After seven years of delay, Ibiza is finally about to have its own Centre Bit resolving an “injustice”, as Antoni Costa, Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy, Finance and Innovation, described it.
The first announcement dates back to December 2017.when Vicent Torres was president of the Consell de Ibiza and Viviana de Sans, vice president, Consell and Govern announced that in the first quarter of 2018 Ibiza would have a space linked to the Bit Foundation as an embryo of what in the future has to be the Centre Bit of Ibiza. It was to be installed in sa Coma, in building 101 on the first floor of which are the premises of the Balearic School of Civil Service. This first stage is about to be inaugurated, after the works that were developed during the last six months. Although it was scheduled to be put into operation this December, the Government has confirmed to La Voz de Ibiza that it would be ready in the first weeks of 2025. “The works themselves are about to be finished. Now all that remains is to prepare the plant and this week the board of trustees will meet to create the figure to then be able to hire a manager and an administrator,” the Ministry of Economy has detailed. The works began in June, involve an investment of 1.1 million euros and are expected to take six months to complete. The project is financed by the Govern and executed by the Consell de Ibiza, owner of the building.
For this reason, it is expected to be operational “at the beginning of the year, when the building is fitted out and steps are taken to appoint a manager” and will be managed by the Bit Foundationas in Mallorca and Menorca. Meanwhile, the insular president, Vicent Marí, has pointed out during a visit of Antoni Costa that the objective is to offer companies and individuals a suitable space for the development of their activity.
What does the Centre Bit consist of?
The integral project consists of the remodeling of Pavilions 101 and 103 of Sa Coma to install the Fundació BIT Eivissa. This new space will be destined to provide technological and innovative services on the island of Ibiza and will be definitively located in the Centre Bit Ibiza with different spaces to create new projects and technology companies.
From the Govern have detailed that “the available spaces have to include training areas, business incubation, common infrastructure support such as Lab 5G, AI or Fablab, and meeting and demonstration spaces constituting the reference point in technological innovation on the island of Ibiza“.
New building
The 2025 Budget contemplated 3.5 million euros to rehabilitate building 103 of the former military barracks of sa Coma through the Insularity Factor so that, despite the extension of the budgets due to the crisis the crisis between the PP and Voxthe funds would be assured. With this investment, a space of 2,000 square meters will be built to host companies linked to innovation and technology-based entrepreneurship, as announced by Costa. This year, the Balearic Islands have been officially selected as a Regional Innovation Valley by the European Commission, a significant achievement that underlines the region’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, with a strong focus on circularity.
