At the beginning of this academic year 2023/2024, our center applied, through the Vice-Ministry of Vocational Training of the Basque Government, for state recognition as a Center of Excellence. In the recently published resolution 21 new centers, including Somorrostro, have been selected to be part of the state network of centers of excellence of FP 2023 of the Ministry of Education and FP (MEFP).

The State Network of Centers of Excellence in Vocational Training is now made up of 66 centers, distributed throughout the 17 Autonomous Communities, all of which are public centers except for Somorrostro. In the Basque Country, only 6 centers (5 from Guipuzcoa and us) are part of this network.

The Centers of Excellence, which have an additional investment, are characterized by three aspects:

– Innovation, applied research and the incorporation of applied disruptive technology: creating environments and ecosystems, and developing projects.

– Entrepreneurship.

– Internationalization.

In this call, the 21 centers from 13 Spanish autonomous communities belong to 10 productive sectors: Aeronautics, Audiovisual, Construction and Energy Sustainability, Social and Care Economy, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, Maritime-Fisheries, Chemistry, Information Technologies, Transport and Logistics and Tourism. In our case, we have been recognized in one of the sectors with more projection, such as Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

The VET centers selected in this network aim to become the drivers of innovative ecosystems, new methodologies and latest technologies at the service of vocational training. This appointment reinforces Somorrostro’s position as a reference center in the field of vocational training and positions us as an agent of social transformation in our environment.