"Through Etorkizuna Eraikizand hand in hand with the society of Gipuzkoa, we have set as goal to build from the present the Gipuzkoa of the future. For this process, the contribution of the centers of knowledge of our territory is indispensable". This is how the deputy general, Markel Olano, explained on Monday, February 11, the relevance for Gipuzkoa of the renewal of the partnership agreement that the provincial institution has with Tecnun, the UPV/EHU, the University of Deusto and Mondragon Unibertsitatea , four of the universities based in our territory.

Etorkizuna Eraikiz is the main axis of a agreement thanks to which the academic centers will continue to develop research, analysis and knowledge dissemination linked to project. The universities signed the agreement during a meeting that took place at the Palacio Foral. In the meeting participated, on behalf of the Provincial Council, the general deputy, Markel Olano; the foral spokesman and deputy of Governance and Communication with Society, Imanol Lasa; the deputy of Economic Promotion, Rural Environment and Territorial Balance, Ainhoa Aizpuru; and the director of Management Strategy, Sebas Zurutuza. 

Tecnun director Deputy Director The University of Deusto was represented by its President Jose Mª Guibert and the Vice President Jose Antonio Rodriguez Ranz; from Mondragon Unibertsitatea, the President Vicente Atxa and the Vice President Jon Altuna participated in the meeting ; and finally, the rector Nekane Balluerka and the Vice President Agustin Erkizia from the UPV/EHU attended the event. The agreement will be valid for two years and the Provincial Council will allocate a total of 1.2 million euros to its materialization. "Collaborative governance is one of the main characteristics of Etorkizuna Eraikiz; that is to say, what we do, we do it among all of us", recalled the Deputy General. In this sense, he stressed that the agreement will allow the Provincial Council to engage with the system of knowledge of the territory, putting in value the road traveled to date.

He explained that the contribution of the universities has been core topic for the development of various pilot programs, and expressed his conviction that this collaboration will continue to bear fruit in the future.

The work of Tecnun

Tecnun will work in the area of cybersecurity, electromobility and entrepreneurship. Specifically, it will be responsible for developing a self-diagnostic tool on cybersecurity for SMEs in the territory, and will work on the development of a control algorithm for independent electric motors in vehicles.

The director of Tecnun, Raúl Antón reaffirmed the commitment of the institution he heads with Gipuzkoa. "In Donostia for more than 50 years, more than 60% of our students are from Gipuzkoa and currently there are more than 5,000 engineers from Tecnun working in leading companies in Gipuzkoa. With the signature of this agreement, the collaboration between the Provincial Council and Tecnun bets on technologies that will be fundamental for the development of the territory". In this sense, he detailed that they will work in areas such as cybersecurity, entrepreneurship and electromobility, where the star project of the next course is the electric Formula Student team, Tecnun e-Racing.