Partner name:Fundaciò IBIT
Region: Islas Baleares
Country:Spain
Website: http://www.ibit.org
Reference person: Pedro Soler Rossellò Immaculada Salamanca

FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THE REGION

Country: Spain
Total land area: 4.968,36 Km2
Population: 947.361
Population density: 190,7 per km2
GDP of Region: EUR 13.943.774,71
GDP per capita: EUR 19.713
Main Cities: Palma, Manacor, Inca, Mahon, Ciutadella, Ibiza
Main Industries: Services- specially tourism services -(80,2%), Building (9,7%) and industry (8,3%)
Regional NUTS status: NUTS 2
Objective Status: Objective 2 and 3
Region Description:

• The Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera) are the most easterly region of Spain. They represent 0.99% of Spanish territory, excluding Ceuta and Melilla, and are located in the centre of the western Mediterranean Sea.
• The Balearic Archipelago presents remarkably varied scenery. As for its orographical features, Mallorca presents a combination of mountain ranges (Tramuntana and Llevant) and plains (el Migjorn and es Pla). In Minorca, in spite of the apparent evenness of the terrain, the Tramuntana, of gentle hills, forms a contrast with es Migjorn, characterised by its flatness. Ibiza is notable for its two mountainous belts and extensive plains, whereas Formentera is the flattest of the Islands.
• The distribution of the Balearic population is very uneven, with the majority (80.11%) residing in the Island of Mallorca, 11.07% in the Pitiusas (Ibiza and Formentera) and the remaining 8.82% in Minorca. More than 64.76% of the Balearic population is concentrated in 8 municipalities. These are Calvià, Inca, Llucmajor, Manacor and Palma in Mallorca; Ciutadella and Mahón in Minorca; and Vila d'Ibiza (the city of Ibiza ) in Ibiza. Of these, the Palma Municipality alone, with 304.250 inhabitants, accounts for 40.01%, a clear indication of the unequal distribution of the population.
• The autonomous institutional organisation is constituted by the Parliament, the Government and the President of the Autonomous Community. The Insular Councils include the government and the administration of each one of the islands that form the archipelago.

• IBIT Foundation is a non-profit private technological centre, which has the mission of promoting, developing and transferring the knowledge and innovation to support the incorporation of the Balearic Islands Society to the knowledge Society and the competitiveness of the region enterprises.
• IBIT fulfil its task by focusing on the following key areas: Innovation dissemination, (training, technological watching, workshops, etc.), Technological Innovation fostering, Technological pilots development and technological implementation (telecommunications and internet services). The core competence of IBIT is centred on Information and commercialisation systems for Sme's and public administrations, and the dissemination of best practices, at both national and international level, useful for Balearic Island's enterprises and citizens.
• IBIT Foundation has taken part in over 30 RTD projects with over 100 companies and organisations involved. Out of those some 15 projects have received funding from EC through IV Framework, V Framework, and INTERREG programmes. IBIT also publishes monographs in topics on new technologies and has successfully organised some courses, seminars and conferences.
• IBIT Foundation has large experience in helping Sme's and public administration to take advantage of ITC, mainly through international and national projects.