Digital transformation to create more livable, competitive and sustainable cities

The strategic objectives of CAF–development bank of Latin America–are “to achieve greater social inclusion, enhance the productive transformation of Latin American economies, promote regional integration and help make cities more livable, sustainable and competitive, and to achieve this, digital transformation, based on a common language such as Spanish, is a powerful driver that we must leverage,” said Ignacio Andino, director of Business Development at CAF in his keynote speech at the 8th edition of Futuro en Español (Future in Spanish) held on October 25 in Circulo Logroñés in Logroño, Spain.

This edition focused on “Digital Transformation and Development in Spain and Latin America”, organized by CAF, the Vocento Foundation and the La Rioja newspaper in a strategic partnership that has made it possible to hold in-depth discussions on how cities can become more inclusive and more competitive thanks to digital transformation, and on education and new technologies.

The opening session was also attended by the general director of La Rioja, Javier Doval, who underscored “the great future of Spanish;” the Mayor of Logroño, Cuca Gamarra, who highlighted the importance of technological development for “cities to become more free and more human;” and the President of La Rioja, José Ignacio Ceniceros, who confirmed the work towards future 4.0 because “digital transformation has a direct impact on economic growth, competitiveness and job creation,” and “a smart territory is not one that has the most to offer but one that understands the needs of its citizens, such as dispersion or ageing. We should work for people and knowledge.”

In this regard, Ignacio Andino explained that “the rapid progress of the technological revolution requires us to learn new behavior patterns, to redefine how we live, work and relate” and therefore “technology and digitization must become a powerful tool to obtain data that can serve as input for better focused and more effective public policies, as well as to provide better services to citizens.”

Andino cited the CAF Economy and Development Report: “Urban growth and access to opportunities: A challenge for Latin America,” which provides a diagnosis of the problems of access to opportunities in cities, proposes a series of measures for accessible urban centers to become drivers of growth and social inclusion, focusing on four dimensions: planning and regulation of land use, urban mobility, functioning of the housing market and mechanisms of metropolitan coordination. And he called for all involved to “drive forward the digital agenda at the highest level until it reaches the end user, since only then will we achieve a connected, more efficient society.”

The first panel discussion focused on the Dialogue: the challenge of digital transformation as a driver of development with the participation of Elena Pisonero, president of Hispasat and David Luna, former Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia, moderated by Marta Rodríguez, head of Informativos TVR. The main theme focused on the need for good infrastructure for good connectivity.

Digitization of cities

The panel focused on Development of Smart Territories with the participation of Juanita Rodriguez, former Deputy Minister of Digital Economy of the Government of Colombia; Alfonso Domínguez, Minister of Public Administration and Finance of the Government of La Rioja and Jorge Fernández, director of Technology at Hewlett Packard Enterprise for Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Israel.

Mauricio Agudelo, an expert in telecommunications at CAF, moderated the debate and explained that CAF supports the digitization of cities and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, where there is still a gap in access to the benefits of greater broadband connectivity that leads to a greater supply of goods and digital services. “This gap mainly affects the low-income population, municipal educational institutions, and a large portion of the productive sector which is active in urban areas and that has not yet incorporated advanced telecommunications and technology services in their production processes,” he said. Agudelo explained that at the sub-national level, “we witness that the rate of broadband penetration and digitization in general is distributed unevenly within the cities and regions of the countries.” And he claimed that “cities of the region need policies and tools to promote the inclusion of citizens and companies into the new digital economy, generating greater value added on urban economies. As a result of this dynamic, an improvement in the quality of life of the population and competitiveness of enterprises is to be expected.”

The topic of discussion at the next panel was Smart technology for comprehensive management of the modern city featuring Daniel Carranza, co-founder of DATA Uruguay; Alicia Richart, general director of digitalES, Spanish Association for Digitization; Mariola Terciado, Director of Innovation at Valoriza Medioambiente (Sacyr Services) moderated by Ana Alcantud, Consulting Director at Anteverti.

The last panel of the day focused on Connected and inclusive cities: Mayors’ panel featuring Cuca Gamarra, Mayor of Logroño and Vice President of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities; Antonio Román Jasanada, Mayor of Guadalajara and member of the European Committee of the Regions; Alberto Paredes, Mayor of the city of La Rioja (Argentina), moderated by José Antonio del Río, head of Opinion and Supplements at La Rioja newspaper.

The day before, there was a discussion on Education and new technologies featuring Benjamín Lana, Co-Director of Futuro en Español; Josu Ahedo, Vice-Rector of UNIR (International University of La Rioja); Alberto Galiana, Counsellor of Education, Training and Employment of the Government of La Rioja; David Luna, former Minister of Information and Communications Technologies of Colombia; José Francisco Ballesta, Mayor of Murcia; Rubén González, director of the School of Engineering at UNIR; moderated by Mauricio Agudelo, expert in telecommunications at CAF.

Futuro en Español in Logroño is an essential call for proposals organized by CAF, due to the opportunity for synergy with leading think thanks, companies and authorities that allow the development bank of Latin America to understand the success stories and the way forward towards excellence, as well as to be able to incorporate this into its action plan. This forum is an initiative by Vocento and CAF- development bank of Latin America-, created in 2011 under the goal of disseminating the possibilities offered by the use of Spanish around the world, and to explore the strength of the language as a bridge for business and cultural endeavors.