The digitalization of daily life has become a phenomenon that advances as a tsunami on the social and economic sphere. Citizens are increasingly dependent on mobile phones to meet our daily challenges, as are more and more strategic sectors that gain awareness of the need to invest in new technologies that make their activity competitive and sustainable. In this sense, the explosion of Artificial Intelligence, which we are still witnessing as astonishing spectators in 2023, only corroborates that the future of companies goes through innovation and process automation.

It is difficult to reflect on digital disruption and not to do so by putting our eyes on our land. The Basque Country has everything to position itself as an international reference in this area because it has a privileged entrepreneurial ecosystem, the result of the work of many years betting on a strong technological base, investment in R&D+i and sectoral competitiveness.

Just take a look at the figures to make good the idea that things have been done well. In recent years, the Basque Country has experienced strong growth in terms of digitisation. According to official data, in 2022 only the new information and communication technologies (ICT) sector generated around €10 billion, almost 10% of regional GDP. In addition, the digital ecosystem is estimated to employ more than 80,000 people in the autonomous community, which accounts for about 8 per cent of its workforce.

But not only that. Our environment houses over 1,000 ICT companies, including leading firms in the field of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and robotics. We also have an important network of research centres and universities working to develop new technologies that drive the growth of the digital sector.

The Basque Country can also presume a strong investment in R & D & I. Last year, it spent 2.5% of its GDP on research and development, which is twice the European average. This is enabling Basque companies to develop new technologies that enable them to be highly competitive in the global market. And the future prospects in this regard are no less ambitious: the Basque Government expects that by 2025 the digital sector will grow above 10% and will double the number of workers dedicated to this area.

Despite the excellent situation we are in, we cannot fail to look at the deficits that threaten to slow down the take-off of the sector over the coming years. SMEs, which make up a very important part of the Basque business fabric, must still give a remarkable boost in their updating processes towards more cutting-edge protocols and systems.

Another major challenge that we face in general is the lack of digitally oriented workforce. The natural growth of the sector, as well as the processes of transformation and adaptation to the ecosystem of other traditional sectors, have multiplied the demand for specialized profiles within the labor market. According to the Spanish Association for Digitization, there are about 100,000 jobs related to this area uncovered throughout the country. Surely they will be more.

In this context, the binomial between universities and technology companies emerges as a decisive factor for the future: we must work together to foster talent and remain competitive in a global market. This is something that Dr. PwC has already pointed out in a strategic report he prepared for the Basque Government: “60% of the professions to be exercised in 2030 today do not exist. Meeting the challenge of training is key.”

To form and form well-will not only be important to respond to the demands of the development locomotive: in a future that is dominated by artificial intelligence and automatisms, the role of people will become increasingly relevant. Intangible qualities, which are always decisive, can hardly be replaced by robots. Empathy, intuition based on perception and leadership will continue to emerge as fundamental values for the development of work teams and for organizations never to lose their human focus.