Building a Cross-Border Economic Observatory: Econometric Modelling, Composite Indicators and Predictive Analytics for Innovation and Sustainability

The OISE project addresses the challenge of fragmented economic and business information across Euskadi, Navarre, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. At present, data on innovation, sustainability, and corporate behavior are scattered and based on non-comparable methodologies, which hampers joint decision-making and the design of coherent cross-border policies. The overarching goal is to create a shared territorial-intelligence infrastructure that integrates, analyzes, and disseminates harmonized information on the Euroregion’s business fabric, strengthening institutional, scientific, and economic cooperation. Through the design and development of a cross-border digital platform, OISE will make it possible to monitor business dynamics in terms of innovation, sustainability, and finance, as well as anticipate trends through predictive-analysis modules. It will be carried out between 2026 and 2029 by a cross-border consortium composed of public entities, universities, and research centers from the three territories. These products will benefit public institutions, companies, intermediaries, and citizens, enabling evidence-based decisions and guiding public policy making. The cross-border added value lies in methodological harmonization, data interoperability, and the creation of a shared knowledge space that has not existed until now. OISE combines advanced statistical analysis, visualization, and collaborative governance, laying the groundwork for a self-sustaining observatory that strengthens the Euroregion’s economic and scientific cohesion.

Consequently, the outlined PhD research agenda will be carried out in an international, multicultural environment, with the collaboration of an interdisciplinary research team.

The main research work packages contribute to:

ESTIA-Recherche – Creativity, Ecodesign and Circularity Team

The thesis will be carried out at ESTIA Institute of Technology   within the ESTIA-Research laboratory and potentially in collaboration with Mondragon University.

The laboratory is structured around six research axes, and the PhD will be conducted within the “Creativity, Eco-design, and Circularity” research axis. This axis focuses on how can the hybridization of different mechanisms (approaches, tools, methods, and organizational models) help stimulate or improve the economic and environmental efficiency of innovation processes among socio-economic stakeholders. Through action-research initiatives developed in close collaboration with stakeholders (companies, associations, citizens, etc.), the research seeks to foster and analyze sustainability-oriented approaches (e.g., circular economy, low-tech solutions, and sufficiency) in order to address these challenges.

This PhD position is part of the OISE project: “Observatory for Companies’ Innovation and Sustainability in the Euroregion”, funded under the Interreg POCTEFA program.

The candidate must hold a Master’s degree in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, or related field, strong quantitative and analytical skills, knowledge of econometric and statistical modelling, experience with empirical research and data management, programming skills in R, Python, Stata, GAMS or similar tools, interest in innovation, sustainability, and regional economic dynamics.

Good command of English and/or Spanish is required. Knowledge of French would be an advantage but is not mandatory.