The port of Palma hosted this Thursday the Telefónica Innovation Day, a conference that brought together about 200 professionals from companies, public administrations, and startups to show how new technologies can transform the economic activity of the Balearic Islands. The company presented nearly 20 digital solutions applied to sectors such as tourism, industry, mobility, education, health, and security.

The Balearic Islands are the community that invests the least in Research and Development as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is according to the latest data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which shows that the Islands are the autonomous community with the lowest percentage of investment in internal R&D, at 0.4%; only ahead of the autonomous city of Ceuta (0.28%, while Melilla reaches 0.47%).

A group of magnificent columnists are writing collectively this week what many of us think: it is urgent to change the economic model of the Balearic Islands. We all understand that this implies reducing a few million tourists and starting to truly bet on the primary sector and industry.

The arrival of the metro, the reclamation of land for offices, the possibility of building rental housing for researchers, and the expansion of FabLabs are pillars of the new strategy to boost Palma's facilities. The Government is also developing the innovation ecosystem throughout the Canary Islands with the plan to promote... CentreBit Menorca and the opening of CentreBit Ibiza.