The latest tech and innovation trends in strategic sectors of the Valencia Region will be explored at this year’s Valencia Digital Summit. The fifth edition of the tech event, which positions the city as the world capital of innovation entrepreneurship, will be held from the 24th to the 26th of October at the City of Arts and Sciences.
Throughout an ambitious programme of talks, round tables, workshops and themed forums, the disruptive solutions and challenges faced by sectors such as the automotive, aerospace, construction, port, health, agri-food and human resources industries will be presented. To this end, the event will feature key figures in tech and innovation such as Ann Hiatt, a leadership strategist with more than 15 years of experience in Silicon Valley as Executive Business Partner of Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon) and of Eric Schmidt (CEO/Executive Chairman of Google), the latter currently based in the Valencian Community.
As Juan Luis Hortelano, president of Startup Valencia, explained: “Valencia Digital Summit 2022 seeks to boost the Valencian entrepreneurial ecosystem, making it known around the world and attracting talent and investment to the region, so it is essential to analyse what projects and solutions are being developed in strategic sectors. Tech, open innovation, calls for talent and venture capital are key to making the Valencian economy more competitive”, he added.
Success stories and inspiring experiences
The timetable of talks and debates will kick off on Tuesday, the 25th of October, with an analysis of one of the most important companies in the Valencian automotive industry: “Valencia and Ford: a success story”. The Regional Minister for Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Labour, Rafael Climent; the General Director for Internationalisation at the Generalitat Valenciana, Mª Dolores Parra, and the Transformation and Innovation Manager of Ford Europe, Paula Carsi, will participate in the talk.
The agri-food sector will also be the subject of study through various presentations such as ‘The rise of the FoodTech sector’ and ‘Technology behind a lettuce’, with Sergio Pajares (CTO of Mercadona). On top of this, some agrotech and foodtech startups will present their projects at the VDS2022 Pitch Corner and there will be a meeting between chef Quique Dacosta and the CEO of KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub, Beatriz Jacoste, which will allow attendees to gain an insight into the professional career of the triple Michelin-starred chef.
Mobility and smart cities will also feature prominently in the VDS2022 programme, with companies such as Zeleros, Siemens Mobility, Cooltra and Accenture Song taking the stage and presentations such as ‘Smart cities for a more liveable future’.
The health, aerospace, port and blockchain technology sectors will have their own forums that will host an array of sessions in which experiences of innovation and digitisation, as well as success stories, will be presented.
The construction industry will be addressed from a sustainable perspective at a round table moderated by Marija Rucevsk, Managing Partner & Cofounder of Helve, with the participation of Iker Marcaide, Founder and Executive Chairman of Zubi Group; Gonzalo Galindo, President of CEMEX Ventures; Tanja Kufner, Head of Ventures at Nemetschek SE and Paula Sánchez, CEO & Cofounder of CoCircular.
Furthermore, more than 60 tech companies from sectors such as FoodTech, Industry 4.0, Health, Mobility and FinTech, among others, will participate in ‘Meet the Startups’, a networking event with a “speed dating” format in which these companies will be able to connect and generate synergies between them, as well as explore new business opportunities.
At the awards ceremony at 17:00 on the 26th of October, an international jury made up of Sébastien Lefebvre, Partner at French venture capital firm Elaia; Mariano Amartino, Managing Director for the Americas at Microsoft for Startups; Nelly Markova, Principal of UK venture capital firm Molten Ventures; Rachelle Young, Program Director for TNW, the main event of Amsterdam’s tech ecosystem promoted by the Financial Times, and Juan Luis Hortelano, President of Startup Valencia, will be in charge of choosing the winning startups of the VDS2022 Competition in the Seed and Growth categories, in which more than 500 startups from 35 different countries participated. This event will be moderated by Paloma Mas, Events and Culture Manager at Plug and Play,
After the awards ceremony, Francisco Polo, High Commissioner for the Spanish Government’s Spain Entrepreneurial Nation authority; Pilar Bernabé, Government Delegate for the Valencian Community; Sandra Gómez, Deputy Mayor of Valencia; Nacho Mas, CEO of Startup Valencia, and Juan Luis Hortelano, President of Startup Valencia, will participate in the closing ceremony of Valencia Digital Summit 2022.
You can check the full programme here.
Great prospects
Under the slogan ‘Inspiring the Good Future’, Valencia Digital Summit 2022 will showcase how technology, innovation and digitalisation are building a better future and why they are key to tackling the main social and economic challenges facing society.
In this fifth edition, entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their projects to the more than 10,000 people expected this year. The event will feature more than 300 presentations by national and international leaders of renowned prestige. In addition, it will bring together more than 150 corporations and more than 1,500 startups.
Entry to Valencia Digital Summit is completely free with prior registration through the website. At the event, attendees will be able to enjoy exhibition areas showcasing the latest trends, tech innovations and disruptive products by means of interactive experiences with the aim of highlighting the existing talent in the Valencian Community, attracting investment to the region, and creating business opportunities between corporations and startups. As a novelty of this fifth edition, the tech event will feature a B2B forum with exclusive content and activities for entrepreneurs and businesspeople: Summit Pro.
An international tech event
Since its first edition in 2018, Valencia Digital Summit has recorded exponential growth that has led it to become an internationally recognised tech event. The latest edition alone, held on the 15th and 16th of December last year, generated an economic impact of more than €4.8 million. The event, which was attended by leaders of world-renowned companies such as Airbus, Google and Amazon, as well as consolidated startups such as Jeff, Jobandtalent and Gorillas, brought together more than 5,500 people in person and more than 5,000 online. In addition, 20% of all attendees came from abroad and from up to 25 different countries.
Want to attend
VDS2022 for free?
