The Diplomat
King Philip VI and the presidents of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, and Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, closed yesterday the 15th COTEC Europe Meeting, held in the Portuguese town of Braga under the theme Culture meets Innovation.
The Foundation for Technological Innovation (COTEC) emerged in 1990 on the initiative of King Don Juan Carlos with the purpose of promoting innovation as an economic and social engine. Since 2017, each meeting has been dedicated to a monographic content, which so far have been the circular economy, employment automation and innovation in the public sector. The meeting, which each year is organized in a different country in rotating order, brings together the heads of state of Spain, Portugal and Italy, the three countries in which the Foundation, of which the King is Honorary President, is established.
The COTEC Europe Summit has been organized since 2005, with the attendance of authorities, businessmen and relevant personalities in the field of research, development and innovation (R&D&I) in Europe. The last meetings, held in Malaga, Naples and Mafra, dealt with the topics of the Immaterial Economy, Public Administration 4.0 and Work 4.0. Spain has hosted the event on five occasions, the first four in Madrid (2006, 2009, 2012 and 2017) and the 2021 event in Malaga.
During his speech at the closing session -which took place at the Theatro Circo de Braga and was also attended by the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño-, the King highlighted the role played by COTEC in incorporating “innovation among the main attributes of our culture with the hope that, if not for ours, at least for the next generations, innovation will be a behavior, an attitude, assimilated with closeness and full normality, like the rest of the customs we share”.
“In order to be able to improve things, you first have to know them,” he continued. “Hence the importance of remembering, now more than ever, that fragility or uncertainty are not going to disappear easily from our societies; also, that nothing can be taken for granted, for sure, that everything that has been achieved may be at risk if we do not continue working to defend and protect it,” warned Philip VI, after which the closing session of the COTEC Europe Meeting came to an end. The King attended the previous day the dinner prior to the meeting, held at the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza and also attended by the presidents of Portugal and Italy.
The 15th COTEC Europe Meeting reflected on the increasing relationship between the creative industries (CCIs) and the economy as a whole, their synergy effects and potential competitive benefits, exploring aspects such as cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, as a strategic asset; the positive impact of local development on social inclusion and innovation; the combined action between Industry 4. 0 industry and CCIs as a potential to generate innovation solutions applied to the resolution of complex problems; the comparative advantages of COTEC countries on creative and cultural assets, in a logic of an integrated Europe; and the role of culture as an element of rapprochement of peoples.
