Technicians from the companies Deloitte and Telefónica, awarded the Lanzarote Smart Island project, were responsible for starting this Tuesday afternoon the presentation days of this "transversal and participatory project" to different agents and groups on the island.
Before workers and representatives of the island's Public Administrations, including the Councilor for Employment, Transport and New Technologies of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Nerea Santana, they explained the master axes and the planned action plan of "an initiative that puts data science and the latest technology at the service of improving the quality of life of residents and the experience of visitors.
Broadly speaking, as they explained, Lanzarote Smart Island is "a public-private collaboration platform that will promote the development of the island through its digital transformation, with the intention of turning Lanzarote into an example of good practices in the field of open innovation and data in the field of tourism."
Six smart areas
The consulting firm Deloitte is in charge of developing the strategic planning of this project. The company is working from six smart areas, including mobility, economy, people, life, environment and government, with the aim of establishing the bases for a more attractive and competitive island.
"We want to continue holding meetings and gatherings with all the island's agents and groups to have a strategic, generic and integrated vision of the current reality of Lanzarote and to be able to define, with real data and information, the package of actions that most benefit the whole of society," it was pointed out from the same.
Benefits of technology
Telefónica explained to the attendees what the benefits of the technology associated with Lanzarote Smart Island will be. Grouped in the LriB platform, the project includes the creation of an intelligent, interactive and personalized digital tourist channel, "supervised" by Yaiza, an intelligent travel assistant.
In addition, the sensorization of the island is planned, an initiative that will allow the "creation" of weather stations to know the state of the weather instantly, or the counting of vehicles or people in real time in a certain space, which will allow redirecting these flows to other spaces of the island and avoid queues and agglomerations. "All this data will feed back and nourish the platform, which will allow to know, even, the volume of polluting gases that are being emitted into the atmosphere at any point of the island," they said.
The Technological and Tourist Innovation Center of Lanzarote (CITTLAN), "the third leg of this project", will be the physical location for dynamizing the project, "the space in which the data obtained will be analyzed and where training programs, networking and workshops will be held". "It will be the best working ecosystem for Lanzarote Smart Island, a project oriented to the improvement of economic competitiveness and energy sustainability, and to the promotion of recycling and entrepreneurship, among other aspects".
Think and plan "in terms of a sustainable future"
Lanzarote Smart Island is a project that, for the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, "will facilitate thinking and planning in terms of a sustainable future". "It will allow us to improve the rates of security, employment, health and education, give a boost to the economic fabric and boost the island's tourism sector in a sustainable way. It is and will be, in short, a fundamental tool for improving the quality of life of residents and our visitors, and a determining element in the creation of new business opportunities for entrepreneurs".
Lanzarote Smart Island has a budget of 2,994,962.10 euros from the Canary Islands Development Fund (FDCAN) managed by the vice president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Jacobo Medina, who values "very positively an integrating and cohesive project", which "will allow us to grow sustainably and be more competitive as a society and destination from the infinite possibilities offered by technology and innovation".
"Lanzarote Smart Island will be a technological tool of enormous value for the Centers since it will help us to improve the experience of our visitors and, at the same time, reduce the pressure on the work of César Manrique", explained the CEO of the Tourist Centers, Juan Félix Eugenio, who attended the presentation
After repeating the presentation of Lanzarote Smart Island for the tourism industry at 5 p.m. this Wednesday in Espacio 48, there will be another presentation for the interested population this Thursday, at the same time and in the same place.