12 May, 2025In a global economic context marked by uncertainty, the Basque technology centre IDEKO presented at its annual General Assembly, held on Friday 9 May, a significant increase in its activity during 2024, reaffirming its position as a benchmark in research and transfer of advanced technologies to industry.
In the last year, IDEKO achieved an increase of 17% with respect to 2023. Specifically, the annual turnover record reached €12.9 million in 2024, a record figure for the centre that is a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA). The result consolidates the centre's upward trajectory, coinciding with the start of a new strategic cycle that identifies open innovation, precision robotics and industrial digitalisation as key axes.
56% of income (€7.3m) came from technology transfer projects for advanced solutions to improve and optimise the productivity of companies, mainly in strategic sectors such as aeronautics, energy and machine tools. This percentage represents a 25% increase in the contribution of technology transfer to the private sector compared to 2023.
Collaborations were especially focused on the development of solutions to increase the competitiveness of industrial companies, process solutions and precision machines, precision robotics, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, consolidating IDEKO as a benchmark technological partner to respond to the challenges of the manufacturing industry.
The rest of the income, 44%, was the result of its own research work carried out in initiatives financed by public research programmes: 17% came from Europe, 22% from programmes promoted by the Basque Government, 1% from the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and 4% from the General State Administration, which has enabled it to continue strengthening its technology generation and development activities, with a view to its subsequent transfer to companies.
During 2024, IDEKO also maintained its commitment to scientific excellence through the generation of 34 publications indexed in academic journals, an increase of 13% with respect to 2023. In addition, the number of active patents increased by 7%, reaching 42. The commitment to research talent was consolidated with 36 PhDs and 11 PhD students.
At the same time, IDEKO's human team grew by 6%, with 141 people working at IDEKO at the end of the year. In addition to these, there is an additional team of 9 people working in the technology centre's investee companies.
The year was also marked by a boost to R&D infrastructures and equipment with a total investment of 800,000 euros, earmarked for the extension of the robotics laboratory, new equipment for scientific facilities and the start-up of the Renishaw Solutions Centre, a new R&D space next to the world leader in metrology, inaugurated this January.
Another milestone in the field of alliances was the agreement signed with ITP Aero to promote R&D in the aeronautical sector, which will strengthen research, technology transfer and collaborative training for 5 years.
On the other hand, in the field of precision engineering, the Elgoibar centre signed a new agreement with the University College of London to continue developing large-scale photogrammetry.
The assembly was chaired by Xabier Alzaga, IDEKO's chairman, who gave a positive assessment of the results achieved in the last cycle: ‘2024 has marked the end of a successful period in which we have consolidated our position as a fundamental pillar of R&D applied to manufacturing in the Basque industrial fabric’.
IDEKO's roadmap for the 2025-2028 period was also one of the highlights of the assembly. It sets out the guidelines for consolidating IDEKO as a benchmark centre in advanced manufacturing. The centre will continue to promote cooperation to respond to the future technological and industrial challenges of the manufacturing industry by strengthening its network of alliances with leading R&D agents and entities at national and international level.
Among the objectives of the plan are: opening up to new markets, making progress in the valorisation of technological assets derived from the centre's own research and promoting high-impact projects together with strategic partners.
Furthermore, IDEKO will continue to be committed to an excellent and attractive organisation, the professional development of the staff, aspiring to be recognised as an Excellent Centre in which to develop a research career by obtaining the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) certification, which endorses research institutions and organisations that support a favourable working environment.
