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February 4, 2021The Fourth Industrial Revolution Network (XaFIR) has been created with the main actors in research and development in the area of Industry 4.0 in Catalonia, to promote the mass implementation of these technologies in the Catalan production sector.
Xafir is formed of 400 researchers from 35 Catalan research groups that are pioneers in the area of Industry 4.0. The aim is for Catalonia to progress in industrial digitalisation to achieve entirely smart factories and for the network to become a benchmark in Europe. It will be a key disruptive agent of the transformation of the industrial sector, which will promote the mass implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies in the productive sector in Europe.


The main aim of the XaFIR network is to promote and facilitate knowledge transfer in the form of products and services in the framework of Industry 4.0 to companies, especially small and medium sized companies (SMEs). To achieve this, XAFIR will promote the capacities and research results of its members, encourage interdisciplinary research in the area of Industry 4.0, and boost the valorisation and transfer of all research groups, increasing collaboration with the public and private sectors to carry out joint projects.
The XaFIR network will provide advice to promote the transfer of products and services to the industrial sector in the form of patents, licences and the creation of technology-based companies (TBCs). It will establish a framework for exchanging experiences and capacities with physical (living-labs) and virtual (marketplace) support, through a new concept of Innovation HUB of Industry 4.0 as an Open Space of Technological Innovation. It is expected that the activity of XaFIR will increase the number of projects and research, development and innovation agreements signed with industry by 25%, the number of patents registered by 45%, and the number of technology-based companies created by 30%.
This network is coordinated by the Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering (ESEIAAT) of the UPC. The 35 research groups that comprise the network belong to the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), the CIM UPC Foundation, the Technology Centre of Catalonia (Eurecat), the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Computer Vision Center, el Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics, the University of Girona, the Telecommunications Technology Centre of Catalonia, i2cat and the Leitat Technological Center.
This project is co-funded by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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