The New Robotic Telescope (NRT) and the Center for Optics (CSOA) are two of the IAC's most ambitious technology initiatives for the next few years. On the one hand, NRT will be the most powerful robotic telescope in the world allowing the Spanish astrophysics community to play a leading role in the field of time domain astrophysics, while CSOA will provide the optics for NRT and will become an infrastructure unique to produce the optics for instrumental projects (telescopes and instrumentation) in ground based and space astronomy. This presentation aims to review the status of both initiatives and plans for the future.