ITENE is committed to transparency and good governance across its organisation. In this section, we share relevant information about the operation and monitoring of all its government-related activities.
By publishing this information our research centre also complies with two laws:
- SPANISH LAW 19/2013 of 9 December on TRANSPARENCY AND ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION (national).
- VALENCIAN REGION LAW 2/2015 of 2 April on TRANSPARENCY, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION.
Institutional information
Financial reporting
Good Governance System and Compliance Policy
ITENE’s corporate governance system is founded on ethics, transparency and best practices in good governance in order to safeguard its corporate interest and generate sustainable value for all its stakeholders. ITENE fosters a culture of zero tolerance to corruption and fraud and supports studying and sharing the principles of business and professional ethics.
To this end ITENE has implemented a Compliance System inspired by the UNE 19601 standard which ensures adherence to legal regulations by laying down ethical rules that include controls for preventing and identifying conduct which might be against the law. This is why ITENE’s Legal Compliance Policy specifies that it has zero tolerance for any conduct which may involve breaches of legal regulations or unethical behaviour.
Code of Ethics and Conduct
This is the cornerstone of the system and lays down the guiding principles and ground rules for the professional, ethical and responsible behaviour of all ITENE’s staff. This code has been endorsed by our Board of Directors and General Meeting. Along with the Internal and Corporate Governance Regulations, it sets out the principles of conduct of ITENE’s staff together with the organisation’s commitment to business ethics and transparency principles in all its fields of business. The main aspects of this code of ethics are outlined below.
The five core values governing our behaviour in the organisation are:
- Customer focus: we are responsive to our customers’ needs and sympathetic to their requirements.
- Honesty and objectivity: we operate in keeping with best practice and professional standards by acting with integrity, consistency and diligence.
- Excellence: we encourage creativity and thinking outside the box to spark new ideas which help our organisation and customers to grow. We also insist on the highest quality standards in our services.
- Flexibility: we are quick to adapt to the constant pace of change around us.
- Teamwork: we work better together. We are a multidisciplinary team. Our expertise in diverse fields enables us to build synergies.
Likewise, as a member of the Valencian Region’s Technology Institute Network (REDIT), ITENE embraces as its principles the cornerstones on which the REDIT Code of Ethics is based: Commitment, Cooperation, Dialogue, Excellence, Moderation, Honesty, Responsibility, Transparency and Trust.
Our code of ethics fosters:
- A respectful, safe working environment in which all staff members can perform their duties appropriately and with dignity. ITENE also has an Equality Plan in place which ensures real, effective equality of opportunities between men and women.
- A working environment which is compatible with family and personal development by helping to reconcile work responsibilities with a full, satisfactory family and personal life and which is reflected in its work-life balance policies.
- Enabling staff members to conduct their professional activities, both internally and also in their relations with third parties, under a strict, ongoing duty of confidentiality and the protection of trade secrets.
- Complying with the information security system pursuant to the ISO 27001 standard which ensures all applicable data protection regulations are implemented.
- Staff members’ abstention in case of any potential conflict between the personal or family interest of the employee and the interest of ITENE in compliance with the principles of independence, abstention and reporting any potential conflicts of interest.
- Making payments and conducting financial transactions which are always related to its corporate purpose and are authorised, documented, substantiated and recorded.
- Compliance with the law and abiding by legislation and internal policies and regulations without exception.
- Policy of refraining from soliciting, accepting or receiving any gifts to gain any type of compensation associated with their professional activities and which may be intended to undermine their own or others’ objectivity or to influence any decision-making process.
- Policies for using and safeguarding property and information assets.
- Commitment to complete, objective and truthful reporting in the disclosure and promotion of its economic and non-economic operations.
- Maintaining its in-house job grading system which enables each position to be objectively assigned to its appropriate level and category.
- Using objective and non-discriminatory selection processes and respecting the principle of equal treatment and opportunities between genders.
- Training programmes at all organisational levels to enable staff members to gain the skills they need to perform their work effectively and develop and grow professionally.
Relationships with other stakeholders, in particular customers, beneficiaries and suppliers, built on mutual dignity and respect in which we expect them to treat ITENE’s employees courteously as an essential part of a sound professional relationship.
The Ethics Committee is tasked with interpreting and answering questions about this Code of Ethics and Conduct together with queries concerning any other internal aspects on this matter. Any enquiries about the Code of Ethics can be emailed to canal.etico@itene.com.
Crime prevention system
ITENE has a whistleblowing channel (denuncias.penal@itene.com) for reporting incidents contrary to its compliance standards. Reports will be confidential but not anonymous though the whistleblower’s right to privacy will be safeguarded. They are to contain the whistleblower’s name, surname and ID number, the email address, name and surname of the person(s) involved, the approximate date of the incident and type of infringement. Reports will be examined to confirm the substance, sufficiency and plausibility of the information and the relevance of the reported incidents.
The interested parties will be notified of the proposed decision and will then have five days to submit any written arguments they consider appropriate. At the end of this period, the examining officer will give their final decision and no appeal may be made against it. The decision will always be notified to the interested parties.
The data of the people involved in the procedure will be processed pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). People using the Whistleblowing Channel may at any time exercise their legal rights of access, rectification, erasure and objection by emailing denuncias.penal@itene.com.