Indra seeks alliances to boost the defense industry in Catalonia

BarcelonaThe technology and defense company Indra is bringing together more than 200 actors 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 conference, 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 Transfer and Knowledge Society, Javier Selva.

Beyond governmental representation, the meeting will also be attended by the Director of Innovation and Business of i2CAT, Ana Moliner; the Vice-Rector of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia-BarcelonaTech, Jordi Berenguer; and the head of dual-use technologies at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Joan Farnos.

The defense industry in Catalonia

Indra will take advantage of this Monday's meeting to present its Growth Plan in Catalonia, where it wants to strengthen its capabilities in dual technologies —that is, simultaneously applicable in the 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 employees in the four provinces.

In a meeting at the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce last week, Indra's CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, put forward the company as a "driving force" to boost the dual industry in Catalonia, where he assured there is "potential." Along these lines, the Minister of Foreign Action of the Generalitat, Jaume Duch, argued that "Catalonia cannot escape" Europe's commitment to developing its military and defense industry. His counterpart in the Ministry of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, assured that the Catalan administration "has committed from the outset" to 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 market placement, 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 shares.