The event was crowded and moving last January 15th; It is moving that the Bilbao As Fabrik initiative has long been realized with the opening of the Bilbao As Fabrik initiative: a project that brings together well-trained students, entrepreneurs and companies to meet the needs of Bilbao and Basque companies. And the Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, and the Attorney General of Mondragon University, Vicente Atxa, also emphasized that what is to come will be the seed of all that is to come.

The event was attended by the Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, several members of the Bilbao municipal government, Vicente Atxa, Rector of Mondragon University, Iñigo Uzin, President of the MONDRAGON Corporation, Mikel Álvarez, President of Mondragon University and representatives of Mondragon University's faculties.

The Bilbao Commission selected the Bilbao As Fabrik project, presented by Bilbao City Council and Mondragon Unibertsitatea, with the help of other agents, from 400 projects. It was a long but very fruitful process, and an innovation hub that is a symbol of innovation is already up and running.
What’s more, there are already 228 students studying for the following degrees and master’s degrees: a double degree in Mechatronic Engineering; Global Digital Humanities degree; Business Data Analytics degree; Double degree in Business Administration and Management (myGADE); and a master’s degree in Facilitating Learning. And in the medium term, the Attorney General of Mondragon University, Vicente Atxa, expects more than 800 students to attend.

Knowledge and talent

Bilbao As Fabrik is located in the renovated headquarters of a former screw company, in the renovated Zorrozaurre district, which aims to be an island of knowledge and talent as part of this project. According to Aburto, it is a powerful infrastructure that combines "tradition and modernity".

Vicente Atxa, Rector of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, emphasized that As Fabri is the second campus, and that society in Bizkaia and the Basque Country has welcomed Mondragon Unibertsitatea's offer. Both Aburto and Atxa emphasized that the collaboration between the two organizations is very fruitful and that it is the "seed" of what is to come.

Bilbao AS Fabrik aims to improve the competitiveness of local companies and consolidate Zorrotzaurre as an innovative and benchmark ecosystem in the field of advanced services for industry 4.0 and the digital economy. To this end, the project will have as its epicenter a public building located in Zorrotzaurre with an industrial past, which will be established as a reference center for the project and a meeting point for the planned activities. From this building, four key actions will be coordinated over the next three years, with the aim of helping to establish a new production model:

• Training programs for university students, entrepreneurs and professionals, designed to meet the challenges of Industry 4.0 in the digital economy.
• Network actions between key public and private sector actors or key stakeholders to coordinate a single and effective strategy to respond to the current and future needs of the industrial sector.
• Proposals that encourage the marketing of Bilbao-based startups in relation to the technology, specialization and intelligence required to place Industry 4.0 internationally.
• Establish an ideas observatory and laboratory where the trends in technology, industry 4.0 and the digital economy will be analyzed, in order to identify the challenges facing local companies and propose innovative solutions to these challenges.