Gijón is not the same city today as it was twenty-five years ago, but beyond the aesthetic changes that can be seen at first glance there are other more profound changes that have transformed the city.
These internal changes (learning to coexist with artificial intelligence or adapting to constantly evolving technology) are embodied in the digital transformation, in the path that thousands of companies have traveled to avoid being left behind, aware that this adaptation was synonymous with success and permanence. This change, which has not always been easy, but courageous, has been the trump card to consolidate a leading business fabric.
A journey that required effort, learning and commitment, and in which CTIC Technology Center always played a key role, accompanying more than ten thousand companies in the council of Gijón and its area of influence so that this transformation became a reality and was tailor-made.
"The complicity with agents such as Gijón Impulsa, the Asturian Federation of Entrepreneurs and the Union of Traders of the Principality of Asturias has allowed us to turn technology into an engine of real change, always based on active listening and analysis of each need before acting," explains Pablo Coca, CTIC's general manager.
The origin: SAT centers and technology park
Where did this role of CTIC as a fundamental piece in the technological development of Gijón originate? The origin was born in the SAT Centers (Technological Accompaniment Services), a network promoted and developed by CTIC and financed by the Principality of Asturias, and which revolved around the Business Centers throughout Asturias, reaching 10 active centers, distributed throughout the region.
In Gijón, these services were developed from spaces such as the Cristasa Municipal Business Center and the Science and Technology Park of Gijón (PCTG), with programs designed to bring digitalization closer, in a practical and accessible way, to SMEs and entrepreneurs.
From 2015 the bet was redoubled in Gijón, when the City Council, through Gijón Impulsa, bet on strengthening this model, consolidating CTIC services as a structural support to municipal professionals to carry out the mission of technologically evolving municipal companies and entrepreneurs' businesses.
A bet that still remains today, stronger than ever, with a significant allocation of resources to address this challenge. It was not just a matter of incorporating tools or reviewing processes: digitalization posed and poses deeper challenges, which require continuous support over time.
It was necessary to redefine strategies so that no company would be left out of a constantly changing market and prepare to coexist with artificial intelligence. And CTIC, which knew and knows how to do it, took up the challenge.
A tailor-made accompaniment
In this context, and as an evolution of the work done to date, Gijón Transforma was born in 2022, hand in hand with Gijón Impulsa and Fade, an intensive accompaniment program that today reaches its fourth edition.
The initiative works with companies from different sectors to boost their digital evolution, helping them to integrate technology into their day-to-day work and improve their competitive positioning.
From small service, transport or tourism companies to industrial companies, the program has shown that digitization is not the exclusive preserve of large corporations. All businesses win, regardless of their size, when technology adapts to their needs.
María Calvo, president of the Asturian Federation of Entrepreneurs, takes stock of the work done and highlights that "digital transformation is not an option, it is the condition for our SMEs to continue competing."
And precisely to be more agile and more competitive, Laura Junquera, owner of Laura Moda, carried out the integration of digital technology by the hand of CTIC.
"Those new technologies that seem unattainable for small businesses are now part of the day-to-day running of our business, allowing us to carve out a small niche and position ourselves in the digital world," she says, while highlighting the personalized support that allowed her to tackle a necessary change.
Collaboration with the business community has been another key to this journey, in which the goal is to ensure that no one is left behind.
Thus, since 2020, in the midst of the pandemic and as a direct response to it, the Gijón Traders' Union, with funding from the Gijón City Council and the collaboration of CTIC, has launched the DIGICOM Program, aimed at digitalizing local commerce and adapting it, through customized training and personalized accompaniment, to the changes in consumer habits that the health crisis dramatically accelerated.
What began as an emergency response has become consolidated as a structural lever for the modernization of small businesses in Gijón.
CTIC also provides Gijón companies with access to larger programs, both at regional and national level, facilitating access to initiatives such as the Asturias Digital Innovation Hub (ASDIH) or Activa Industria.
This function of accompanying, advising and channeling resources to our business fabric has allowed many Gijón companies to access services, financing and knowledge that would otherwise have been beyond their reach. The objective is that no company misses even one opportunity if it can benefit from it.
"In order for companies to be internationally competitive, betting on quality and added value as a differentiating element, in a global market characterized by price competition, we must take advantage of the possibilities that technology offers us, in the form of process improvement", explains Alberto González, Export Director of Tekox.
The CTIC philosophy is clear: to always work in favor of the positive impact of technology in the company and that this impact is also reflected in society.
A commitment that continues
After twenty-five years of commitment to implementing technological advances in companies, adapting them to their needs and circumstances, the balance is not only measured in figures but in evolution, in the real stories of the companies that have seen how this leap towards digitalization has been key to their development.
Fernando Clavijo, manager of the Union of Traders of the Principality of Asturias, analyzes this technological evolution from his sector:
"In the case of local commerce, this collaboration has been especially important, because it has allowed to bring digitization to small businesses from a practical, useful and adjusted to their daily reality approach. Thanks to this work, many establishments have been able to advance in key aspects such as management, visibility and the relationship with their clientele."
Luis Díaz, managing director of Gijón Impulsa, highlights the relevance of this digital transformation in the business fabric of Gijón:
"We continue to work so that our companies, regardless of their size or sector, do not improvise their future and can access tools, knowledge and specialized accompaniment that allows them to compete in an increasingly demanding environment."
"We continue to work so that our companies, regardless of their size or sector, do not improvise their future and can access tools, knowledge and specialized accompaniment that allows them to compete in an increasingly demanding environment.
The technology has helped them to become stronger, to clear up doubts and define a plan for the future, to adapt to the times and to continue to focus on the human factor, which goes hand in hand with technological advances.
25 years have passed, but CTIC's commitment continues because technology transfer is a process, not a moment.