- You have recently been appointed as Walqa's general manager, how has the landing been in the park and what have been your priorities in these first few months?
The Walqa Technology Park is an established park, with nearly 16 years of history, in which consolidated companies are installed and which has a team with extensive experience. Therefore, in this first stage I have listened a lot, talked to the people who make up the park to detect what their needs are and to be able to attend to them as best as possible. This phase of listening, so necessary, has been one of my priorities in the landing, in a challenge that I face with great enthusiasm.
- Walqa is currently a benchmark innovation ecosystem in Huesca, but where is the park headed in the coming years?
Walqa is a benchmark in innovation in the Aragon region. In the coming years, we want to continue our commitment to both innovation and research, through private and public initiatives. We will work to make the park even more attractive to all new projects that can be accommodated, while looking at the nearly 60 companies already established, and to help them in their consolidation and growth. If they grow up, Walqa grows up with them. For this reason, we are working on the lines that are demanded of us: training, meetings and events that favour networking and relations between companies, while at the same time dealing with current issues. All this together with the promotion of the park beyond its borders.
- The park is home to large companies such as Podoactiva, a biomechanics company with its headquarters in the park. What is the added value of setting up in an environment like Walqa?
First of all, the great added value is to belong to a park with first class, innovative companies with national and international projection, such as Podoactiva, ShuDigital, Continuum Security, OX-CTA, eComputer... and many others that operate from Walqa. It is a pole of innovation, where you can interact with neighbors who contribute.
Walqa offers three installation models: coworking for entrepreneurs, office rental and sale of plots for the construction of own buildings by companies. We understand that they are three different audiences that seek different objectives, depending on the moment they are in. We are working on defining the portfolio of services for each of them, based on the needs they may have at each stage.
Currently, we offer job opportunities and help in the selection process; advice on various topics (public aid, intermediation with research and educational centres, communication, event organisation, etc.), meeting rooms and spaces for free events; infrastructure maintenance services, cafeteria and catering, etc.
We also organise courses, workshops, talks and training courses with constant quality content, to keep companies informed of current issues and to encourage continuous learning, something that is essential for the companies in the park as they belong to sectors in constant change.
We also promote participation in expert forums and represent the interests of jointly established companies, and offer the possibility of participating in cooperation projects. In short, we work in different lines and from different angles to help companies find business opportunities and innovation projects, with which to promote their development and growth.
Finally, Walqa is located 8 kilometres from Huesca, a city of just over 50,000 inhabitants, with a high quality of life and an exquisite gastronomic and cultural offer. It is also less than an hour from the Pyrenees and the Sierra de Guara, places where you can practice sports such as skiing, canyoning, hiking... It is a great place to live, relax and enjoy, something that Walqa promotes as a differential value for companies and their workers.
- The most predominant sector of companies in Walqa are ICTs but we see how other sectors such as Bio and renewable energy companies are growing. What is the reason for the increase in these sectors?
Although 7 out of 10 companies located in Walqa belong to the Information and Communication Technologies sector, there is an important weight of Biotechnology and renewable energy companies. In the case of Biotechnology, Podoactiva acts as a driving force for the development and attraction of new companies in the sector, while at the same time positioning the park. The same applies to renewable energies, since we have the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation, a reference in research in this field at a regional level and a driving institution for new companies.
- How is business development supported in all its phases of evolution in the Walqa Technology Park?
From the park we accompany the companies in all their phases. From the Cowalqing space, a coworking with 11 semi-closed and 3 closed stalls, in which entrepreneurs land with their business ideas and loaded with enthusiasm. Walqa supports and advises you in this stage.
As they grow, the park offers them different possibilities: renting a larger office to start expanding the equipment, meeting and event rooms, to receive clients, prepare meetings or product presentations, and advice in the areas they need. The park also helps them to build a network of contacts with which to establish synergies and opportunities for collaboration.
Once the company is consolidated, the needs change, and from the park we help them in the visibility of their companies, providing them with business opportunities, training and advice on the challenges that arise.
And at all times they have the support of the Entrepreneurs Programme and the Business Programme of the Aragonese Institute of Development, which in the province of Huesca carries out a large part of its activity in the Walqa Technology Park.
- During this year, in APTE we are emphasizing the socioeconomic impact that science and technology parks generate in the areas where they are located. In your case, what impact is the park having or does it want to have on the main economic ratios of Huesca?
At the moment, some 750 people work in the Walqa Technology Park, of which at least 6 out of 10 live in the city of Huesca and the surrounding area. All these skilled and specialized jobs would probably not exist if the park did not exist; and they generate quality employment just 8 kilometers from the city. That is why we are looking to get even closer to Huesca in the next stage, so that the people of Huesca can get to know us better. From Walqa we work on innovative projects that have as their final destination the whole world, because with technology borders disappear, and we have to put this into value.
- A mandatory question for 2018 is which disruptive technology (Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality... etc.) do you think will be the protagonist in terms of entrepreneurship and creation of Start ups, and spin offs in the environment of your park?
At Walqa we have taken a special interest in Blockchain technology, without neglecting others such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things or Virtual Reality. But perhaps the chain of blocks is the most unknown at the moment, and represents a great opportunity for both companies and institutions. We organised a talk at the beginning of the year which was very well received by the companies in the park and also from outside it, and we will continue along this line through participation in different working groups and the organisation of events to help companies to clarify the business possibilities that can be presented to them.
To get to know Celia Garcia and the members of APTE a little more, could you give us a brief curriculum presentation?
Huesca (1987). Degree in Journalism from the University of Navarra, Master in Corporate Communication 2.0 from the University of Alcalá de Henares and specialized in Digital Marketing from IESE. She has worked as a journalist in the media, as well as in the communication offices of Ibercaja and the Provincial Council of Huesca. For nearly 5 years, she was a marketing and digital communication consultant for companies related to Information and Communication Technologies, and other sectors, especially gastronomy and tourism. He has experience in organizing events at national level (Digital Journalism Congress of Huesca and Electronic Book Congress). In recent years, he has led the Marketing and Communication department of Centraldereservas.com, a.com from Aragon specializing in online hosting reservations, where he managed projects related to marketing and technology.
