Lime Digitizing, Sand Digitizing

“Hello, I’m Spanish… what do you want me to beat you?”. Do you remember this slogan? The brilliant sports results achieved by national athletes worldwide (read major tennis tournaments, world championships in handball, soccer, basketball, cycling, badminton…) turned this motto into a state of mind, in a social tic capable of generating infinite optimism.

It’s more, sometimes there are those who immerse themselves so convinced in that half-full glass that they are capable of brightening the future in any area, even though the development of that area is light years away from what is produced in another corner of the planet.

But our country has another face, that of those who don’t believe anything, that of those who prefer to have their feet on the ground rather than trust in something that can blow them up.

Of course, if we think about it, caution and, thanks to it, constant work, can make it possible for exacerbated optimism to materialize in projects that give us added value.

That combination between ‘we are the best’ and ‘perhaps we are not so good’, that mix between ‘we have a bright future ahead of us’ and ‘we will only have it if we do things consistently’ floated in the digital environment yesterday at the Casa de América, where the second edition of ‘Wake Up, Spain!’ is being held from Monday to Friday.

An example. There were those who nodded insistently when listening to the CEO of Seat and Cupra, Wayne Griffithsspeaking of the technological possibilities of the automobile and affirming that the battery factory places Spain in a key position for the future.

Another seemed to even get excited as he listened to the words of the CEO of Airbus, Guillaume Faurywhen he said that “Spain is going to be a fundamental actor for aviation without emissions”.

But when international leaders are given a voice at an event like this, it must be borne in mind that if they give you one of lime, they will give you another of sand.

Thus, just as there were people who puffed up their chests when hearing these statements, there were also those who were filled with reasons to continue supporting the suitability of caution. Because Griffiths advised us that “you have to change your attitude”, that “we must be responsible”, that “we must offer other types of jobs”. AND Faury recalled that there is still “need to improve in energy and technology simultaneously“. I said, one of lime and another of sand.

And, meanwhile, keeping some with the first part of the speech and others with the second.

Like in the round table dedicated to the agri-food sector. Here the debate was national. There were no international experts offering that holistic vision that can sometimes be so useful to us.

A “fan” minister

appeared Mercedes Iborra (co-founder of the technological-agricultural company Visual Nacert), Sergio Gutierrez (corporate director of Agrobank), Macarena Sanchez (General Secretary of Federated Oil Mills of Spain) and Jose Luis Benitez (General Director of the Spanish Wine Federation).

“We are a power”, it was said. The four agreed without hesitation. But soon fissures began to open. The sector’s protest two weeks ago with a massive demonstration with farmers and ranchers from all over Spain shows that discontent with public policies is a fact.

In this case, the debate does not focus so much on the dichotomy between ‘being the best’ or ‘not believing it so much’. Here the debate is to generate a more beneficial context for the sector. The minister of the branch, Luis Planas, arrived when there were still 10 minutes of debate left and listened attentively. In his speech, after glossing over all kinds of aid and future projects, did not hesitate to declare himself a “fan” of the sector. “It would only be missing”, the farmers and ranchers or those who represent them must have thought.

Part of that facilitating context we were talking about has to do with technology. And again that dichotomy. The co-founder of Visual Nacert said that in 10 years “farmers will be digital” and the general secretary of Almazaras Federadas de España quickly replied: “I don’t believe it, we need training plans.”

The corporate director of Agrobank intervened, explaining the project of the Agrarian Digitizer, a national plan that precisely seeks this change of mentality throughout the value chain.

To speak of digitization in our country is to speak of that future disruptor in the field, but also in other types of fields, such as aviation (manned or unmanned), banking, health.

The role of 5G

On the third day of the ‘Spanish Davos’ they also appeared big tech. And the sight of him agglutinates again that mixture of lime and sand regarding who we are and what we aspire to.

There was Alberto Granados, president of Microsoft in Spain, recalling the “gap of SMEs” with respect to technology after praising the Government’s Digital Kit; o Colman Deegan, CEO of Vodafone Spainwhich admitted that “the support of governments and regulators” is necessary after being “hopeful” because “companies are more interested in having digital services”.

Both companies, authentic technological giants, spoke from the point of view of the need for Spain and, by extension, Europe, to position itself at the forefront of deploying new technologies.

And, among these technologies, 5G seems to be a fundamental pillar. The CEO in Iberia of another great company, Ericsson, Andrés Vicentegave data of interest worldwide in relation to it: “If 75% of the world’s population has adopted 5G in 2030, we will have reduced the carbon footprint by 15%,” he said.

And along the way, some input for those on the side of optimism –”Spain is the country in Europe that has presented the most public-private collaboration projects“-; and another contribution for those who are on the opposite side: “We are behind and we have to reflect.”

5G finally sneaked into the event and was mentioned in several speeches. But despite everything, the general feeling is that there is still much to be done and much work to be done. The same as in the digitization of the agri-food sector or sectors such as transport or banking.

Open mike everything is either very optimistic or very victimized. But Closed mike, there are not a few who are clear that it is not about being on one side or the other, but about working together.

Whether or not we are the best afterwards may matter less than having worked for that all the innovation generated thanks to technology is simply useful on a day-to-day basis and with an eye toward improving the economy.

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