AseBio, AESEMI, Cotec Foundation, and Secpho celebrate the launch by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of the Deep Tech Strategy

Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities, Diana Morant, has announced the launch of the first Deep Tech Strategy, with the aim of investing in deep tech such as biotechnology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, or quantum technology, and thus addressing key challenges at a crucial moment for the future of the European Union and its strategic autonomy.

The Minister of Science, Innovation, and Universities explained in a Senate appearance that this pioneering strategy will be developed "with an approach that covers the entire value chain: transfer, regulation, financing, industrialization, or access to innovations for society." A strategy that will involve different ministries, including the Ministries of Industry, Ecological Transition, and Digital Transformation.

The future Deep Tech Strategy takes up the challenge of the proposal for the creation of a High Commissioner for Deep Strategic Technologies made jointly by AseBio, the Spanish Association of the Semiconductor Industry (AESEMI), the Cotec Foundation, and Secpho, a technological innovation cluster, on November 23.

The purpose with which we requested the Government to create the aforementioned High Commissioner lay in the review process initiated by the European Commission at the end of 2023, to identify the risk of dependence existing in four areas considered crucial for the future of Europe: biotechnology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum technology. These four deep tech areas have been selected due to the risks of dependencies and threats, but also because of their transformative capacity and nature and their potential to drive radical changes.

The proposal for a High Commissioner, as a tool to catalyze the specific needs of these fundamental areas that we conveyed to the Government, aimed to consolidate Spain's commitment to Europe towards strategic deep technologies, as is now being done by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, thus addressing their specific needs that directly influence the development of the innovations they bring. This decision comes at a time when we have the responsibility to highlight all the scientific and technological potential with which we can contribute from our country to Europe's strategic autonomy.

Deep Tech Strategy: Cross-cutting governance and approach covering the entire value chain

The initiative proposed to the Government for the creation of a High Commissioner was justified by the characteristics of deep tech. We're talking about technologies linked to advanced science or engineering that offer solutions to global problems. These are characterized by their high difficulty and the high cost of their innovation, which can take years to reach the market. Additionally, they often require large amounts of investment and involve high risks.

Deep technologies differ from other types of innovations because they have significant entry barriers but allow for great advances with a significant impact on society and industry. It is also worth noting that their disruptive potential and transformative capacity make them strategic in terms of innovation, well-being, and social and economic progress.

The associations signing the proposal for a High Commissioner see reflected the spirit with which the initiative was born in yesterday's announcement of the Deep Tech Strategy. In the words of Diana Morant, deep tech "require special attention and need large investments, they have a slower and riskier development but have a great impact on our lives, as they provide the most disruptive solutions linked to health or addressing global problems."

For these reasons, we highly value the step taken by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities with the launch of the Deep Tech Strategy.

We consider that the strategy captures the cross-cutting nature that characterizes deep tech in terms of needs, characteristics, and innovative solutions they bring through the governance model proposed by involving various ministries. Additionally, we applaud that this strategy is born with a vision that encompasses the entire value chain of deep tech, caring for each and every one of the fundamental areas that mark the development of disruptive innovations derived from these deep technologies so that they can translate into tangible benefits for society.

From AseBio, AESEMI, Cotec Foundation, and Secpho, we thank the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities for the active listening of our proposal and work, now materialized in this strategy, and we make our experience and knowledge in the different deep tech we represent available to the ministry to work on the development of the Deep Tech Strategy that responds to the needs of the entities working in deep technolo