Innovation with a Future', the key book for imagining the Spain of the next few years

On 6 March 'Innovación con Futuro' (Innovation with a Future), a book that reproduces the report on technologies to boost Spain, drawn up by the Chair of Science and Society of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, under the direction of Javier García, and to which 15 leading experts from the scientific and business worlds have contributed, will be available in bookshops.

Innovation with a future is a horizon to be built. A look at ten technologies thatThe potential for transformation is great, represent a unique opportunity to boost our economy.

With the collaboration of twelve leading scientists -seven of them National Research Prizes-. and four business executives The project is a benchmark in fields as diverse as ICT, energy, aerospace technology and industry, this book points out the main areas in which Spain will have a voice of its own.

Throughout its pages, the reader will find a detailed roadmap of the sectors in which our country can position itself as a leader, from the solutions offered by messenger RNA and intelligent diagnosis in the field of health, to the revolution that telecommunications can bring us in quantum computing and cybersecurity. Also in fields where Spain faces great challenges, such as forest fires, new textiles and the building of the future..

Clearly and precisely written, each chapter provides a range of opportunities for innovationThe first step is to present the state of the art in science and technology and then to analyse the market situation and the regulatory environment.

With almost 600 bibliographical references, this guide is a rigorous and reliable tool for those seeking an up-to-date perspective.

Highlights

"The digital revolution is bringing about a change in the relationship between companies and their suppliers, customers and employees, and in the way in which their different areas of activity are organised. This process is taking place in parallel with the transformation that societies are undergoing on a larger scale, whose level of development also depends on the management of their material and immaterial resources, especially knowledge in all its aspects".

"Operational integration and collaboration between the public and private sectors will extend to all areas of society. In the economy, vertical sectors are disappearing, hybrid activities will become increasingly common, with features from the digital world being embedded in products from the physical world and vice versa. The business model of companies can be substantially broadened by the effect of their presence in ecosystems and by making better use of data".

"The popular explosion of so-called generative artificial intelligence (AI), fast becoming the biggest mass subscription phenomenon since the birth of the internet, was accompanied by strong warnings about its transformative potential. Never before had the computing power and possibilities of data capture, storage and analysis been so powerful and in a position to project neural network-based AI models to the whole of society."

Javier García Martínez

He is director of the Chair of Science and Society of the Rafael del Pino Foundation and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Nanotechnology of the University of Alicante. 

At the international level, he is a member of the Emerging Technologies Committee and Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forumand for the period 2022-2023 he has been president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). He also directs the Young Academy of Spain and is founder and president of Celeraa talent support programme that selects ten exceptional young people each year to provide them with resources, training and great opportunities.

He is also the founder of Rive Technologywhich it set up in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to commercialise the catalysts he discovered and patented there. In 2019, he sold the company to multinational chemical company W. R. Grace & Coafter its products were present in the world's major oil refineries.

Javier's scientific and business leadership has been honoured with some of the most important awards. He is King Jaime I Prize in the category of New Technologies and Best US Entrepreneur Award in the chemical sector at the American Chemical Society. In 2021, the institution appointed him fellowHe is the first Spaniard to achieve such recognition. In 2023, he received the Ph. honoris causa of the University of La Rioja.

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