The 2030 Digital Alliance Foundation, promoted by ATREVIA, held the first edition of the Artificial Intelligence Forum in Madrid, bringing together representatives from the public and private spheres to address the challenges and opportunities emerging around AI. The action was carried out in line with the digital, sustainable, and inclusive society that the Foundation, the organizer of this event, seeks to promote in collaboration with governments, administrations, companies, and entrepreneurs.
Nieves Olivera, general director of the EOI, the venue for the meeting, welcomed the attendees, pointing out training, investment, and financing as strategic levers on the road to digitalization that the economy and, therefore, companies and society, in general, are taking.
Both David Cierco, executive director of the 2030 Digital Alliance Foundation, and Núria Vilanova, president of ATREVIA, shared the same perspective. According to Cierco, “today’s knowledge and data society demands that human intelligence be accompanied by Artificial Intelligence, a formula which requires the collaboration of administrations and the private sector, and which is the only way to face the future that lies ahead.”
Vilanova emphasized the importance of founding this Foundation on behalf of ATREVIA: “We are more than ever convinced that communication can change things. If we genuinely want to reach everyone, without leaving anyone behind, we are confident that this is truly the channel to achieve it.”
AI, the key to recovery
Carme Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalization and AI made the first speech after the presentation of the event, stressing that digital transformation and sustainability are “the two keys to an economic recovery that is already underway, giving us a historic opportunity to implement a new production model much more digital, greener and fairer, with unprecedented resources,” provided by European aid funds.
She also stressed the need to “take advantage of this opportunity to close socioeconomic gaps, in territorial integration and the digital field, by contributing to a disruptive transformation that involves profound changes that benefit the most vulnerable groups.” She also reminded us that “600,000 households in our country could not properly educate their children during the confinement due to the lack of Internet and computers”.
According to Artigas, “we are constructing an economic foundation for the next decade” and, in this context, “we cannot use the European funds to return to a pre-pandemic point, but rather to promote a real structural change that will have a global impact and will improve the competitiveness of our country and Europe.”
Moreover, she highlighted that Spain is already allocating 30% of the recovery funds to the digital transition, a particularly relevant fact if we consider that “in our country, 180,000 jobs in the field of cybersecurity have not yet been filled. There is four times more demand for qualified positions than the available supply, and most SMEs still do not have a digitization plan (only 15% have one).” “It is up to us to address urgent reforms that involve digital training for citizens to raise skills.”
Regarding Artificial Intelligence, the Secretary of State pointed out its potential to “create 60 million jobs between now and 2030, to increase European GDP by 14%, and to increase companies’ productivity rates by up to 40%”. Therefore, “investing in this technology is investing in the future.” In this regard, Spain must seize its opportunity to “lead AI development in the Spanish language and also of green algorithms that seek to be energy efficient in terms of consumption,” said Artigas.
The event continued with a speech by Albert Triola, Country Leader for Oracle Spain, who stated that “innovation is the pension plan for future companies.” He also predicted investment in Artificial Intelligence, “a fundamental technology in this new reality linked to efficient data management” that “will exceed 98 billion in 2023”.
This was followed by the first-round table discussion moderated by Manuel Mostaza, Global Director of Public Affairs at ATREVIA, which included Carlos Varela, Director of Digital Transformation and Technology at Renfe; Rafael Zambrano, Head of Data Science at LaLiga Tech; Mireia Ladios, Head of Quality at Ribera Salud and Product Owner Manager at Cynara and Francisco Martín, Director of Technology and HR at Ouigo. They all agreed that, based on their experience, incorporating AI has a positive value in that “it allows numerous processes to be automated and streamlined, improves data and time management, as well as the rate of performance and accuracy, without forgetting that it contributes to reducing costs”.
The second and last panel, moderated by Núria Oliver, scientific director and co-founder of the ELLIS Foundation, included discussions from Javier Torres, VP of Applications at Oracle Spain; Jorge Ferrer, SVP of Engineering & Site Leader at Celonis Madrid; Carlos López, director of the AI Master at Esic; and José Ángel Higueras, director of Roads, Mobility and Intermodality Business at Ineco.
Europe, falling behind
The occasion highlighted the need for public-private partnerships and research to ensure that companies incorporate AI in their daily processes and discuss how to implement a regulation that guarantees the security of this technology. Consequently, it will encourage investment in it without slowing down its incorporation into the European economy at a time when the US and China continue to enjoy an advantageous position in this area.
To conclude, Javier Díaz, Vice President & Country Leader Iberia and LATAM at Celonis, spoke to emphasize Spain’s talent and the importance of its retention and advocate for the implementation of AI as a “key tool to improve inefficiencies.”
David Cierco closed the event by celebrating the success of this first meeting, which more than 600 people attended in its hybrid format. He encouraged companies and organizations to advocate for the use of new technologies and to “take on the task of evangelization: only by positioning ourselves in favor of innovation will we be able to advance as a country and as a society”.
