In an act held at the Rector’s Office of the UAL, the president of the cluster, Mariano Barroso, and the Almeria rector, Carmelo Rodríguez, have signed the act of adhesion and agreement that will allow collaborative actions with the University, through companies and institutions associated with the cluster, for the development of scientific, technical, cultural and academic activities in the field of smart cities.

The agreement signed between the University of Almería and the Andalusian cluster includes, among other actions, the execution of projects and programs, the provision of technical services, mutual advice on issues related to the activity of both entities, cooperation in training programs of personnel, the organization and execution of common activities related to the social promotion of research, technological development and any other action that is of mutual interest.

The president of Andalusia Smart City, Mariano Barroso, highlighted “the importance of a University like Almería, in a province with a very attractive economic development and technological innovation possibilities, joins the network of universities that are already part of the cluster and can contribute to generate with their knowledge and research that the Andalusian municipalities are more efficient, more sustainable and more comfortable for citizens, which is the main object of the so-called smart cities ”.

For his part, the rector of the UAL has stressed that “from the University of Almeria we are preparing a Smart-Campus Master Plan to define the lines to follow in order to achieve an intelligent and sustainable University, aligned with the lines of our Strategic Plan . We want the University itself to be a test and co-creation environment with the participation of the entire university community through initiatives in the field of living labs, in addition to those of every smart campus, such as the improvement of energy management, the mobility of our campus, among others. With this collaboration agreement signed today, we begin to take new steps. ”

About Andalucía Smart City

Andalucía Smart City is an alliance of Andalusian companies and institutions that work in the development of smart cities, understood as efficient, sustainable and comfortable, through the cooperation of the associated entities, among which are private companies, universities, town halls and sectoral organizations, among other entities in the field not only business but also research, development and innovation.

Andalucía Smart City acts in the development of projects that revert to the improvement of the habitability, comfort and quality of life of citizens of any Andalusian urban nucleus, regardless of their size, through R & D & I projects, in order to build better cities, with a greater degree of environmental sustainability and with a more efficient management of resources.

The multisectoral, integrative and cooperative character of Andalucía Smart City leads it to bring together entities from different fields that operate in favor of cities such as energy, the environment, urban infrastructure, information and communication technologies, Urban mobility or citizen administration.

The Cluster has been recognized as an Innovative Business Group (AEI), by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, since May 2015.