Finnova co-organised the closing of the Lanzarote Innovation Sandbox Showroom with two European round tables where experts from various sectors discussed the future challenges for tourism and funding opportunities.
Lanzarote, 20 May 2021 – To round off the weekend of the Secure Tourism Experience project, the Finnova Foundation co-organised and participated in two international round tables. These counted with the participation of Rudy Aredount, economist and head of DG Growth on the European Commission; Maximiliano Dragoni, the European Commission Senior Officer of Digital transformation, start-up ecosystems and blockchain; Begoña Pérez, director of EITfood CLC South; Enrique Gómez, president of EIT Health Spain and professor at the UPM; and Natalia Bayona, Director of Innovation, Education and Research of the World Tourism Organization.
At the first round table, ‘Digitalisation and New Technologies: the future of the tourism sector’, the moderator and CEO of Finnova, Juanma Revuelta, reported on EU funding: ‘Spain will receive 150 billion euros from the NextGenerationEU funds. This is a huge challenge because, in the previous period 2014-2020, Spain was the worst country in absorption of EU funds when only having around 12,000 million euros at disposal’. Juanma also mentioned the success story of LIFE Ecodigestion 2.0, a €971,420 programme in which the foundation participates in consortium with Global Omnium Medio ambiente and Aguas do Centro Litoral, and whose application can provide solutions for tourism through the generation of energy extracted from waste in wastewater treatment plants.
Rudy Aernoudt, for his part, presented the Escalar programme, the new European funding model to support entrepreneurs in the face of the pandemic. He also announced his intention to launch a call for proposals for the Escalar programme, which is currently open, in blockchain.
The panel included two key representatives from the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) an EU body established in 2008. Begoña Pérez, from EIT Food, discussed innovation and entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector and its effects on tourism, while Enrique Gómez, from the EIT health, gave his vision of the Covid Safe pilot test and the actions being carried out by his institution to support innovation in health.
The intervention of Maximiliano Dragoni highlighted the value of Startup Europe Awards, a methodology of the DG Connect of the European Commission, that has been implemented by Finnova since 2016 to support startups. In this regard, he encouraged other initiatives like this one to boost the economy and tourism.
After receiving first-hand information from the major players in the innovation system at European level, the event proceeded with the round table, ‘Challenges and solutions for the revival of tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic’.
This round table featured outstanding speakers like Romina Ojeda, Chief Medical Officer of Tourism Data Driven Solutions (TDDS); Francisco Molina, director of Ecogénesis DucFIT; and Mónica Pont, director of the economic area of Fisabio (Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community)
Romina explained the HiCard solution offered by TDDS to make personal health information available globally with guaranteed privacy. Then, Francisco Molina presented the DucFIT solution, an air purifier that eliminates COVID-19. For her part, Mónica Pont explained the lines of research and advancements in projects on which her foundation is currently working.
During the closure, a recorded intervention of Natalia Bayona from the OMT was played, where she congratulated the program and encouraged the continuation of initiatives of this calibre.
This test, held from 14 to 17 May, has been promoted by the Cabildo of Lanzarote and its development has involved Asociación Consorcio en Red Alastria and King’s College London, among others.
The aim has been to implement technological mechanisms that promote health and safety conditions. Among other aspects of technological innovation, 380 rapid PCR-Queen tests were carried out on the participants to guarantee their health throughout the weekend.
Technovation Girls discussion panel
Once the session was over, a round table dialogue was opened on the occasion of World Internet and Recycling Day, with speeches by María Parga, President of Alastria, who inspired the girls in STEM; Mónica Vázquez, Head of Project Management at the Fisabio Foundation; Maria José Valero, CEO of Talent Growth Manager and ambassador of Technovation Girls Comunidad Valenciana; Cristina García Sanchis, head of the science department of Abecé school in Gandía and mentor of the Technovation Girls project; and Carolina Lechado, director of Water and Circular Economy LIFE Ecodigestion 2. 0.
The event was moderated and presented by Sandra Viciana and Marina Erustes, from Finnova’s communication and marketing department and members of the Nextalent Generation programme.
The protagonists of this meeting were undoubtedly Clara Martínez, Anna Part, Alba Sabater and Rebeca Esteve, the young participants of Technovation Girls from the Abecé school in Gandía, who surprised us with the presentation of their mobile application to address the challenge of food waste.
‘Technology is now more necessary than ever, and women have enough talent to carry out anything we set our minds to’ said María Parga, one of the protagonists of the Covid Safe Lanzarote concept trial.
Finnova Foundation collaborates with Technovation Girls through a series of challenges, which are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and are linked to real projects that Finnova is a partner of. These challenges are open to all Technovation Girls participants, both from this and past editions. The deadline for submitting projects is 11 June. This date coincides with the celebration of the EU Green Week or European Green Week, in which there will be events organised around each of the projects that Finnova partakes in.