Fundación LABEIN is a private, non-profit technological research & innovation centre, from Bilbao, Spain, with more than 50 years of experience in supporting enterprises and administration bodies. The fields of activities are Innovation Systems, Construction & Environment, Iron & Steel, Automotive & Energy. LABEIN has a total staff of 323 people, 70% of them with high-qualified degrees and 10% doctors. LABEIN is a member of TECNALIA, a Technology Corporation gathering 1322 researchers, 10 international sites all around the world, a turnover of 111ME and 172 FP6 projects.

The definition and implementation of regional development models, the assessment of the impact of Innovation policies and strategies are among the core activities of the Innovation Systems Unit, which works in close cooperation with EU, national and sub-national administration bodies.

LABEIN is very active in performing projects in an international level. In the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) LABEIN is in the contract negotiation process of 11 projects, leading one of them, in the FP6 participates or has participated in 48 projects, leading 11 of them and in FP5 it was involved in 40 projects leading 8 of them. In relation with other programmes, LABEIN is or has been involved in more than 40 projects of the RFCS (Research Fund for Coal and Steel) programme, 1 EQUAL, 1 ASIA-URBS, 1 ASIA IT&C, 1 e-Content, 3 INTERREG III B Atlantic Area (leading one of them) and 3 INTERREG III C. We have also an active participation in the development of the JTI E2B.

Main EU Projects related (* coordinated):

• REGCON - Support action for innovation driven clusters in construction. Regional approaches, multi-stakeholder engagement and cross regional co-operation (FP7-REGIONS-2007-1);
• *CENCE - Connecting ENergy Clusters across Europe (FP6-2004-INNOV-6);
• *BUILD-NOVA - Building innovation in the European Construction Sector (FP6-2004-INNOV-6);
• SYSTEMATIC - Sectoral Innovation SYstems in Europe Monitoring, Analysing Trends and Identifying Challenges (FP6-2004-INNOV-6);
• *EMERIPA-European Methodology for Regional Innovation Policy Impact Assessment and Benchmarking (FP6-2005-INNOV-4);
• *RKMnet – European Regional Knowledge Management Network (INTERREG III C);
• *REGINA- Towards the setting up of a lasting partnership for regional scientific technological and innovation knowledge management in Atlantic Area (INTERREG III B- Atlantic Area).