Indra seeks alliances to boost the defense industry in Catalonia
Presents its Growth Plan for Catalonia at a meeting this Monday
BarcelonaThe technology and defense company Indra is bringing together more than 200 players from the innovation and security industry ecosystem in Barcelona this Monday to explore new strategic alliances. Today, it already has agreements with 350 entities in Catalonia, 130 of which are linked to the security and defense sector.
The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, will close the event, which will also be attended by other members of the Government, such as Jaume Baró, CEO of Acció —the public agency for competitiveness—, and the director general of knowledge transfer and society, Javier Selva.
Beyond government representation, the event will also be attended by Ana Moliner, Director of Innovation and Business at i2CAT; Jordi Berenguer, Vice-rector of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech; and Joan Farnos, head of dual-use technologies at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
The defense industry in Catalonia
Indra will take advantage of Monday's meeting to present its Growth Plan in Catalonia, where it wants to strengthen its capabilities in dual technologies —meaning, simultaneously applicable in civil and military fields—, cybersecurity, cyber-defense, and space. Currently, it manages more than 365 million euros in business from the Catalan territory, where it has more than 3,500 workers in the four provinces.
In a meeting at the Cambra de Barcelona last week, Indra's CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, positioned the company as a "leading player" to boost the dual industry in Catalonia, where he assured there is "potential". Along these lines, the Minister of External Action of the Generalitat, Jaume Duch, argued that "Catalonia cannot escape" the European commitment to develop its military and defense industry. His counterpart in the Department of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, assured that the Catalan administration "has bet from the very beginning" on this industry.
Internally, Indra has recently been in the news due to changes in its shareholding. The Escribano brothers left the company's capital last week through an accelerated placement in the market, although it is not known who acquired the shares. Indra is a strategic company where the main shareholder is the State, with 28% of the holdings.