Industry 4.0 in Spain: regional policies

The Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Castilla-La Mancha are the three Spanish regions with the lowest number of policy initiatives to support industry 4.0.

This is one of the conclusions that can be drawn from the report “Estrategias para el fomento de la Industria 4.0 en España”, that reflects the enormous differences in the country in this area. This report identifies the different initiatives to promote industry 4.0 being carried out by regional governments and analyses a series of key factors: awareness, advice, strategy and financial support, to measure the degree of implementation of each of the Autonomous Communities.

The comparative analysis also reveals that Catalonia, Castilla y Leon and the Basque Country occupy the first positions in the country. These regions have launched a wide range of actions aimed at transforming the industrial sector, with specific measures including,  among others, financial support and public subsidies, awareness-raising actions, training and advice to companies.

Although all the Communities recognise the importance of industry 4.0 in their industrial strategies, some regions such as the Canary Islands do not have a specific action plan for industry 4.0.

This disparity may be justified by the different levels of industrialisation of the Spanish regions and the consequent impact of the industry on their regional economies. However, some of the less industrialised regions of Spain are making significant public efforts to promote the transformation of their industries.

In a few years, we will confirm the effectiveness of these policy measures and their impact on the Spanish regional economies.

Source: Estrategias para el fomento de la Industria 4.0 en ESPAÑA