26/09/2024

IDEKO receives the visit of Mikel Jauregi, the Minister for Business, Energy Transition and Sustainability

● Rafa Lizarralde, General Director of the technological center, welcomed the delegation that came to learn firsthand about IDEKO’s activities.

IDEKO recently hosted Mikel Jauregi, the Basque Government’s Minister of Business, Energy Transition, and Sustainability, at their Elgoibar facilities. The visit allowed the delegation, led by Rafa Lizarralde, General Manager of IDEKO, to explore the center's R&D efforts in advanced manufacturing technologies. Key figures such as Andoitz Korta and Jaione Ganzarain were part of the group. The visit highlighted IDEKO’s strategic role within the Basque Country’s machine tool sector, which accounts for 72% of Spain’s national turnover in this area. The event began with an insightful presentation from the AFM Cluster.



Yesterday, Mikel Jauregi, the Basque Government’s Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, visited IDEKO’s facilities in Elgoibar and learned firsthand about the technological center’s work in the research, development, and innovation of new technologies applied to advanced manufacturing.

Rafa Lizarralde, General Director of IDEKO, was in charge of welcoming the institutional delegation, which also included Andoitz Korta, Deputy Minister of Industry; Jaione Ganzarain, Deputy Minister of Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation; and Aitor Urzelai, General Director of the SPRI group. He was accompanied by Nerea Aranguren, General Director of Danobatgroup, the industrial group of which IDEKO is a part as an innovation driver.

The group toured the facilities of the center, which is also a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), to learn about its R&D&I activities, organized into 4 research groups: Design and Precision Engineering, Production Processes, ICTs and Automation, and Dynamics and Control.

The minister highlighted the strategic relevance of the machine tool sector in the Basque Country, emphasizing that “72% of the national turnover in this field is generated in the Basque Country,” and valued the research and technology transfer work carried out by agents like IDEKO.

The day began with a presentation by the AFM Cluster on advanced manufacturing and machine tools, in which the current situation of the sector and the main future challenges were analyzed.