SOCIEDAD PARA EL DESARROLLO REGIONAL DE CANTABRIA SA

Their core work

SODERCAN is the regional development agency of Cantabria, Spain, focused on boosting the innovation capacity of small and medium enterprises. Their core activity under H2020 has been delivering structured innovation management services — diagnostics, assessments, and coaching — to SMEs across the Spanish regions of Cantabria and Asturias through the long-running GalacteaKam programme. They also bring regional development expertise to projects exploring IoT infrastructure and responsible innovation governance, acting as a bridge between EU-level research initiatives and the local business ecosystem.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

From 2014 to 2018, SODERCAN combined its core SME innovation support work with a foray into digital infrastructure through the FIESTA IoT testbed project, reflecting early interest in connecting regional businesses to emerging technologies. From 2019 onward, they dropped the digital experimentation track entirely and doubled down on SME innovation services while adding a new dimension: responsible innovation governance through TetRRIS. This suggests a strategic pivot from technology-push activities toward policy-oriented regional development.

SODERCAN is moving toward embedding ethics, responsibility, and governance frameworks into regional innovation ecosystems — expect future projects at the intersection of smart specialization and responsible innovation.

How they like to work

SODERCAN operates exclusively as a participant, never leading consortia — consistent with a regional support agency that contributes local implementation capacity rather than scientific leadership. With 32 unique partners across 12 countries, they maintain a broad but shallow network, rarely repeating partners beyond the GalacteaKam series (which involves a stable Spanish regional consortium). They are best suited as a regional implementation partner who brings ground-level access to SMEs and regional policy actors.

SODERCAN has collaborated with 32 partners across 12 countries, with a natural concentration in Spanish regional partnerships through GalacteaKam and broader European reach through FIESTA and TetRRIS.

What sets them apart

SODERCAN offers something rare in EU project consortia: direct, operational access to the SME ecosystem of northern Spain (Cantabria and Asturias) backed by years of hands-on innovation coaching experience. Unlike academic partners who study innovation systems, SODERCAN actually runs the diagnostic and support services on the ground. For any consortium needing a regional development body that can translate project outputs into real SME uptake in Spain, SODERCAN is a proven, experienced choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TetRRIS
  Their largest single project (EUR 129,375) and a strategic pivot into responsible innovation governance and smart specialization — a departure from their usual SME coaching work.
• FIESTA
  Their second-largest project (EUR 92,432) and only technical/digital project, involving federated IoT testbeds for smart city applications across Europe.
• GalacteaPlusKam
  Sustained across five funding rounds (2014–2021), demonstrating long-term commitment and institutional continuity in SME innovation management services.