The creation of the IMDEA Software Institute as a “tractor” institution for the already significant research base and software industry activities existing in the CAM, is clearly a worthwhile initiative.

The institute will bring about the opportunity of having a critical mass of researchers and industrial experts, which can allow for significant improvements in the impact of research.

The Madrid region has an important position at European level in the IT sector due to the presence of numerous companies that are intensive in the use of information in its value chains. Madrid is the most important Spanish IT business cluster.

The Institute will help to consolidate Madrid’s position at the national and European levels and will contribute to the advance of the objectives and priorities of the European Commission research programs in the software and services areas.

This area has been chosen because of:

• The importance of software as an enabling technology in most devices and services, including a large portion of economy sectors.
• The significant problems that software failures bring about and the cost involved in developing high quality software.
• The availability of highly-qualified researchers in this area in the Madrid region.

Improvements in this area are expected to have a significant impact on the general competitiveness of the economy.