175
dreams to exploit the skies above the Canarian summits in order to germinate
and consolidate astrophysics in Spain, while at the same time enriching the
technological capacity of our country. The minutes of the Governing Council
of the IAC and its Board of Directors bear this out.
At the beginning of this century we decided to try again, this time with a
better thought out plan. We began by seeking and defining the appropriate
kind of entity for putting our ideas into practice in order to launch a project,
complete with business plan and all. To brief ourselves on the current situation, we visited regions of Spain that had recently created the most advanced
technology companies. We finally contracted Inasmet Tecnalia, a company
with wide-ranging experience in such matters in the Basque Country, to draft
the project, which we presented to the Governing Council of the IAC in 2006
under the title ‘Design and feasibility plan for ASTROTECNIA, a Canarian
foundation for technological development’. The creation of the project
appeared as an objective in the strategic plan of the Institute for the period
2006–2010.
At about that time the construction of the Gran Telescopio Canarias was
nearing completion at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, and the firms
involved showed interest in participating in this technological venture. The
prestige attained by the IAC in the development of advanced scientific instrumentation certainly interested the business sector of the country. The IAC had
access to the most important international projects in the field of terrestrial
and space astrophysics, in addition to a proven track record in the constitution of competitive international consortia.
With all these bright prospects ahead there began a tug-of-war of indecisiveness between the central Government and the Autonomous Community
of the Canaries, with much haggling over who should contribute how much.
It must be remembered that the President of the Canarian Government and
minister with the research portfolio are both members of the Governing
Council of the IAC. The delays gave rise to differences between the two governments and we were back at square one.
In 2008 a contract was awarded to Inasmet-Tecnalia for the drafting of the
business plan with a view to the preparation of a document incorporating the
totality of the project. The document served two purposes: first it was to be
used as a demonstration of the project for the public administrations and the
business sector, and second it was to serve as a base for defining the initial
activities and objectives of this new technological space that we wished to create in the Canaries.
IACTEC, as this entity is now named, is conceived as a ‘space for technological and business cooperation for the development of advanced
17 Astronomical Instrumentation, Technology Transfer…
dreams to exploit the skies above the Canarian summits in order to germinate
and consolidate astrophysics in Spain, while at the same time enriching the
technological capacity of our country. The minutes of the Governing Council
of the IAC and its Board of Directors bear this out.
At the beginning of this century we decided to try again, this time with a
better thought out plan. We began by seeking and defining the appropriate
kind of entity for putting our ideas into practice in order to launch a project,
complete with business plan and all. To brief ourselves on the current situation, we visited regions of Spain that had recently created the most advanced
technology companies. We finally contracted Inasmet Tecnalia, a company
with wide-ranging experience in such matters in the Basque Country, to draft
the project, which we presented to the Governing Council of the IAC in 2006
under the title ‘Design and feasibility plan for ASTROTECNIA, a Canarian
foundation for technological development’. The creation of the project
appeared as an objective in the strategic plan of the Institute for the period
2006–2010.
At about that time the construction of the Gran Telescopio Canarias was
nearing completion at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, and the firms
involved showed interest in participating in this technological venture. The
prestige attained by the IAC in the development of advanced scientific instrumentation certainly interested the business sector of the country. The IAC had
access to the most important international projects in the field of terrestrial
and space astrophysics, in addition to a proven track record in the constitution of competitive international consortia.
With all these bright prospects ahead there began a tug-of-war of indecisiveness between the central Government and the Autonomous Community
of the Canaries, with much haggling over who should contribute how much.
It must be remembered that the President of the Canarian Government and
minister with the research portfolio are both members of the Governing
Council of the IAC. The delays gave rise to differences between the two governments and we were back at square one.
In 2008 a contract was awarded to Inasmet-Tecnalia for the drafting of the
business plan with a view to the preparation of a document incorporating the
totality of the project. The document served two purposes: first it was to be
used as a demonstration of the project for the public administrations and the
business sector, and second it was to serve as a base for defining the initial
activities and objectives of this new technological space that we wished to create in the Canaries.
IACTEC, as this entity is now named, is conceived as a ‘space for technological and business cooperation for the development of advanced
17 Astronomical Instrumentation, Technology Transfer…