Cisco has chosen Spain to open its first chip design center in European Union territory. It will do so in Barcelona, in the innovation center that the company has already opened in Poblenou. This is a movement that shows that the meetings held by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the Davos Forum with several of the world’s leading technology companies are beginning to bear fruit. The news was made public during a meeting that he held at the Palacio de la Moncloa on Cisco CEO and President Chuck Robbins; with Pedro Sanchez.
The opening of this design center, focused on the design and prototyping of next-generation semiconductor devices, will be carried out within the framework of the Microelectronics and Semiconductors Economic Recovery and Transformation strategic project. That is, according to the conditions indicated in the Perte de microchips. Of course, the amount that Spain will contribute to this project within the framework of said Perte is unknown. The amount that Cisco will invest in its development and implementation has not been made public either.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has indicated regarding this future opening of his Innovation Center in Barcelona that «Spain is on the way to becoming a key player in achieving the European Union’s objective of reaching 20% of the global chip market by 2030. We have approved the Perte Microchip program and we have the roadmap, reforms and incentives in place to attract talent and strengthen the current Spanish ecosystem. The dedication of companies like Cisco will help strengthen our innovation ecosystem and stay at the forefront of social, industrial, and technological progress.«.
Chuck Robbins, for his part, recalled that «technology has the ability to help countries in their social and economic development, and to move further towards an inclusive future for all. Today’s announcement reinforces Cisco’s commitment to supporting the digital ecosystem in Spain and Europe. Semiconductors are central to much innovation, and our advances in this field help overcome the energy, economic, and performance limitations of today’s infrastructure. Cisco is delighted to play a leading role in addressing semiconductor supplies with the development of this design center«.
This is not the first initiative to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Spain in which Cisco has participated. The Cisco Digital Country Accelerator Program, known as Digitiza, was launched in Spain in 2019. Since then, the program has expanded, and now encompasses various sectors and social areas. These include, among others, critical infrastructure, public services, manufacturing, energy, fintech and smart tourism.
As part of the Digitize Plan, Cisco has plans to train some 40,000 students, workers and the unemployed in digital technologies over the next 12 months. You will do this through the Cisco Networking Academy. This will increase the number of people in Spain who have passed through this academy to 300,000 by the end of 2023.
It is not the only program and plan in which Cisco is participating, or developing, in Spain. It has also invested in the development of technologies such as 5G and WiFi 6, Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing or next generation networks.
