Salvador Naya (UdC): “We want the AESIA to attract investment and talent”

How would you like to see A Coruña in a decade?

Developments are marking us a city profile closely linked to ICT and artificial intelligence. The city will have a fundamental role in the regulation of AI, through AESIA, and sustainability, with the new chair. We want the city and the Agency to become a pole of attraction for companies, startups and talent.

Do you have a reference?

Malaga is a great example and I have said it directly to the mayoress of A Coruña. Malaga has managed to become a top-level technology hub that attracts digital nomads from all over the world. And, humbly, we believe that A Coruña has all the facilities with a robust ecosystem of companies closely linked to Inditex, with 2,000 direct jobs and 12,000 indirect jobs. We have potential and the risk, perhaps, is to find talent.

 What do you mean?

Many young people escape us. They are recruited before they even finish their degrees by private companies. It is difficult for someone to want to do a doctorate because the offers that young people receive are very tempting. But we must not give up. There is talent and possibilities for young people to achieve their professional goals. I will give you a clear example: the five executive positions at Inditex have studied at the UdC.

 Speaking of the UdC, how do you see it in the future?

I see a university focused on ICT and sustainability. Close to companies and with specific degrees in Data Science and specializations to adjust the demand for technological profiles from companies to the university offer.

Where do we need to improve in order to deepen the transfer of knowledge from the university to the company?

A month ago I visited Boston and MIT to visit their labs and meet with the head of Innovation. Of course we are not comparable, but that is the way to imitate: to be able to create business accelerators and spin offs coming out of the university. In Spain we have plenty of bureaucracy to create startups. It should not be so difficult to create a company. MIT creates an average of 800 companies a year thanks to the impulse of the university centers, but also of the private capital that we lack in Galicia. The Administration should be more flexible to create spin offs but also to encourage them to grow and not disappear or be bought by large companies. We have set up a mixed university-company center with Navantia that is working well and is an experience that could be extended to tractor companies in other sectors with the sponsorship of the Xunta through GAIN. These are initiatives with many advantages: development of patents, attraction of investments, possibility of entering into European digitalization projects…

What is your recipe for attracting foreign investment?

 Galicia has to sell itself as an attractive area for investment. Fortunately, and increasingly so, Galicia and what is Galician sells itself. Few people beat us Galicians in ingenuity or entrepreneurship and that is not going to disappear with AI. We are seen as hard-working and discreet and that is ideal for attracting investment. But I would also like to talk about Galicians who, due to circumstances, are working abroad and who could return or collaborate in some way through investment. For this we would need a Patronage Law that would legally guarantee these investments and make them attractive, as in the United States with universities and research centers linked to them. In addition to this law, it would be desirable to create new tax credits and tax breaks to make investment in science attractive.

 How can we get talent to return?

There is a very interesting figure, that of distinguished researchers, but in Galicia there has only been one call for applications and the Xunta should consider launching another one. During my visit to Boston I was able to meet many Galicians who would love to return but to do so they need programs that give them guarantees and job stability. Galicia should bet on that.