The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, and the President of AIC-Automotive Intelligence Center and General Deputy of Bizkaia, Unai Rementeria, today officially inaugurated the fourth phase of the AIC in Amorebieta-Etxano, before a large representation of professionals from the sector and agents related to it.
Phase 4, which culminates the three previous phases (2009, 2010 and 2015), will host activities related to digitalization, connectivity and electrification within the framework of new mobility solutions. Phase 4 goes a step further and reinforces mobility, a broad mobility that will include verticals such as bicycles, railways and pleasure boats, all of them lines that will be continued over time and will be increased with new projects.
The building, which is located in the AIC (Amorebieta-Etxano), has 10,000 square meters of modern facilities with a laboratory, coworking area and two floors of offices. At the time of its inauguration, it was already 65% occupied by companies, including Gestamp and CAF.
In the words of Inés Anitua, CEO of AIC, “In less than 15 years we have built an automotive ecosystem of the first magnitude, with 11 buildings, 60,000 m2, with 95% occupancy, as well as 5 competence centres, an academy and an intelligence unit. But what is important is the confidence of companies in the open innovation model we have developed”.
In this regard, Gestamp has an advanced manufacturing centre in Phase 4, a Smart Factory pilot project. This laboratory is developing a new flexible manufacturing model for automotive components. The aim of this centre is to develop, validate and standardize each of the innovations that Gestamp integrates in this manufacturing concept.
According to Francisco J. Riberas, CEO of Gestamp: “Today, for a company to be competitive, it must be digital, and at Gestamp this is already a reality. This advanced manufacturing centre is going one step further, it is continuing on the path towards the smart factory, where the concept of flexible manufacturing is key to adapting to the challenges and opportunities of the market”.
For its part, CAF has established a Centre of Excellence, specializing in sustainable urban mobility technologies in the field of signaling, among others. From this location, CAF wants to continue contributing to the improvement of the collective transport of the future.
In the words of Andrés Arizkorreta, President of CAF, “This centre of excellence is a sign of the commitment of the entire CAF Group to the generation of value for the country, technological innovation and the railway vanguard. From here, we will revolutionize the way we travel by train in the urban environment, contributing to the resolution of society’s most important challenges in matters such as safety and sustainability”.
AIC-Automotive Intelligence Center is a private foundation that integrates knowledge, training, technology and industrial development in order to improve the competitiveness of the automotive and mobility sector. Its model is unique in the world due to the integration of value-added activities in the same space, its mission being to promote cooperation between the companies in the sector that are located there in order to make them more competitive. Its trustees include the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Town Councils of Amorebieta-Etxano and Ermua, a group of leading companies in the sector and ACICAE-Euskadi Automotive Cluster.
With this latest phase, the AIC will have a total of 60,000 m2 dedicated exclusively to generating value for this industry. It currently brings together 32 organizations of 9 nationalities and more than 950 professionals.
AIC was inaugurated in 2009 as a unique centre for generating value for the sector based on a concept of open innovation where companies improve their competitiveness through cooperation. In 2010 it opened its second phase where it incorporated new spaces for companies interested in this model, recognized by the European Union. In 2015 AIC inaugurated its third phase, focused on leading training. In 2023, AIC will grow again in order to lead the changes that the sector is undergoing in terms of digitalization, connectivity and electrification, among others.
