The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) opens access for Spanish companies and startups to the knowledge and innovation ecosystem of the university with the greatest scientific and technological impact in the world.
CDTI Innovación, the state innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have signed a memorandum of understanding within the framework of the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP), with a duration of four years, to promote technological collaboration between MIT and Spanish entities in technologies of strategic interest for the national innovation ecosystem, with an emphasis on deep-tech. Through this agreement, CDTI becomes an institutional member of the ILP, the world’s leading program in university–industry collaboration, with more than four decades of activity and a presence across all technology-based sectors.
The agreement is based on the premise that direct access to frontier scientific knowledge is a key differentiator for the competitiveness of technology companies in global markets. From this perspective, the CDTI–MIT ILP collaboration is conceived as an institutional bridge between the world’s most prominent science and technology ecosystem and Spain’s innovative business sector, with the specific objective of translating this connection into concrete technological collaborations.
The agreement is grounded in the view that companies’ ability to absorb and apply frontier scientific knowledge largely determines their capacity for differentiation and scaling in global markets—an area in which the MIT ILP operates. CDTI’s incorporation as an institutional member opens a channel of access for the Spanish ecosystem to MIT researchers, networks, and technologies in high-impact areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced materials, energy, and quantum computing. For 2026, the selected priority areas are fusion and microelectronics.
In 2024, the United States stood out as CDTI’s main international partner in its bilateral technological cooperation call, with eight approved projects. The new CDTI–MIT ILP agreement provides institutional continuity to a relationship that is already the most active within CDTI’s international cooperation network.
The agreement includes three specific lines of action: CDTI’s access to interactions with representatives of the MIT community and ecosystem; the joint organization of events aimed at exploring opportunities for technological collaboration between MIT and Spanish entities; and a dedicated advisory channel managed through the CDTI Office in the United States to guide companies in leveraging this new framework.
This cooperation aligns with the technology transfer and international technological collaboration priorities of CDTI’s 2024–2027 Strategic Plan and connects with CDTI’s efforts to promote science-based innovation through programs such as NEOTEC, aimed at high-tech startups, and Innvierte, the public venture capital program that supports technology companies with scaling potential.
For additional information on activities related to the agreement, please contact the CDTI Office in the United States at eeuu@cdti.es
CDTI Innovación
The Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation (CDTI E.P.E.) is the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, whose objective is to promote technological innovation within the business sector. CDTI’s mission is to ensure that the Spanish business ecosystem generates and transforms scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable, and inclusive growth. In 2025, within the framework of its 2024–2027 Strategic Plan, CDTI provided more than €2 billion in support to Spanish companies and startups
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