Invest in Spain

"Brian González, Director General of Intel Corporation Iberia"

1. How has Intel developed in the Spanish market?

Intel has been in Spain for the last 25 years. Since its arrival it has participated in the technological development of the country. It currently has its headquarters in Madrid, a research laboratory in Barcelona and a workforce of over 60. Most people at the company ‘telework’ in order to reconcile their working and personal lives.

 

Over the years, Intel has worked hard to provide companies, both small and medium sized enterprises and large corporations, with technologies and solutions that help to improve their efficiency and productivity, and reduce their costs. As for consumer goods, innovative products have been developed enabling customers to download films, send videos, play games and connect to internet from their homes or from a wide range of places with wireless connections.

 

The company firmly believes in collaboration between public and private sector firms in order to jointly boost the creation of the knowledge economy by fostering innovation and technology in Spain. For example, Intel is part of the Foundation for Info-Technological Development of Companies and Society, FUNDETEC, which has two objectives: to foment the adoption and use of ICTs by companies, institutions and ordinary people, and to increase Internet coverage in Spanish homes and in small and medium sized enterprises. During the visit of Intel President and Chief Executive Paul Otellini in April, 2008, agreements were signed with Telefonica and the Town Hall of Madrid, with the objective of closing the technological gap in the country and to boosting the technological innovation sector.

 

As far as products are concerned, work is constantly being undertaken on the ecosistema de in order to place innovative solutions on the Spanish market based on Intel’s latest technologies, which respond to the needs of professional and consumer users.

2. Do you think Spain’s new technologies sector is a mature market?
There are some major differences between Spain and other European countries in terms of the adoption of new technologies in companies and homes. Over the last few years we have seen a lot of progress in areas such as the use of mobile telephones and broad band internet access.

Large Spanish corporations in sectors such as banking, telecommunications and energy are amongst the most advanced in their sectors in terms of the use of new technologies, and are in some cases internationally recognized examples. Nevertheless, Spanish businesses in general, made up principally of small and medium sized enterprises, need to continue making investments (over half of them are not connected to internet). The same is true of sectors essential to the country’s future such as education and health.

We have seen spectacular growth in the number of broad band Internet connections in people’s homes, although overall levels of coverage are still considered low. Mobility has however been very well accepted and more laptops than desktop computers are now sold in the consumer market.

Advances have been positive, but more work and investment is required with programs promoted by government bodies such as Red.es the objective of which is to reduce the differences between Spain and other European countries.

3. Do you think the Spanish government provides enough incentives for R&D in the sector?

Innovation based on R&D is fundamental to the new knowledge economy, since it is the engine for the development of the economy of a country: it generates intellectual wealth and favors the development of products with greater added value, as well as contributing to the competitiveness of the country.

 

Intel is strongly committed to the development of R&D in Spain. Our laboratory is in the city of Barcelona; a research and development center centered on microprocessor architecture. The laboratory collaborates with the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, which makes it possible for us to work with some of the best microprocessor researchers in Europe and to build strong links with the University.

 

We are sure the government is aware of the importance of R&D and of the current deficit. That is why action is being taken to reach European levels. In order for this to be successful, private companies must also be involved and actively participate.

 

4. Could you give us an overview of Intel’s business plans in the medium term …

Since its founding in 1968, Intel has provided its customers with generations of processors the performance of which is improving all the time; better energy savings and improved features. Over the next few years our objective is to continue collaborating in the Knowledge Economy in Spain. Our idea is to carry on investing in new areas in order to develop technological solutions that can provide a better future for all types of user.

 

We want to provide people with mobile devices so they can access Internet anywhere and ultra-mobile PCs that are low cost and highly energy efficient so users can enjoy digital media and access Internet using wireless technology at any time and in any place.

 

We also intend to work to provide high performance scalable solutions for the visual IT sector by integrating intense graphics and top-end IT performance for scientific and financial applications, and other applications that require a large data processing capacity.

 

And lastly we will continue to design to provide affordable PCs for first-time users in order to close the digital gap.

 

5. What main challenges will be faced by the sector over the next 10 years?
There are several. I would highlight three main areas that should be focused on:

 

• Reducing the impact on the environment
Since its founding, our company has been very aware of the need to respect the environment. We have worked with governments and other companies to create a more sustainable world, and have taken the lead in the development of long-term strategies that respond to the demands of climate change, resource conservation, the creation of environmentally friendly products, etc.

We have made efforts to minimize our carbon footprint and to ensure we are aware of the environmental effects of everything we do – from how we design and manufacture our products, to how we build our plants and manage our resources to the waste we generate.

 

• Education
Knowledge is the currency of the economy of the XXI century. In order to prosper, today’s students must take on board more than just facts and data; they have to use the information available to them to be innovative and creative with their knowledge. To this end it is necessary to provide them with the tools and skills, but without forgetting the teachers who are essential to this transformation/transition?

 

• Health
New technologies can help solve several of the challenges the health sector is faced with: on one hand the modernization and standardization of its IT infrastructure to enable the conversion of medical data to electronic formats and to improve the management of information in the system, and on the other the growing need for preventative medicine and tele-assistance related to the quality of life of patients and the ever-longer lives we are living. It is important for health workers, patients and their families to be able to access accurate information at an appropriate moment so better decisions can be taken as regards their health.

 

• Lastly we must continue to reduce the digital deficit of certain demographic groups in Spain, such as women and old people, and between different countries.

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