The Plan, drawn up by Fomento de San Sebastián, seeks to foster the city´s innovation strategy with a focus on talent, underlining the importance of collaboration with public and private agents operating in the ecosystem.
The plan aims to foster Fomento de San Sebastián´s connection role, activating the city as a space of opportunities, with a special focus on enterprise and EKINN as the strategy´s cornerstone.
It will concentrate its efforts on boosting strategic areas - such as Knowledge-Intensive Business Services ("SEIC"), artificial intelligence, biosciences and gastronomy - that are essential to the city´s social and economic future.
Through Fomento de San Sebastián, the Finance and Local Employment Department presented the 2025 Innovation Plan with a budget of six million euros, including the main areas and initiatives to be carried through in the course of the year in relation to science, business innovation, enterprise and talent, in association with the various agents operating in the city´s innovation ecosystem.
In the opinion of Finance and Local Employment Councillor Ane Oyarbide, “the new Innovation Plan, which has been bolstered by 4% with respect to the 2024 plan, is geared towards helping people, businesses and projects with customised assistance, top-quality services and contents, a strategic focus and collaboration with public and private agents operating in the city´s ecosystem.”.
The Managing Director of Fomento de San Sebastián, Iñigo Olaizola, pointed out that "in the wake of constant efforts in recent years to generate courses of action with an impact on three key areas, the attraction and development of Talent, enterprise, and assistance for the science ecosystem, with this Plan we want to ramp up the project and are also homing in on sectors which have emerged in the city in the last few years (biosciences, Knowledge-Intensive Business Services-SEIC, Artificial Intelligence etc.) and which have substantial potential to generate economic activity and quality jobs. We also want to move forward in terms of international positioning, and most particularly to stand out as a city of science and innovation which nevertheless takes account of the social impact of this focus".
Report on activities
The Municipal Enterprise´s 2024 activity report confirms consolidation of its focus on becoming a leading agent driving innovation and enterprise in San Sebastián. The 5.8 M€ in the 2024 Plan assisted 2,699 people, and provided services and aid for 1,576 businesses.
2.5 M€ of the total amount were invested in direct aid for job hires and job creation, and 1,227 new jobs were created, 60% of which were employment contracts for women. Per-inhabitant investment in San Sebastián in 2024, with a population of 189,000, stood at 30.6 €, well above investment in other provincial capitals, such as Barcelona, where 18.91 € were invested per inhabitant (Source: Barcelona Strategic Plan).
There can be no doubt that the launch and activation of the EKINN space in 2024 was a clear example of the focus on enterprise. Assistance was provided for 229 business projects, 60% of which were innovative. Another relevant aspect is the proportion of women, who outstripped men in terms of both their number and their projects (54% and 62% respectively). The EKINN project reached out to more than 5,500 people in the course of one year.
2025 Innovation Plan
San Sebastián is a fully-fledged City of Science and Innovation, with 30 centres associated with the Basque Science and Technology Network, and R+D+i investment standing at 325.4 M€, bringing the city´s GDP to 3.7%. This has been achieved in an ecosystem providing jobs for more than 6,300 people, 4.6% of the city´s active population, making it, once more this year, the most R+D job- intensive provincial capital according to the COTEC Innovation Foundation´s annual report.
The 2025 Innovation Plan will be rolled out in 6 areas of activity:
1. Boosting public municipal innovation
Work will continue in 2025 to implement surveys and projects in order to carry through innovative, sustainable urban transformation solutions which will boost the living standards of the people of Donostia.
Among other initiatives, this will include pinpointing opportunities for innovation in Polígono 27 or the Eastern District, driving projects arising from the City Challenges competition launched by the Municipal Enterprise, focusing on innovative public procurement and seeking resources through EU funding mechanisms.
2. Promoting the city as an innovative entrepreneurship hub
This will focus on increasing the number of innovative projects, streamlining agents operating in the ecosystem, and upgrading the city as a space of opportunities for enterprise.
EKINN, a meeting and connection hub, will act as a central space to attract and retain entrepreneurial talent, and provide training and technical capacitation in enterprise and innovation.
The main highlights in 2025 will be the new EKINN Summit, the launch of the new EKINN+ start-up acceleration programme, introducing new services in connection with investment, talent and markets, and the implementation of new programmes to boost female enterprise.
3. Promoting San Sebastián as a city of science and innovation platform
The objective will be to help consolidate and foster initiatives in relation to research and innovation, developing talent, technology transfer to businesses and giving a boost to sectors of opportunity, in association with key agents.
Development of the San Sebastian Science Society brand ("SSSS") as a line of reference demonstrating the emphasis on social impact in relation to science and innovation with a social impact, the launch of projects to develop Artificial Intelligence and the establishment of services and programmes to strengthen knowledge-intensive businesses (SEIC), with a special focus on Biosciences. The PIA building, in fact, will be transformed into a major hub for businesses providing advanced services (SEIC) with a new range of spaces and services to streamline the ecosystem of businesses operating in these sectors.
In 2025 Fomento de San Sebastián will continue to assist with the development of any activities that help showcase the role of Women in Science and Innovation and the generation of new vocations, and it will also be organising the 12 th Innovation Week WeekINN.
4. Boosting new opportunities for innovation in the area of Urban Economy
New services, programmes and grants will be available to assist in improving competitiveness and innovating traditional sectors such as retail or hospitality, generation change and a boost for innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.
In the course of the year, a Local Action Plan will be defined for retail, in addition to programmes such as EKINN DENDAK, providing spaces and premises for innovative commercial initiatives and EKINN+ GASTRO, to assist with generation change and the focus on talent in the gastronomy sector.
5. Launching professional development projects for young talent
The creation of spaces for collaboration, dialogue and inspiration with young people in the city will be a transversal working area in 2025. Connections will be secured through encounters and events, and support will be available for innovative initiatives with advisory, grants and accommodation at the EKINN and Talent House buildings. The objective is to stir up initiatives for young people in the city.
2025 will see the launch of a new Residence Programme for local talent, with subsidised housing for young locals in Donostia, the job opportunities portal will be streamlined, and grants will be available to hire young people with qualifications and for the creation of businesses by entrepreneurs under 35.
Fomento de San Sebastián will be concentrating on activities with links to innovation and the generation of STEAM vocations, with initiatives in relation to the chair introduced recently with TECNUN, to help facilitate contact between students and Artificial Intelligence, and analyse its social impact on San Sebastián.
6. Positioning the City on the International stage as an Innovation Hub
It is clearly necessary to promote San Sebastián´s international positioning as an Innovation Hub, and an effort will be made to cultivate connections and relations with strategic cities and organisations around the world to promote innovation and enterprise, and also to attract events, projects and talent to the city.
In 2025 connections will be made with strategic cities and organisations, a boost will be given to relations with existing European networks, maintaining Fomento´s leadership of the EUROCITIES Enterprise and Innovation Committee, and efforts will be made to attract and promote international encounters in connection with science and innovation (MICE).
The Innovation Plan is a major tool used by Fomento de San Sebastián to drive innovation in the city, acting as a strategic platform to develop it.
48% of the 2025 Innovation Plan´s budget is co-financed by a number of sources, most particularly the NEXT Fund and the European Social Fund. Co-financing is completed by programmes by other institutions such as the Basque Government, the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council and Interreg Europe. The remaining 52% of the budget is financed by the Municipal Enterprise´s own funds.
The presentation of the Innovation Plan was attended by more than 40 agents operating in the ecosystem, among which institutions and bodies such as the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, BIC Gipuzkoa, the Gipuzkoa Chamber of Commerce, ELKARGI, GAIA and ADEGI, representatives of Universities (Deusto, Tecnun, BCC and the University of the Basque Country), of the Science and Technology ecosystem (CEIT, Polymat, CIC Biomagune, Vicomtech, BioGipuzkoa, DIPC, BASQUE QUANTUM and BRTA), VET Centres (Easo Politeknikoa, Nazaret, AEG, CEI, CEINPRO, Zubiri Manteo) and companies such as VIVEBiotech, Countercraft, Wavegarden, Multiverse Computing, Connect Group, Graphenea and other organisations such as KURSAAL, ShopSS, Gipuzkoa's Hospitality Sector Association, Ingenieriak, Orkestra, Emakumeak Zientzian and ASPEGI.