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Having a greater advantage to compete with large multinationals, finding synergies, sharing costs, co-creating, finding talent... These are some of the arguments behind a concept that, although not new, is gaining more prominence in recent times: coopetition. Coopetition means cooperating to compete. In fact, collaboration between competitors has always existed. For example, demand for Intel chips skyrocketed with the success of Microsoft's Windows.

However, the term itself is new. Coopetition means reconciling cooperation and competition: two companies in the same sector collaborate and share synergies in order to compete - presumably in a healthy way - for the same market niche or to attract a certain type of customer.

Circumstances have changed, and while taking market share from a competitor may be a success, the fact is that the tough economic environment is forcing many companies to cooperate and form coalitions with similar companies in order to survive and meet the increasingly daunting challenges they face.

This is the idea behind the creation of DFactory Barcelona, a project promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca. It is an Industry 4.0 node with an ecosystem of companies that promotes the attraction of talent, technology, and investment in a unique space.

DFactory goes beyond the concepts of incubator and accelerator to become a hub for companies linked to technology and Industry 4.0 that share a common space that favors communication and interrelation -beyond networking- and that provides them with a series of shared tools and resources:  incubation; prototyping; supplier and space management; technology diagnosis and adaptation; testing, experimentation and characterization; end-to-end solutions; on-demand research; design, programming and sensorization; production services; R&D&I project and team management; international R&D&I collaboration; specialized training; events and programmers' meetings to develop shared software (hackatons), among others.