César Alierta, CEO of Telefónica, believes that the second wave of digitization that is being installed in all productive and service sectors behave similar to a structural change that has had to face the music industry, banking and the media. "What is new and does not go to the old, but it replaces -Alierta said-. The information has changed the lifestyle of many of the inhabitants of this planet, with a growing proportion of them digital natives who make full use of the new facilities. There comes a time when some companies begin to assimilate people into the change, getting ahead of them in each sector significant competitive advantages over the rest and accelerating the transformation".
The CEO of Telefónica has made this reflection in his inaugural speech as academic of the Real Academia de Ciencias Económicas y Financieras of Spain (RACEF), which was held this afternoon at the headquarters of Foment del Treball Nacional in Barcelona. Alierta has been introduced by the Chairman of "la Caixa" and the Comptroller of the RACEF, Isidro Fainé. The ceremony was chaired by Interior Minister of Spain, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, and RACEF President, Jaime Gil Aluja. They have also assisted the Government Delegate in Catalonia, Maria de los Llanos de Luna, and the Minister of Justice of the Generalitat, Germa Gordó.
The new academic has reviewed the major economic, social and cultural development of information technology and communication (ICT) in the world today and noted that any form of progress, starting with the economic, is inextricably linked to its development. "Statistics show that the increase of GDP of any country is directly proportional to the increasing penetration of ICT services noted. Today, ICTs are directly responsible for 5% of European GDP and it is estimated that for every 10 point increase in its penetration, GDP increases from 0.35 to 1.4 points. Furthermore, the European Commission estimated that for every million euros invested in ICT generate up to 33 jobs".
Alierta has stopped to analyze the potential of Big Data, accumulation of digital data that define and mark the needs of millions of Internet users, and connections M2M or machine to machine as main lines of development of ICT in the future immediately. "You can say that the data are oil of XXI century. The progressive deployment of sensors, machine to machine communications and increased processing capacity are key in transforming many sectors and creating a more measurable and programmable world", he said .
