Málaga’s Technology Park – a burgeoning new tech centre
Officially named the Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía but popularly known as the Málaga Technology Park, this large facility on the northwest side of the city is a centre of innovation and research that is leading the development of advanced, knowledge-based economic activity in the region. Not only is this helping to make the local economy more and more sophisticated and diversified, but it also creates excellent professional opportunities for people in the tech sector and those interested in moving to the Costa del Sol and working remotely.
The Parque Tecnológico is the product of an ambitious development project that stretches back to the mid-nineties and also included the general beautification of Málaga’s historic city centre. In the intervening years this science park has grown into a large business complex that is now home to over 600 businesses and employs 17,000 people, most of them highly qualified.
It is an industrial hub focused on technology and research, with the bulk of companies specialising in electronics, IT, telecommunications and computing, with important engineering firms and support services in the form of specialist laboratories, training centres, R&D facilities, consultancies and technical advisory bureaus.
The large international corporations present here account for much of the employment at the Málaga Technology Park, including amongst them Oracle, IBM; Accenture, Huawei, TDK, CGI and Ciklum. Though generally much smaller in their operations than these multinationals, local firms also play an important role – not just in creating jobs but also in developing the skills and expertise needed to create a thriving 21st century technology-based economy in the Málaga region.
A new direction for the Costa del Sol
The science park works closely with Málaga University and other academic institutions both in Spain and abroad to give university and college leavers specialised vocational skills, an international perspective and the entrepreneurship not just to work for companies, but to create their own products and businesses. Stimulating the founding of value-added start-ups is therefore an integral part of the formula.
For this reason there are exchange programmes with international universities and technology centres around the world, but especially in the USA and South Korea, two global leaders in the field of digital technology. The students and employees who return from one or two-year stints abroad not only deepen their technical knowledge, but also improve the language skills, world vision and creativity needed to really succeed in the new world.
In this way, the Andalusian Technology Park is opening new frontiers for economic development in this part of Spain, and the fact that it is the world headquarters of the International Association of Science Parks underlines its position as one of the most important centres of its kind in the Mediterranean region.
For people looking for a new, more quality orientated lifestyle on the Costa del Sol, it opens the door to working remotely while living in Marbella or commuting the short distance to the technology park in one of a very broad range of industries and professions.
