, Director of DIHBU

• Panelists:

  • Emilio Adrián, Head of Maintenance and Energy, Benteler South Europe

  • Carlos Estébanez, Head of 4.0, Benteler

  • José Carlos Martínez, General Director, GNC Electrónica (Grupo Nicolás Correa)

  • José Manuel Zarain, HR Director, L’Oreal

  • Mariluz Fernández, Regional Director, ETT Eurofirms

The project results were impressively presented by two senior students from the Automation and Robotics program at CIFP Simón de Colonia. They demonstrated the advancements they had achieved through live demonstrations of robotic elements created as part of the project.

Manuel Luque, Deputy Head of Studies at CIFP Simón de Colonia, expressed his satisfaction with this initiative, which was carried out in coordination with other vocational training centers (Salesianos Urnieta, País Vasco; CIFP A Farixa, Galicia; IES Galileo, Valladolid) and technology providers (SMC).

Angélica Medina, IT Manager at Adisseo España, spoke on behalf of Gerardo Juez, Plant Director at Adisseo and Vice President of DIHBU. She highlighted the hub's role in the project, its track record, and the main opportunities it provides as a member of the Digital Innovation Hub DIGIS3.

The event concluded with remarks from the Deputy Mayor of Burgos and President of Promueve Burgos, Vicente Marañón. He emphasized the need to attract and retain 4.0 talent in the city and the local government's commitment to linking young talent with local industry. He praised the project as an exemplary and useful initiative, congratulating the students and teachers involved in the automation and robotics program.