On 3 May 2011, a month after the first work session with the members of the strategic aggregation, the Business Council of the "UPF-Icària Campus of International Excellence" project was established.

The Business Council of UPF CEI was created due to the University's wish to include the vision and needs of the economic and productive sector in its strategic debate, while detecting opportunities for academia, business and society.

In the first part of the nearly two-hour work session at the Poblenou campus, UPF Rector Josep Joan Moreso; the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Núria Basi, and the Vice-rector for Science Policy, Teresa Garcia-Milà, presented the ICÀRIA project, placing special emphasis on the UPF Research Park in Social and Human Sciences.

The development of this Park, one of the most significant undertakings of the UPF CEI project, reflects the University's strategic initiative to take up a position as the leading science park in social and human sciences in Southern Europe. The representatives of the business fabric considered as positive this institutional initiative to grow vertically on the basis of its strengths. Thereafter, debate focussed on the tools necessary to foster knowledge transfer through dialogue and collaboration between both sectors.

The UPF CEI Business Council is comprised by top management from companies in different sectors involved in education and research at the University: Jesús Acebillo (Novartis), Josep Lluís Bonet (Advisory Council, Fira de Barcelona / Freixenet); Pablo Cigüela (Banco Santander); Emili Cuatrecasas (Cuatrecasas); Albert Esteve (Laboratoris Esteve);  Carlos Mas (PricewaterhouseCoopers); Pedro Navarrete (Sony España); Josep Oliu (Banc Sabadell); Ernest Sales (Hewlett Packard) and Àngel Simón (Agbar).