In Madrid
The event included the intervention of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and the participation of a dozen renowned experts.
Digitalization, cybersecurity, the energy transition, global warming, the progressive “disconnection” from oil, robotics, the technological war between United States and China and the 5G have been some of the topics that have been addressed by the 12th CESCE Annual Conference, held this morning at the Auditorium of the Rafael del Pino Foundation in Madrid.
The event included the intervention of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and with the participation of a dozen renowned experts. The minister stressed that “digitalization and sustainability are two levers to modernize our production model and are part of the roadmap of the ministry and the Government.” Maroto has stressed that “we are immersed in the so-called fourth industrial revolution and this is a great challenge for our companies”; In this sense, he recalled that in Spain "we have a diverse business fabric but the companies that adapt to the energy transition and new technologies will survive."
The minister added that technology generates added value and is an important challenge due to the speed it brings, due to the digital divide it generates (according to the DESI 2019 indicator, Spain ranks 17th in the UE in the field of digital skills) and the security risks that it entails. Maroto has insisted that “we must take advantage of the change in the production model to promote innovation, create quality jobs and transform society and our lifestyles.”
During the opening, the Executive President of CESCE, Fernando Salazar, highlighted that “the digital revolution is here to stay and we must be prepared for it. And we must combat climate change because survival depends on it,” he said.
The conference - articulated around three round tables on the risks of the digital revolution, sustainability and credit insurance - has tried to answer a main question: are Spanish companies prepared for the new era?
According to César Cernuda, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Corporation and in charge of the first intervention, “the digital transformation is led by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and one of the great challenges is for AI to be responsible.” Furthermore, he has stressed that AI “is an economy of scale that is increasing” and that, therefore, “we must seek to make the cloud affordable for everyone, taking into account privacy and security criteria.”Cernuda He has also pointed out that the change must also be sustainable. “Digitalization should be a catalyst for the ecological transition,” she said.
In that line, the vice president of Microsoft Corporation has revealed that “in one week, globally, we are generating 17,5 million exabytes, which is equivalent to 1,5 million times the US Library of Congress. One of the keys is to store all that data: something that today would cost less than $3.000.” However, Cernuda explained that only “14% of companies use AI, while 84% consider it to be a competitive advantage.” But technology, he has said, “is worthless if there is not a process of change in the business culture: startups are SMEs and in Spain there is talent, we must retain them so that they help grow.”
Among the most urgent challenges of the coming decades is digitalization, which has increased the risk of cyberattacks globally. This has been one of the topics addressed by the first debate table, moderated by the Director of Country Risk and Debt Management at CESCE, Inés Menéndez de Luarca. Experts have reviewed the consequences of this social and business revolution, which is affecting production processes, value chains and business models around the world. And they have stressed that national security and the risk of remote terrorist actions are fundamental concerns for governments worldwide, in the wake of the expansion of digitalization.
José Ignacio Torreblanca, director of the Madrid Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), has recognized that “technology increases the polarization of our societies, generates a distorted mirror and that is where security flaws sneak in.” “Neither politicians nor judges have adequate training to regulate these issues and resolve these disputes,” he denounced, as another of the weak points in achieving technological security.
El Deputy Director General of the CCN National Cryptological Center (CNI), Luis Jiménez, explained that, today, “AI allows for geospatial monitoring, analysis of profiles and very precise messages, a tool against cybercrime that is unprecedented until now.” “Of the 40 terrorist groups censused by the United Nations,” he revealed - none has the capacity to carry out a cyber attack on critical infrastructures; Yes, the States do have it.”
El Head of Institutional Cybersecurity Affairs at BBVA, Roberto Ortiz, has highlighted that “the main attacks are aimed at the theft of customer and personal data, in order to steal money from organizations. "They affect the value chain because they are attacks that hijack systems." For this reason, he said, “sharing intelligence between States and companies, public-private collaboration, is essential to prevent and mitigate the impact of attacks.”
David Fernández, Director of Cybersecurity at INDRA, has pointed out that they have developed sophisticated tools “to guarantee that the technology with which, for example, vote counts are carried out in electoral processes does not fail.” “Criminals seek to monetize their actions and this, for a company or company, has a very clear risk: disappearing.” “5G helps democratize technologies and connect people with things,” she said.
María José Hernando, Head of the Country Risk Unit of CESCE, led the second debate, in which the seriousness of climate change, as verified by scientists, and the viability of building a sustainable world were analyzed, based on 2015 Paris Agreement. The drastic drop in the cost of wind and photovoltaic energy below that of fossil fuels is, according to experts, an unprecedented achievement. The rise of these clean energies is leading the way towards another of the most immediate challenges: the need to electrify the economy to decarbonize sectors dependent on hydrocarbons. This universalization of energy is forcing a reorientation of international relations and is, together with new technologies, at the base of the geopolitical war that is being waged. United States and China.
In this sense, the General Director of the Spanish Office of Climate Change (of the Ministry of Ecological Transition), Valvanera Ulargui, has highlighted that “not one step back will be taken in energy transition policies” and has pointed out the importance of working on the Green Deal at a global level and from all sectors. Ulargui has recognized that “the maritime sector is the one that is lagging the most, due to the difficulties that exist when it comes to replacing fuels”, he has pointed out that “strategic legislation needs accompanying policies” to be implemented and has assured that, for this purpose , “there will be progress in environmental taxation.”
From the field of industry, Carlos Sallé, Director of Energy Policies and Climate Change at Iberdrola, has stated that "the commitment to the green economy breaks two paradigms: it does not destroy employment but creates it and, furthermore, it is not expensive but very profitable." Sallé has pointed out that “batteries, which are key to decarbonization, are experiencing a considerable price drop, to the point that it should be feasible to decarbonize 100% of economies in 2050.”
In this sense, the Director of Corporate Strategy at CEPSA, Héctor Perea, highlighted “the very high technological component that this transition brings” and referred to the global demand for oil, which “continues to increase and last year reached 100 million barrels per day.” Perea has predicted that “the peak of global demand for this type of fuel will not arrive before 2030” and has claimed the need to work to sustain economies while respecting the environment. “Coal and gas alone generate 25% of global emissions,” he concluded.
Gonzalo Escribano, principal researcher and director of the Energy and Climate Change program at the Elcano Royal Institute, has said that, after Brexit, “China is no longer a matter of two, France and Germany, but Spain must also participate in these climate diplomacy relations” to help build the new world scenario.
Furthermore, experts have highlighted that renewable energies and the electric car will be key to avoiding an increase in global temperature above 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial values. The International Energy Agency It predicts that in 2030 there will be more than 100 million electric vehicles.
The third panel of experts, presented and moderated by the Director of the State Account Area of CESCE, Beatriz Reguero, has focused on the economic, financial and technological changes that the credit market has undergone in the last decade. Analysts have pointed out that one of the consequences is that banks have begun to use credit insurance to mitigate their risks and are doing so by increasingly relying on new technologies. The so-called sinsurtech and fintech have thus become active protagonists of this new scenario, both in the public and private sectors. One of the latest market trends, according to experts, will be, precisely, the collaboration between ECAs and private insurers to open markets to clients who finance exports.
According to Dan Riordan, President of PoliticalRisk, Credit and Bond at AXA XL, “six or seven of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa and insurers can serve as a catalyst to make investments there profitable; There are always risks, in safe countries and in those that are less safe, but they contain many opportunities.” The role of insurers is crucial in this area and, in that sense, "most banks already use comprehensive credit insurance, not just political risk insurance," he added. Andreas Klasen, Professor of International Business and Director of the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI). Klasen has announced that “an investment of $579.000 billion will be needed over the next 10 years in investments in renewable infrastructure, an enormous financial effort in which ECAs play an important role. They are already having it, for example, in countries like Egypt or Pakistan.”Jonathan Joseph-Horne, General Director of Global Co-Head of Structured Export Finance, of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited, added that ECAs must increase their security to prevent cyberattacks.
La Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Méndez, closed the event by emphasizing the commitment to growth, technology and talent that Spanish companies are showing and highlighted the fundamental role of CESCE in the internationalization of Spanish companies. “In 2019, Spain grew above the euro zone average, reduced its trade deficit and maintained a current account surplus,” she pointed out. “Exports of goods and services are 34% of GDP in our country and in 2019 we celebrated 8 consecutive years of external financing capacity.” Méndez also highlighted that there are “more than 150.000 exporting companies, 53.000 of them are regular exporters and that Spanish merchandise exports increased by 1,8% in 2019 and reached 290.089 million euros, a historical record.”
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