During the first week of October 2025, the coordinating team of the INNOVAMOS project, led by the Science and Technology Park Foundation of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (FCPCT-ULPGC), carried out a strategic working mission across the Macaronesia region, visiting project partners in Madeira, the Azores, and Cabo Verde.
The main objective of this mission was to reinforce ties between universities, research centers, and companies, as well as to promote knowledge transfer and open innovation as key drivers of sustainable development and competitiveness in island regions.
In Madeira, meetings with the University of Madeira (UMA), ARDITI, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madeira (ACIF-CCM) helped identify new opportunities for collaboration between researchers and companies in strategic sectors such as the blue economy, circular economy, agri-tech, and smart tourism. The visit also laid the groundwork for future specialized training sessions on intellectual property protection, research results valorization, and technology transfer.
The visit to the Azores further strengthened cooperation with the University of the Azores (UAc) and the NONAGON Science and Technology Park, where discussions focused on incubation and mentoring programs, entrepreneurship initiatives, and local best practices in innovation and knowledge transfer. These meetings reaffirmed the Azores as a key hub within the regional innovation ecosystem of Macaronesia.
Finally, in Cabo Verde, meetings with the University of Cabo Verde (UniCV) and the public agency Pró-Empresa consolidated the engagement of both partners in the project, opening new collaboration pathways in academic entrepreneurship, digital transformation, and waste valorization related to the blue economy.
This mission has successfully strengthened the cohesion of the INNOVAMOS consortium, generated tangible alliances between academia and industry, and marked a significant step forward towards achieving the project’s objectives: fostering an innovative, smart, and sustainable transformation that enhances economic and social development across Macaronesia and West Africa.
The Innovamos Project is funded by the Interreg MAC 2021-2027 Programme.