Indra “The FCAS will mean a giant leap in competitiveness across Spanish industry as a whole”

“The FCAS program will entail a tremendous development opportunity for the Spanish industry, and it will consolidate the sector’s position in the competitive arena introduced by the new Europe with its focus on Defence.” This was the message that Indra, as industrial coordinator of the program, conveyed to the research organizations and companies which had attended the work meeting convened by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) this Friday.

During his speech, the FCAS program director at Indra, Manuel Rodríguez Cerezo, explained that the program means a “considerable fast-tracking and will have tremendous impact in new dual-nature technology development - which can be marketed to both the military and civilian spheres - big data, artificial intelligence and advance simulation techniques being just a few of them.”

Indra’s director pointed out that this program is at the heart of the driving forces in all kinds of national technological capabilities - not only military - and that it shows a mature and pragmatic approach on the part of the State regarding its support for Research and Development (R&D) within Spanish companies.

According to Rodríguez Cerezo, it also benefits from “an enviable inter-ministerial coordination structure, which ensures focus, budget, prominence, industrial planning and a cross-cutting vision of all the program.” He also affirmed that the Government has displayed “tremendous determination and courage in adhering to the program during its earliest stages, which will in turn translate into tremendous technological development for the country.”

The FCAS will also provide the stability that the sector needs in order to tackle its digital transformation and to foster and facilitate its international business projection and global supply chain integration.

Companies, universities and other research bodies will work in the earliest stages of technological development, which will pose an important challenge.

According to Rodríguez Cerezo, this is a project for which “we must take advantage of all the capacities, talent and infrastructure available in Spain.”

He pointed out that, in order to succeed, it will be imperative for “each company to be clear and realistic in regards to its capacities and interests, and to work cohesively with other partners. A long-term business approach must prevail at all times.”

Indra’s role in the program will revolve around defending the interests of the Spanish State, coordinating and boosting the Spanish industry’s participation, and functioning as a point of contact and interlocutor with the Directorate-General of Armaments and Material (DGAM).

Rodríguez Cerezo considers that the FCAS will transform the business model of many companies in our country, so that R&D and product and proprietary technology development can become the new driving force for growth.

It will also serve as a lever to place them at the heart of the European Defence market, which will be seeing an influx of billions of euros in investment in the coming years.

According to Indra, Spanish industry will be able to compete in this new environment only if it has top-level technological capabilities and alliances with companies throughout Europe.

Indra is a company which places innovation at the heart of its business, and has marked out a strategy based on an ecosystem of collaboration among customers, partners and governments in order to develop the most advanced solutions capable of catering to market needs.

About Indra

Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the main global technology and consultancy companies and the technological partner for its customers’ key business operations around the world. It’s a major global supplier of proprietary solutions in specific segments of the Transportation and Defence markets and a leading company in digital transformation and information technology consultancy in Spain and Latin America by means of its Minsait subsidiary. Its business model is based on a comprehensive range of proprietary products, with an end-to-end approach that has high value and a significant innovative component. In 2018 Indra received income totaling 3.104 billion euros and had 43,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and business operations in more than 140 countries.