The UPC stands out as a leading institution in education, knowledge generation, and transfer. Our collaboration with the business sector is extensive: we have direct relationships with nearly 3,000 companies, and last year, revenues from R&D and technology transfer projects exceeded €121 million.
These achievements are the result of the immense talent within the UPC community and the various channels that strengthen the UPC-Enterprise relationship: from the pioneering Innova Programme, launched 26 years ago, to the efforts of all our Schools and Faculties in their interactions with companies, as well as the work of our technology transfer units, the UPC Technology Centre, and, of course, the valuable network of personal connections between UPC staff and industry professionals.
Given this context, was it necessary to create yet another tool along these lines? The answer is yes.
To maintain our leadership position, we must continue evolving. Establishing a Strategic Partnership Programme with companies takes us a step further in keeping pace with an ever-changing world.
With this goal in mind, we began developing an innovative collaboration model three years ago. We selected a group of companies with which we created an exclusive cooperation framework, where results determined the value of the proposal and companies were provided with a centralised point of contact for both administrative and operational matters.
The experience was highly positive. It allowed us to gain deeper insight into the current needs of businesses in terms of partnership models and to develop a new way of interacting—one that embraces the customer-oriented concept in its fullest sense while staying true to the core identity of the University: a public institution with a strong commitment to social responsibility.
One year ago, in October 2023, the Connèxia Strategic Partnership Programme was officially launched. This initiative is designed to enable a select group of companies to become UPC partners, working together to create a strong collaborative environment that significantly impacts their innovation strategy and competitiveness.
Programme partners gain access to a range of exclusive, tailor-made activities designed to deliver real value from UPC’s services. The key pillars of the collaboration include talent recruitment (drawing from our 35,000 students and 91,000 alumni), the knowledge generated by our 141 research groups, access to UPC’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and joint strategies in training, social responsibility, and visibility.
The methodology is strongly focused on generating real value. A dedicated and personalised team of strategic alliance managers continuously monitors key performance indicators to assess the programme’s success and adjusts actions as needed to optimise results.
Our objectives include supporting our partners in developing new products using our technology, achieving their talent recruitment goals, co-developing social responsibility programmes, designing shared training plans, driving innovation projects, and increasing their visibility within society, opening up new opportunities at all levels.
This first year has also presented challenges, particularly in harmonising business and university cultures, especially in terms of internal team coordination and management. However, the experience has allowed us to improve significantly in this area.
We can confidently say that this first year has been a period of growth and learning, with tangible results, and we are highly satisfied with the progress made. Despite the challenges, the experience has demonstrated that this type of programme can generate significant benefits for both the University and its industry partners, with great potential for further expansion. Looking ahead, we will continue to consolidate existing alliances while extending the programme to new companies.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our first partners—Fractus, Schneider Electric, Mecalux, and Cetaqua—for their dedication and trust during this inaugural year. Their support has been instrumental in co-creating this initiative and ensuring its success.
Jordi Martín Guart
Director, UPC Connèxia Programme