Mayor Luis Barcala stresses that “something is happening in Alicante” chosen as the second best city in the world preferred by the international community of foreign residents to live and work in
Alicante, July 23, 2023. The mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, has opened this Thursday the II International Congress Alicante Futura, highlighting that “something is happening in Alicante” after the election of the city as the second best destination in the world chosen by expatriates to work and live. The conference was held this Thursday in the Kinepolis room of the Centro Plaza Mar 2, with the presence of familiar faces such as journalist Marta Robles along with the heads of major local technology companies in a meeting with the slogan “Ambassadors of what is coming”.
The second edition of the International Congress Alicante Futura has allowed the numerous participants to learn more about the main exponents of the innovative ecosystem of the provincial capital by the hand of Facephi’s facial recognition technology ‘Made by Alicante’, the commitment to local entrepreneurs by the incubator Alicante Futura Emprende and the creativity of young people with the use of cell phones through the Smartphone Film Festival.
Luis Barcala has highlighted in his welcoming remarks that “Something is happening in Alicante”, which is once again chosen by the international expatriate community as the second best city in the world to work and live. “In the era of digital transformation, progress is measured by the ability to adapt, compete and collaborate. Alicante is at the forefront of this revolution, demonstrating that innovation and collaboration are the pillars on which we build a sustainable and prosperous future, in a city that is transforming itself to embrace the challenges of an eminently urban and technological 21st century,” said the mayor.
“We are on the right track. In this year of deployment of the strategy of technological capital of Alicante we have reaped significant successes, marking notable milestones on our path to excellence, characterized by the implementation of new companies and entrepreneurs in our city, by the birth of successful business projects linked to technology and by the development and growth of Made by Alicante projects that are shaping the future of the digital economy,” insisted Barcala.
The mayor has also highlighted the importance of promoting public-private collaboration, the technological community, as well as the promotion and coordination of the actions of digital and innovative transformation promoted by the different administrations, universities and port.
The event, presented by Germán Agulló, CEO of GDV Mobility, continued with the presentation of success stories such as that of the multinational technology company Facephi, through the words of its CEO and founder, Javier Mira, who has retraced the path that has led this startup from Alicante to become a leading global operator in its sector.
The second part of the day was dedicated to learning about some of the innovative initiatives that are being generated in the city in a round of Alicante startups. Attendees have been able to meet consolidated projects of local entrepreneurship as SúBT, MAMA COACH, Bumerania, Air Pro Shoots and All In Biking, which in addition to exposing their trajectories, have raised the challenges they face as a sample of the projection of talent Made by Alicante that drives the Alicante Futura strategy. The final touch has put the journalist Marta Robles who has given a lecture on the advances that digital technology has produced in the media.
The II International Congress of Alicante Futura has ended with the presentation of the Councilor for Employment and Promotion, Mari Carmen de España, who has insisted on the importance of the development of the technological, digital and innovative industry for Alicante as a benchmark in the heart of the Mediterranean arc, and the progress that has been made both in means and in reference infrastructures for the development of the digital ecosystem and the attraction of leading companies in the sector.
“In this year of deployment of the strategy of technological capital of Alicante we have reaped significant successes, marking notable milestones on our path to excellence, characterized by the implementation of new companies and entrepreneurs in our city, by the birth of successful business projects linked to technology and by the development and growth of projects ‘Made by Alicante’ that are shaping the future of the digital economy,” insisted Mari Carmen de España.
Smartphone Film Festival
The Alicante Futura Congress has also been a stage to promote the creative talent of young people through the use of technological tools such as cell phones. Thus, another of the great novelties of this edition was the screening of short films of the Smartphone Film Festival and the free workshops on gaming, AI, robotics and cinema.
These workshops, in which dozens of young people have participated, have been developed by the companies Oasis Gaming, Lynx View and Robotikids, where practical aspects of AI, video game development and various gaming and e-sports competitions have been addressed.
