Spanish Technology Platform for Advanced Technologies for Pollutant Detection, Safety Prevention and Health Monitoring (SENTIATECH)

SENTIATECH is the technological platform for pollutant detection, safety prevention and environmental monitoring.

This project proposes to develop a technology platform to address technologies for the detection and measurement of chemical substances, pathogens and emerging pollutants with an impact on the quality of life of people and the environment, applicable to the assessment and control of chemical and biological risks, microbiological contamination and air quality.

Context

The PEICTI 2021-2023 defined a set of thematic priorities and strategic lines included in the ECCTI 2021-2027 to serve the 2030 Agenda and the political priorities of the European Union, prioritising the response to the challenges of the national strategic sectors in specific areas that will be key to the transfer of knowledge and the promotion of R&D&I in the Spanish business environment.

Based on these challenges, it was considered necessary to generate an environment conducive to innovation, international projection, improved training and the promotion of excellence and international leadership of the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation system in the field of detection technologies and essential enabling technologies with applications in health monitoring, the detection of infectious pathogens and microbiological contaminants, and the evaluation and control of emerging substances and contaminants, including advanced materials and microplastics, with an impact on health and the environment. The fields of action, position, structure and activities to be developed by the SENTIATECH platform were thus aligned with the specific objectives of the EPCIP.

Summary and objectives

SENTIATECH’s main objectives are to guarantee the development of solutions for the early detection, measurement and control of chemical substances, pathogens and emerging pollutants and to ensure the competitiveness, sustainability and growth of the business environment, aligning the strategies of the different agents and concentrating R&D&I efforts.

Specific objectives:

To promote and boost the exchange of knowledge and its dissemination in order to improve technological capacity and competitiveness.
To promote the generation of knowledge through cooperation between scientific, technological and business agents.
To foster public-private collaboration and the detection of new demands in the field of society’s challenges and the thematic priorities identified in international and national research and innovation plans and programmes.
Accelerate and promote the transfer of the results achieved in research, development and innovation activities carried out by technology centres, research organisations and universities to the business fabric. To increase the degree of dissemination of new technological developments throughout the Spanish productive sector.
Contribute to the identification of R&D&I needs in the framework of pollutant, substance and pathogen detection technologies, and digital enabling technologies (DETs) applicable to the field of health and environmental pollution, promoting their orientation towards the resolution of societal challenges. Encourage and articulate R&D consortia for their participation in EU National Plans and Framework Programmes.
To collaborate with other national, European and international technological platforms of sectorial or technological scope, which are directly or indirectly related to improving the health and safety of society and the environment.
To carry out activities to promote and dynamise R&D&I oriented towards society’s challenges, opening up new business opportunities, and promoting technology watch, demonstration and training activities.

Results

As a result of this project, the SENTIATECH Platform was created, under the National Science and Technology Strategy and the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation (PEICTI). SENTIATECH is born in 2023 promoted by the ITENE Research Centre, which assumes the Technical Secretariat, and with the impulse of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU).

Currently, SENTIATECH is formed by an ecosystem that integrates public and private entities, consolidating itself as a platform for innovation and cooperation in advanced technologies for pollutant detection, safety prevention and environmental monitoring. Its governance structure is governed by a Governing Council made up of companies, and its different bodies also include a Scientific and Technical Committee, in addition to its active participation in national inter-platform groups.