• DigiON Canarias already has its tickets on sale for its first edition, on March 15 and 16 at Infecar
• The UNWTO Startups competition for island destinations will present the finalists of its two categories

The Canary Islands Business Digitalization Show, DigiON Canarias, is finalizing details to open its first edition on March 15 and 16, with about thirty exhibitors, in a professional and multisectoral fair for digital solutions and technological innovation.

DigiON Canarias aims to deepen the important role that the island has for the development of the digital sector, and seeks to serve as a meeting point, connection and to share synergies between professionals and those interested in the sector and digital solutions for your life or your business. The event, promoted and funded by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and organized by Infecar, has its tickets on sale from 8 euros on the web (https://digion-canarias.es/visitantes/) for two days of presentations, advice, mentoring, and trade show. This event, to be held in the Sala Canarias and the Roque Nublo Hall, will feature content designed by the South Summit team, one of the world’s leading innovation platforms, where we can discover new digital trends.

The technical coordinator of Economic Development, Energy Sovereignty, Climate and Knowledge of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Raúl García Brink, has highlighted the importance of this show, “even more so in the era of digital transformation” because it is very present “in all aspects of life”. The digital transformation “is present in a very broad way” and involving “not only companies and the public sector but also SMEs, where we still have a lot of room for improvement”. DigiON Canarias is considered an “interesting show for any company, which will receive advice and mentoring and can also learn about digital solutions from exhibitors and promoters, the lines of aid for SMEs and freelancers, and also solutions for destinations similar to the Canary Islands”.

For her part, the general manager of Infecar, Natalia Santana, has highlighted the fact that the Gran Canaria Fair is “in luck” with DigiON Canarias since “it is the first event held in coordination with South Summit, which lands for the first time on the island with the design of this conference program”. These are “leading figures and profiles in various topics”, to which will be added the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) Startups competition for island destinations. It has been “a long work” with the UNWTO for “the design of a specific competition and the first of the UNWTO in Gran Canaria”, which will allow startups “to present solutions adapted to islands, oriented to sustainability to create a suitable tourism product to protect the island and have a more sustainable future”.

As Santana pointed out, this competition for smart solutions has had “a very positive response with more than 100 startups from all over the world”, and is a “great opportunity to learn what young entrepreneurs have to offer”. The awards ceremony will be held as part of DigiON, with projects from the UK, India, Greece, Italy, Argentina, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic and Spain.

Cybersecurity, cyberspace risks, AI and digital identities

After opening remarks by the president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, the first day of DigiON Canarias will offer content by South Summit, which will continue with the panel on ‘#risgosyamenazas the vision of risks and threats in the cyberspace domain’, in a presentation by Enrique Ávila, director of the Center for Analysis and Prospective of the Civil Guard at 12.45 pm. After the lunch break, the Salón de Digitalización Empresarial en Canarias will move forward in its afternoon session from 4 pm with ‘#IAnizarseomorir crear y dirigir proyectos de, Inteligencia Artificial (AI), (y no morir en el intento)’ by Natalia Rodríguez, Founder and CEO SaturnoLabs.

The last of the day’s topics will be ‘#elpasaportealmetaverso, digital identities through avatars’ starting at 4.45 pm, with a presentation by Cai Felip, CEO of Union Avatars.

UNWTO Startups Competition for Island Destinations

The last day of DigiON Canarias will host for the first time on the island the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) startup competition for island destinations, in which more than 100 international companies registered to provide digital solutions to meet the new challenges of the 21st century.

The contest has selected as finalists in the category of ‘Deep Tech: New technologies applied to sustainability’ the idea of Artemis Technologies (Belfast, United Kingdom), the project from Athens (Greece) ‘Inteligg’; ‘Playtur’ from Cordoba (Argentina); the Valencian project ‘Farmlike’; and from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) ‘SOS Carbon’.

In the category of ‘Innovation and digitalization for island destinations’ the finalists were the project from Crete (Greece), ‘Costa Nostrum’; the project from Sofia (Bulgaria), ‘Umni’; from Milan (Italy) the project ‘Volvero’; the project from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ‘Localbird’; and from Coimbatore (India), ‘Wroxai’.

The day on Thursday, March 16 will feature a first panel session on ‘Enhancing entrepreneurship and sustainable economic opportunities for island destinations through successful governance and technology models’, in a roundtable moderated by Peter Janech, UNWTO’s Innovation, Education and Investment coordinator. Participating in this first session will be Leslie Vella, Director General of Strategic Development, Malta Tourism Authority; Olga Theocharous, Senior Tourism Officer, Directorate of Quality Assurance and Licensing of Tourism Enterprises, Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Tourism; Dalibor Cvitković, director of the Tourism Office of Mali Losinj, Croatia; Claudio della Lucia, tourism industry professional from the island of Elba, Italy; Sergio Moreno, professor at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and Cosme Garcia, general director of the Society for Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC).

The second panel session will delve into how to ‘Leverage innovation and digital transformation to strengthen competitiveness and build resilience in the islands’ tourism ecosystem in the post-COVID era’, in a panel discussion moderated by Pablo Llinares, managing director of Gran Canaria Tourism with the participation of James Ellsmoor, founder and director of Island Innovation; 
Jennifer Ruiz, director of Global Tourism Innovation Hub, MasterCard; Miguel Quintanilla, CEO and founder of Archipiélago Next; Jost Neumann, director of Programs at TUI Foundation; Ramón Sánchez, Head of Strategic Projects Amadeus for Destinations; and Zulay Rodríguez, director of Digital Business and Strategic Consulting Atlantis Technology (Binter Group).

The Canary Islands Business Digitalization Show, DigiON Canarias, is promoted and financed by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and organized by Infecar, Feria de Gran Canaria, thanks to the support of the official collaborator Cajasiete; the Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria (SPEGC), Inetel, Archipiélago Next and Proexca as sponsors and the collaboration of the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria, and the participation of UNWTO and South Summit.