i2CAT launches an Innovation Advisory Board to accelerate the transfer of digital research and strengthen its impact in Catalonia

• The committee was established to accelerate technology transfer and foster the creation and scaling of new technology-based companies.
• The Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, is taking part in the first working session of the new advisory body, which brings together 13 leaders from industry, business, research and innovation.
• The first session also featured the Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, demonstrating the Generalitat Government’s commitment to research and technological innovation in Catalonia.
• Barcelona, 21 September 2026. The i2CAT Research and Innovation Centre has today launched its Innovation Advisory Board, a strategic advisory body established to bring cutting-edge research to market and turn the knowledge and technologies developed at the centre into new opportunities for economic, industrial and social impact for Catalonia.
• The new committee is made up of 13 experts and leading figures from the business, industrial, scientific, entrepreneurial and institutional sectors, who, together with i2CAT, will share knowledge, experience and market insight to identify new opportunities, drive the commercialisation of technologies and accelerate their transfer.
• The committee’s first working session was attended by the Minister for the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, and the Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, reinforcing the cross-cutting commitment of the Generalitat Government to research and innovation as key elements for the country’s economic and social development, as well as to the promotion of Catalonia’s digital policies.
• In this context, the Secretary of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, has highlighted that “in the face of a geopolitical context marked by fragmentation, Catalonia cannot afford to be a mere spectator on the sidelines of key decisions.” In this regard, he noted: “We are taking a step in this direction with the creation of i2CAT’s External Innovation Committee. A space that brings together knowledge, experience and connections to help turn Catalonia’s research and innovation capacity into greater transfer, more economic activity and greater impact.”
• Dalmau has also pointed out that “innovation does not end with research” and that “Catalonia has talent, knowledge and technological capacity, and we must create the conditions for all this potential to translate into economic, industrial and social opportunities.”

For her part, the Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, has underlined the Government’s commitment to strengthening the country’s research and innovation capabilities: “We have made a very clear commitment to innovation. First, by promoting the creation of new infrastructures. And second, ensuring the deployment of those we already have, but which we must update with an open strategic autonomy approach.”

Montserrat has cited infrastructures such as the ALBA Synchrotron and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) as examples, “with an indisputable track record in the research and academia sector”. The minister also stressed that “we are now at a point where the different administrations are working to streamline these processes with the governance model: how to make these infrastructures more open and how to have them operate with companies.”

During the day, the i2CAT management, led by its director, Dr Sergi Figuerola, presented the centre’s research, innovation and transfer model to the committee members, as well as some of the centre’s main technological assets with potential for commercialisation and the challenges the organisation is currently facing in accelerating their time to market.

Three areas to turn knowledge into impact

The Innovation Advisory Board will initially focus its activities on three main areas.

First, strengthen the connection with the market by incorporating an external perspective that helps identify business needs and opportunities and guides the valorisation of i2CAT’s technologies, to maximise their potential for transfer and licensing.

Secondly, contribute to maximising the impact of i2CAT’s new Delton Labs by exploring new collaboration opportunities with companies, institutions and other ecosystem players, and by identifying models that will enable these new capabilities to become a flagship asset for innovation and technology transfer.

Finally, the committee will advise i2CAT on promoting the creation and scaling of new technology-based companies (spin-offs), providing knowledge and experience to identify entrepreneurial talent and potential investment avenues that help transform research results into new business ventures.

The committee includes profiles of recognised prestige from the technological and business ecosystem, some of whom are also members of i2CAT’s Board of Trustees.

They include Xavier Ferràs, Associate Dean of ESADE; Miquel Martí, CEO of TechBarcelona; and Pedro Mier, Senior Advisor and former President of AMETIC and President of OpenCosmos; Elisenda Bou, Former Head of AppleMedia Knowledge i cofounder of Cala; Anna Armengol, Economic Counsellor at the European Commission and member of the European Commission’s Representation in Spain; Maria Lema, CEO of Wavelabs; Maria Mora, Innovation Director at Foment del Treball; Mª Carmen Fernández, ex-CIO of Mediapro, Board Member of Change2grow and member of TechW4Boards; Mar Masulli, CEO and cofounder of Bitmetrics; Ignasi Costas, Co-Managing Partner of RCD; Raquel Cuervo, Senior Expert of STEP (Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform) at the European Commission in representation of the European Investment Bank and Senior Investment Officer at Infra & Climate Finance.

Also attending were Albert Tort Pugibet, Secretary of Telecommunications and Digital Transformation, and Javier Selva Sanchez, Director General of Knowledge Transfer and Society for the Government of Catalonia.

With the Innovation Advisory Board, i2CAT strengthens its transfer and innovation model. It takes a step forward in turning research into technology, technology into opportunities, and opportunities into impact for the country.  The initiative also contributes to consolidating Catalonia as a European hub of excellence in research, innovation and the development of advanced digital technologies.

All pictures from the session are on i2CAT’s Flickr account.