- They will be able to present projects both local entities and uniprovincial autonomous communities, amounting to between 1.5 and 6 million euros, of which Red.es will finance between 40% and 85% with own funds and FEDER
- In the previous calls for smart cities, the Government of Spain has allocated more than 200 million euros to 59 initiatives distributed throughout the territory
The Government of Spain is launching the new RedCyTI program to promote the digitization of local entities and uniprovincial autonomous communities. Today it has been published in the BOE the order of bases of this line of aid, with a total of 89 million euros, which it manages Red.es, an entity attached to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service through the Secretary of State for Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization. The deadline for requesting this call will soon be open, the aim of which is to strengthen the impetus for smart cities and territories by focusing, on this occasion, on the “promotion of economic and productive development”.
According to the European Commission, “a smart city or territory aims to improve the well-being of its inhabitants, companies, visitors, organizations and administrators by providing digital services that contribute to a better quality of life”. The actions can take place in six dimensions: Living (associated to the quality of life), People (citizen participation), Environment (sustainability), Mobility (mobility), Economy (economic development) and Governance (governance of the city or territory).
The smart city dimension called ‘smart economy’, on which this new call is focused, is understood as the intersection between city and economy, and contemplates all those initiatives that, promoted from cities and territories, are oriented to promote digitalization at the service of economic activity, employment and entrepreneurship.
Support to local entities and CC.AA. uniprovincial
Red.es, adding its own funds and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), will contribute between 40 and 85% of each initiative selected, which will have a total budget of between 1.5 and 6 million euros. The percentage varies according to the autonomous community from which it is presented. The entities that can apply for this aid are local entities (municipalities, deputies, island councils, island councils and counties) and uniprovincial autonomous communities.
The projects must involve actions aimed at creating or strengthening technological infrastructures and the associated solutions and services, available to strategic sectors of economic activity, in order to test and develop technologies for sectoral application. It will also support the creation or improvement of spaces aimed at promoting innovation and strengthening the sectoral ecosystem, in order to promote the development of the economy and employment, both at the local, regional and state levels.
Examples of these actions would be the creation of test spaces or sandboxes for the sector of mobility and transport (connected and autonomous vehicles, drones…), the creation of urban innovation laboratories, or the provision of the necessary infrastructures for the testing and development of application technologies to sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, livestock, or energy, among others.
The entities that wish to apply for this aid must submit their projects in the electronic headquarters of Red.es, once the call has been published, as indicated in the extract of the call published in the Official State Gazette. The award criteria will assess aspects such as the degree of digital maturity, the impact of the initiative on local economic development and its sustainability. Those projects that are selected will receive competitive assistance, which will be tendered and executed by Red.es.
Government’s commitment to smart cities and smart territories
Since the approval of the National Plan of Smart Cities in 2015, the Government of Spain has made five calls in which Red.es has played a leading role. In total, more than 200 million euros - cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - have been allocated to 59 initiatives spread throughout the national territory: 25 cities, 24 tourist destinations, 7 buildings and 3 islands. In addition, Red.es, it collaborates continuously with the Spanish Network of Smart Cities (RECI) and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) to promote the development of smart cities and territories.
More information: prensa@red.es