Authorities and entrepreneurs share advances in innovation, digital industry and tourism at the new Salamanca Tech Conference

By The AIR Institute

The event, organised by AIR Institute and BISITE, featured two roundtables and was attended by the rector of the University of Salamanca and the town's Mayor.

The R&D&I Building of the University of Salamanca hosted a new event under the Salamanca Tech brand organised by AIR Institute and the BISITE Research Group on the morning of 29 June. On this occasion, the "innovation, digital industry and smart tourism" conference brought together authorities and expert speakers from institutions and companies to share the progress that the province is making in these sectors.

Welcome ceremony

The opening ceremony was hosted by the Rector of the University of Salamanca, Ricardo Rivero Ortega; the Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos Manuel García Carbayo; the Territorial Delegate of the Junta de Castilla y León in Salamanca, Eloy Ruiz Marcos; the President of AIR Institute and Director of BISITE, Juan Manuel Corchado, and the Territorial Director of ICE, José Francisco Diego Calvo.

Ricardo Rivero was the first to take the floor and welcome the attendees to the conference, assuring that Salamanca Tech "is the most promising brand and a lever for the creation of opportunities and capacities".

For his part, Juan Manuel Corchado declared that the objective is to show the technological potential of Salamanca to the outside world and to bring together both local and foreign companies who choose the province to develop their activity.

"At the regional level, funding and a good relationship with the University are essential for Salamanca to be a reference in technology and digital transformation processes", said Eloy Ruiz, who wanted to emphasise that there are more tools to create a smarter, more sustainable, and efficient tourism.

The Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, described Salamanca Tech and its variety of conferences as "the path to becoming a national and international reference" and pointed to the new Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Centre in Puente Ladrillo, where "there will be more than 80 young people working in multiple disciplines".

Progression of the roundtable discussions

Subsequently, two roundtables were held, consisting of the representatives of the companies that carry out their economic activity in Salamanca. The first of these, entitled "Digital Industry, Art and Innovation", dealt with highly relevant issues, such as the retention of talent, to ensure that graduates and workers choose Salamanca to develop their professional careers. Alfonso López, CEO of Undanet, said that his company relies on Salamanca Tech, AIR Institute and BISITE to "work with disruptive technologies that they have been working with for years". Together with him, Daniela Fluchaire (MContigo), Guillermo Ménguez (HP) and Claudio Mogilner (Internacional Web), in a debate moderated by Fernando Alcaraz (Big Bang Box), agreed that Salamanca has created an ideal ecosystem to move businesses forward through the collaboration and support of the companies located in Salamanca.

The second roundtable, "Tourism, Sustainable and Intelligent Cultural Development", was moderated by David Mingo, Deputy Delegate for Culture and Mayor of Santa Marta de Tormes, who wanted to showcase not only the town of Salamanca, but the capacity of the province as a whole and the need to "open up all of the province's resources to tourists". During the roundtable, Francisco Carpio (University of Salamanca), Juan Mateos (Juniper Travel Technology), Paúl Mena (Blue Ocean Corp) and Rubén Sánchez (BEONx) agreed that innovation must be the fundamental pillar to increase the value of tourist resources, also highlighting the quality of life that Salamanca offers and the need to work on transport, logistics and sustainability to achieve the objectives proposed by Salamanca Tech and to be a reference.

Finally, the territorial director of the Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León (ICE), José Francisco Diego Calvo, presented to the attendees the services offered by the ICE and invited the companies located in Salamanca to consult financing methods, ICT solutions and guidance for the development of their activity.

Salamanca Tech: upcoming events

Salamanca Tech is the initiative launched by AIR Institute and the BISITE Research Group of the University of Salamanca in collaboration with the Salamanca Town Council to promote innovation and technological development in the province, highlighting its capacity to be a reference through six pillars: science, technology, logistics, sustainability, health and entrepreneurship.

Over the next few months, Salamanca Tech will organise the following face-to-face events:

  • 18/07/2023: Technological innovation in the primary sector (Chamber of Commerce, Plaza Sexmeros, 2).
  • 12/09/2023: Technological innovation applied to the bio-health field (Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Centre, AIR Institute, Avenida Santiago Madrigal, 39).
  • 19/09/2023: Engines for technological development (Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Centre, AIR Institute, Avenida Santiago Madrigal, 39).
  • 26/09/2023: Quantum technology (Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Centre, AIR Institute, Avenida Santiago Madrigal, 39).