“I believe that Portugal” can become “a digital ‘hub'”
O Vice President of the areas of ‘secure power & field services’ at Schneider Electric for the Iberian market says that Portugal has competitive advantages and the company wants to be part of the country’s digitization process.
“I believe that Portugal has one of the best factors to become a digital ‘hub’, what it has to do is a country’s strategy”.
In other words, Portugal “must have a common strategy that helps bring investments and that aligns all the different actors in the value chain”.
And when that happens there will be “an ecosystem that has an economy, a sustainable digital industry”, he says, because currently what exists are “some separate things, some companies, some big ‘data center’ projects [centro de dados], which is necessary infrastructure for “the digital transformation”, “but it doesn’t have everything interconnected”.
For example, the Sines 4.0 project “is a ‘flagship’ project, but Portugal cannot remain a ‘hub’ if it only has a ‘flagship’, it has to develop an industry, an ecosystem, it has to have one holistic vision”, defends Pablo Ruiz-Escribano.
Portugal “has a geostrategic position and conditions: a stable country, where people like to live, which has well-educated people, has everything, but lacks a common country strategy to bring and align all actors and bring investments” , head the manager of Schneider Electric.
Pablo Ruiz-Escribano highlighted the “opportunity with the PRR [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência]”for the digital transformation of the economy, whether in industries, cities, smart buildings.
“All this will be a source to generate data that will feed these big ‘hubs’ that can stay here [em Portugal] and that they will convert data into value, “becoming an “industry that will be sustainable and that will be continually growing,” he said.
However, Portugal also has alert, alert, giving examples of Madrid, Marseille and other cities that are working in the same line “.
A digital transition “is not just a bet for Portugal, it is a need for Portugal, a need for all economies”, says the Iberian responsible for Schneider Electric.
“There is a need for all companies, whether small, medium and large, it is undoubtedly a need for the industry, technology is now much more available, so to win, to make the product, you need to integrate technology, you need to integrate digitization in the DNA and in the processes of companies”, he continues.
But there is still “a long way to go”, as companies, both in Portugal and in Spain, still do not have an integrated digitalization strategy, as they are still “working in installments and do not have a holistic strategy”.
In other words, “companies are working in silos and, for me, what technology offers today is the possibility of more data, but that it flows and is connected to each other” and so “I think we have a lot to do”.
Schneider Electric wants to be part of the process and, at this moment, is helping its customers, also in Portugal, to “make this digital transformation”.
“We are putting [a experiência do grupo na digitalização] in helping small and medium-sized companies in Portugal, we have an Iberian team that is following the PRR and NexGenerationEU “so that support reaches” as many companies as possible “and help define what a digitization strategy should be”, account .
The digital transformation “is a matter of making, if a company doesn’t make the decision now to digitize, in five years it can disappear”, because everything “is completely changing”, fugitive Pablo Ruiz-Escribano.
The pandemic, a reference, accelerated two needs: “to develop a more sustainable world and also a more digital world”.
And this also had effects on the working model, which will tend to be hybrid.
“I think the hybrid model with flexibility will be like a new work system”, he considers, a measure that will have an impact on the environment and on sustainability.
In Portugal, Schneider Electric has “up to three days of possible telework”.
Although last year the company in Portugal was impacted by the pandemic, this year it is “growing more than in 2019”, he adds.
“Our digitalization and sustainability strategy has been strengthened, we are gaining market share”, he adds, noting that the same is happening in Spain.
With almost 200 workers in the Portuguese market, Schneider Electric plans to reinforce the team.
For next year, Schneider Electric intends to expand the team in Portugal by hiring approximately 15 people.
“I have two responsibilities [no mercado português], one of them is the ‘safe energy’ business, which supports critical infrastructure for ‘data centers’, without a doubt we would like to be strategic partners of companies in the digitization process”, he says, when asked about the goals for Portugal .
In addition, it intends to “gain market share” and if Portugal becomes “a data ‘portal’ for Europe, we want to accompany” the country “in this process”.
In the services area, the goal is to double revenue.
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