The Head of the Andalusian Tourism, Commerce and Sports Department, Paulino Plata, Isabel María García Bardón, President of Fuerte Hoteles, Pedro Gil Alburquerque, Executive Vice president of Principia Technology Group, Inc. and the MIT Doctor Carl Thomson presented yesterday in Málaga the cooperation project between Principia and Marbella Tecnópolis, the Andalusian City of Knowledge. This agreement means an important thrust for this project since Principia commits itself to set its foundation and innovation centre in Marbella Tecnópolis.
Marbella Tecnópolis is a medium term project which has been managed by Fuerte Hoteles within its entrepeneurial diversification for the last two years. It is an urban space where productive uses are mixed (scientific, technological, business and advanced services) with residential ones and complementary services (equipment, relationship and commerce), creating a complex and varied context where both creativity and innovation are stimulated helping social interaction, all with the cooperation of other centres of proven direction in the field of innovation. By means of this agglomeration economy the aim of this project is to achieve the economic, social and environmental challenges of the contemporary city to be approached with competitive strategies, equity and sustainability.
Marbella Tecnópolis is to be located within a 400 has estate owned by Fuerte Hoteles for 25 years between Marbella and Ojén, accessible via the Autovía del Mediterráneo and the Costa del Sol Highway in the future, twenty two minutes from Málaga airport and with a rich geomorphology and ample views of the Mediterranean.
Nanotechnology, Information and Communication Technologies, Process Engineering applied to hotel industries, software and I+D installations, renewable energies in the technological innovation field, are some of the fields which can be inserted in this project, within a pleasant setting for the installation of official, university, scientific and business bodies. There will also be room for congresses with the aim of forming in new technologies and the academic exchange through courses and conferences.
The agglomeration in a same place of productive uses, residential uses, and complementary services which favour social interaction and information exchange, as well as the application of the innovation concept in the search of new residents (the scientific-technological community, the university community and business community) of a different feature to the ones of the common tourist or resident on the Costa del Sol, are the aims foreseen to diversify the attraction cycle of the persons to the Costa del Sol..
This project is receiving now a big support thanks to the joint cooperation of the American company Principia Technology Group and the Business Group Fuerte Hoteles, with the signing of an agreement in March 2005 for the Principia Foundation to have its head office in Marbella Tecnópolis.
As a result of this agreement, the Principia Foundation shall start an educational activity programme which will commence in June this year with a series of lectures given by MIT doctors in the most important fields of nanotechnology, innovation and their transformation in business projects.
The El Fuerte Group and Principia Technology Group will create an innovation centre of 2,500 sq m (companies incubator, centre of technological transference with other innovation centres and universities). At present there are already two MIT spin-off projects being negotiated to set up in this centre.
It is the intention of El Fuerte Group to continue gathering the support of institutions, persons, universities and companies which help enrich this dynamic project for Andalusia which will create an added value space due to the quality of the companies and the talent of the persons this project will attract.
