Adeje mayor accepts “City of Science and Innovation” Ministry of Finance award

[Janet]

Adeje Mayor José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga was in Madrid this morning to accept the Ministry of Finance's award recognizing the town as "City of Science and Innovation'". Adeje, the only town of its size (between 20 and 100 thousand inhabitants) in Spain to be awarded this prize, will now form part of the Innpulsa national network which allows direct access to innovation and information projects, as well as to European assistance, and help for local small and medium-sized businesses. The mayor drew particular attention to the change wrought in Adeje over a relatively short space of time from a mainly agricultural society of 6,000 inhabitants to a tourist destination with more than 50,000 residents of over 120 different nationalities.

Mayor Fraga said it was "a huge honour to be in Madrid to collect this award on behalf of the people of Adeje", and  that it was a prize for the municipality as a whole. "One of the most important aspects of this prize", he said, "is that it is not just a symbolic recognition, but also signifies Adeje's acceptance into a network which will allow us to access the world of innovation, European assistance, offer help to small and medium enterprises, lines of credit...it brings a huge amount of momentum to the town ... as we face the challenge of building the future".

The Finance Ministry made the award on the basis of Adeje's demonstration of its effort and commitment to scientific innovation, investing in infrastructures that favour economic sustainability, and creating opportunities for strengthening and promoting science and innovation from a municipal platform. Specific programmes include

• Adeje Impulsa: Development Strategies
• Factoría de Innovación Turística de Canarias (FITC)
• The Centro de Desarrollo Turístico de Costa Adeje (CDTCA) building
• Innovation Project/Municipal Undertaking on Fibre Optics (VoIP, FTTH)
• Arena Geste
• Escuela Taller Creativec
• Jornada Adejetec
• Programa Filae
• Campus Universitario de Adeje
• Proyecto Red NI2
• Digitalisation of the town's archives
• I+D+1 Programmes (Punto PAIT, FIPE, E-Communicae)
• World Architecture Festival Architecture Prize for the Plaza de España de Adeje.

JA