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A space in which to promote innovation and research which is being developed in the Principality. This Tuesday morning, with these two main objectives in mind, the new Actua Innovation Space was opened, located on the ground floor of Caldea. The new facilities contain two very different areas. On one side of the corridor of the entrance to the Thermoludic centre there is an area which can be used for holding lectures or meetings involving several companies so that they can exchange ideas and projects.

On the other side of the corridor, there are three spaces separated by glass doors, where companies place their projects in order to develop them and also to be able to display them to the public. Currently there are two projects that occupy this space, both proposed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with one of them having the collaboration of the Sustainability Observatory in Andorra. The first of these is the pilot project and the development of Persuasive Electric Vehicle, which operates autonomously and in the future should be able to interact with various elements of the city. According to the director of the ActuaTech Foundation, Yann Baucis, this project is "the perfect example of what we want this space to embrace".

The Innovation Space has been created by ActuaTech, a foundation of which Andorra Telecom is a founding trustee. The telecommunications operator is also a trustee of the Andorran Sustainability Observatory, which also has a prominent role in the projects designed to encourage innovation.

During the presentation of the space, the MIT placed emphasis on the fact that Andorra has become a pioneer in innovation, almost like a "laboratory". The flexibility in the legislation and the fact that Andorra is a country but with the size of a city, are elements that are very attractive for the companies of the sector. A good example of this is the collaboration between MIT and the Andorran Sustainability Observatory, which can be observed in the project that is displayed in another room of the new space. Project data and graphs can be projected onto a scale model of Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engorda which help the viewers understand the behaviour of the city and of all the key players that form it in a better way.

The Secretary of State for Economic Diversification and president of the ActuaTech Foundation, Josep Maria Missé indicated: “We are also currently talking to business associations as well as with the commercial sector as they are in possession of a lot of information that we could help them use.” Baucis added: “Part of the data provided to us comes from key players such as FEDA, the Government and Andorra Telecom, and we want other players in the country to join in, and this space is the perfect place to do this,” And he also stressed that data is very important today.

Although these are the only two projects on display in this space, Baucis explained that Actua is backing many other projects that are aimed at analysing events, research on mobility in the country or the projection and design of the neighbourhoods and parishes of tomorrow. All of this has been presented this Tuesday morning while looking forward to the end of the week. On 14 and 15 September, Andorra will host the first City Science Summit 2017, organised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the support of Actua, where international experts will show examples on how various cities have designed their spaces.