Presentation
2003 was a year of great activity for CEDEX, not only in the field of technical assistance but also in the area of research work and technology transfer.
Once again, the support given by the Body to the main investment activities forming part of the major infrastructure plans undertaken by the Ministries of Fomento and Environment was the main field of activity, but CEDEX was also involved, in an advisory capacity, with numerous instantaneous decision-making activities in which solutions had to be found for specific problems of a technical nature that arose at the project, construction and operating stages of a variety of works.
CEDEX has likewise responded to the call to take action from other Public Bodies and the private sector, and has also been very active abroad.
The following pages bear witness to this in greater detail.
In a different area, the installations and facilities at CEDEX have been enhanced still further by the commissioning of a new real-time ship manoeuvring simulator, improvements made to the marine environment quality laboratory, progress made on the caisson for studying ballast behaviour and railway rail crossing and the acquisition of laboratory tools (both software and hardware) for the evaluation of railway interoperability.
The Body has thus consolidated its position as a leader in scientific research, development and technological innovation in the field of civil engineering and the associated environment, its installations and facilities being among the most advanced in the world.
As far as CEDEX's economic and financial situation is concerned, it can be stated that 2003 was an excellent year for entering into collaboration agreements that guarantee the financing of the Body, and for playing a major participatory role in the activities to be performed by the Ministerial Departments of Fomento and Environment in the coming years.
New channels of work have also been opened up with the private sector, which is aware of the need to increase its activities in the area of R&D&I as a way of enhancing opportunities in our productive sectors where competition is concerned.
The new CEDEX Council, the organ that guides the Body's activities, held its first meeting 29th May 2003, under the chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Infrastructures, which was attended by the Deputy Chairman and Secretary of State for Water and Coasts, as well as the other authorities who are members of Council.
At that session, apart from reviewing CEDEX's economic situation and its planning and activities, an agreement was reached concerning the system for distributing the profits arising from the use of the inventions developed at CEDEX.
At a Cabinet Meeting held on 7th November 2003, the Ministers formally gave their approval to the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation 2004-2007 and, as part of this, the Strategic Plan for CEDEX during that period.
The fact that the framework of the National Plan also contains other questions, concerning Biodiversity, Earth Sciences, Global Change, Material, Transport and Construction -all of which are directly linked to the activities of CEDEX-, merely serves to lend its support to the Body's lines of activity and to endorse the need to increase, where possible, the development of research projects in the area of civil engineering and the associated environment.
As has always been the case, CEDEX can rely on an excellent, qualified and willing task force of personnel that constitutes not only the Body's intellectual capital but also its major asset.
The Director General of CEDEX
Manuel L. Martín Antón