Research, Technology Development and Innovation, S.L.

Their core work

RTDI is a Madrid-based innovation consultancy that designs and manages EU-funded platforms, observatories, and training programmes at the intersection of policy, technology foresight, and skills development. They specialize in building online tools for smart specialization policy advice, monitoring emerging technology trends (particularly around AI and FET), and developing training curricula for researchers on open science and innovation skills. Their work consistently bridges the gap between EU research policy objectives and practical capacity-building for researchers and regional authorities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

RTDI began in 2015-2016 with ICT-oriented work on cloud computing collaboration and smart specialization platforms (HOLA CLOUD, ONLINE-S3), focusing on digital infrastructure and regional innovation policy. From 2018 onward, they shifted decisively toward human-centred themes: AI foresight, responsible innovation, open science, and skills training for researchers (PREFET, DISCOVERY LEARNING). The trajectory shows a clear move from building digital tools to shaping how people and institutions engage with emerging technologies and open research practices.

RTDI is moving toward human capacity-building for AI-era research, combining technology foresight with open science skills development — expect future work on AI literacy and responsible innovation training.

How they like to work

RTDI is exclusively a project leader — all four H2020 projects were coordinated by them, which is remarkable for a small SME. With 23 unique partners across 13 countries from just 4 projects, they build broad, diverse consortia rather than relying on a fixed set of partners. This signals strong consortium management skills and a wide professional network, making them a reliable coordinator choice for CSA-type actions that require multi-country coordination.

Despite being a small company, RTDI has assembled a network of 23 distinct partners across 13 countries through just 4 projects, indicating strong reach across Europe. Their geographic spread suggests no single-country bias, with partnerships distributed broadly rather than clustered in any region.

What sets them apart

RTDI punches above its weight: a small Spanish SME that has coordinated every single project it participated in, across 13 countries. Their niche is translating EU policy objectives — smart specialization, FET, open science — into practical platforms and training programmes, a space where few SMEs operate as leaders. For consortium builders, they offer proven coordination capability for CSA actions combined with genuine content expertise in innovation policy and skills development.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ONLINE-S3
  Their largest project (€333K) building an online platform for smart specialization policy advice — a tool used by regional authorities across Europe.
• PREFET
  A forward-looking observatory combining AI, human intelligence augmentation, and responsible innovation — an unusual and ambitious topic mix for a small SME.
• DISCOVERY LEARNING
  Their most recent project targeting PhD candidate training in open science and transferable skills, signalling their current strategic direction.