ISO 13485 is an international standard that specifies the requirements for a specific quality management system for medical devices. In this way, Vicomtech demonstrates its ability to manage health products and services that comply with applicable regulatory and quality requirements.

On our path towards excellence in management, we have taken another step and have been certified in ISO 22301. The adoption of this standard implies the development of Continuity and Test Plans that respond to disruptions, reducing their impact and ensuring business continuity..

ISO 22301 is the international business continuity management standard that, through the continuous improvement cycle (PDCA), establishes the requirements for the planning, establishment, implementation, operation, supervision, review, testing, the maintenance and improvement of a documented SGCN (Business Continuity Management System) taking into account the management of the global risks of each organization and its resilience capacity.

(source: https://www.aenor.com/certificacion/tecnologias-de-la-informacion/continuidad-negocio)

Information Management and Security

At Vicomtech we have been committed for years to excellence in management including asset management as well as its comprehensive security. Risk-based thinking that projects us towards a clear diagnosis of our information assets, helps us to implement controls and establish procedures for handling data and information in general.

The awareness of all the people in Vicomtech and the good work in this area have recently allowed us to obtain the UNE-EN-ISO 27001 certificate, the standard for Information Security Management Systems.

Thanks to this certificate, which becomes even more relevant as digitization advances in all areas and sectors, we have the guarantees that we effectively manage the security of the information and assure its confidentiality, integrity and availability.

Environmental Management Systems
We have a state-of-the-art methodology to identify and assess environmental aspects of the centre’s intangible assets. All the aspects which could affect the environment causing changes in environmental conditions are identified and calculated in real time. This methodology is implemented through the environmental footprint of Vicomtech. It enables the assessment of both directly or indirectly associated environmental risks with the activity of the organisation and improves our environmental performance as well as interacting with our suppliers and sub-contractors in behaviour matters. 

R&D&i Management Systems

In November 2021 we obtained the certification of the new UNE166002. We obtained our first recognition of this certificate in 2006, having adapted the system to the renewals of the standard as they have been produced. This is the certificate with which we most identify ourselves, the one that accredits us in the excellence of R & D & i and positions us at the forefront of innovation management. Specifically, it positions us in the leadership of the management of our knowledge as researchers as well as in the management of our intangible assets.

Since 2014, the UNE 166002 standard follows the guidelines of the European Technical Specification TS 1655 for R & D & i Management, published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). The new version UNE166002: 2021 focuses on knowledge management, scientific dissemination as results of R + D + i and sets the detection of the opportunity as a projection towards the creation of value. We continue in line with this new standard, preparing our future towards ISO 56002.

We apply ISO9001 from an R & D & i management approach, thus adapting the standard to R & D & i project management.

We have the European Commission recognition HR Excellence in Research which vouches for our commitment to open, transparent recruitment based on researchers’ merits (OTM-R: Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment of Researchers).

The European Commission has developed the European Researchers’ Statutes and the Code of Conduct for Recruiting Researchers and these have become key elements in European Union policy, making research an attractive career and stimulating economic growth and employment in Europe. Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment  is one of the cornerstones of the European Researchers’ Statutes and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment.
The aim is to ensure a contribution to the effective generation, transfer and shared use of knowledge, as well as the professional development of researchers from the initial stages.
Also, the Code of Conduct is used for the recruitment of researchers through fair and transparent selection processes. 
OTM-R makes researcher careers more attractive, ensure equal opportunities for all candidates and facilitates mobility. As a whole, it can contribute to the increase in the effectiveness of research investment costs.

Vicomtech from its origins has been committed to diversity, without any personal circumstance (race, gender, age or any other) determining discriminatory and different behavior. 

The new version of the Gender Equality Plan has been approved, which is continuous with the previous one and represents a further step to promote and guarantee real and effective equality opportunities at the Center.

The center is committed to full equality and its Human Resources policy is based on the development of people, regardless of their gender. The Equality Committee, the body that oversees the application of these criteria and that complies with the parity criteria, will continue to lead the plan, and will guarantee that the established measures are carried out. It also provides a space for dialogue and fluid communication on equality that allows continuous improvement, assessment and implementation of new proposals and initiatives.

For more information, see the attached Vicomtech Gender Equality Plan.

In 2022, Vicomtech obtained the recognition that confirms and recognizes the degree of normalization of the presence, use and management of Basque in its organization. Silver Bikain Recognition.

Since 2022, Vicomtech annually registers its carbon footprint with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. Through this voluntary registry, the calculation of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by its activity is collected.

Vicomtech has voluntarily offset 100% of its carbon footprint for the year 2022 through the Gipuzkoa Voluntary Carbon Fund.

Prize Awarded in December 2015
This prize recognises the most advanced organisations in their management practices, those which seek the balanced satisfaction of all their interest groups: clients, workers, management bodies and society in general. 
At Vicomtech, we regulate all our activities with the R&D&i management system to see and measure their continued improvement, the optimisation of processes of technological innovation and the transfer and generation of knowledge, thus ensuring that we have high quality methodologies.