The innovation trident: a commitment to Catalonia’s open strategic autonomy

The Innovation Trident is a strategic initiative of the Government of Catalonia to strengthen the country's scientific and technological capabilities in three key areas for the future of European and international industry: semiconductors, supercomputing, and integrated photonics.

The strategy is structured around three complementary projects that represent a qualitative leap in the development of new infrastructures, technologies, and innovations, and which share a common starting point: research excellence. The Trident is deployed through three synergistic projects: InnoFAB, the country's first facility focused on the prototyping and development of semiconductor technologies; DARE, centered on the design of processors based on the open RISC-V architecture; and PIXEurope, dedicated to fostering a European integrated photonics ecosystem within the framework of the Quantum Valley strategy.

These projects exemplify a model of technological innovation based on collaboration between research centers, universities, scientific infrastructures, and industry, at the local, national, and international levels. The main objective is to accelerate knowledge transfer and transform scientific excellence into productive capacity.

The Innovation Trident is thus part of the ambition to position Catalonia among the 50 most innovative regions in Europe by 2030. Through strategic collaborations and coordinated planning, this initiative aims to consolidate a leading scientific and technological hub in Europe, contribute to open strategic autonomy, and generate new opportunities for talent, industrial development, and economic competitiveness.

This strategy also includes a cross-cutting project: the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Factory, a European initiative coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) that leverages the capabilities of the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer to boost the development and application of artificial intelligence. The Factory will provide companies, research centers, and public administrations with access to advanced computing infrastructure, data, and specialized advice, with the goal of accelerating innovation, technology transfer, and the competitiveness of the productive sector.