Wine Next Generation: challenges and opportunities for the digitalisation of the wine sector
Wineries and technology companies met on 3 November at the Wine Next Generation conference organised by the Spanish Wine Federation in collaboration with AgroBank and the National Digitalisation and Wine Hub, in which arctica+i actively participated by identifying and boosting digitalisation projects for the wine sector, with the collaboration of the technology development sector and the Spanish winemaking sector.
The aim of this event, which took place at Caixaforum Madrid, was to address the needs and possible solutions in terms of digitalisation in the wine sector, identify trends and seek synergies to accelerate the digital transformation of the sector, from production to marketing.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, was in charge of opening the event, highlighting the Spanish wine sector’s ability to adapt, as well as its capacity for innovation. In this regard, Planas pointed out that the arrival of the Next Generation EU funds, the new multiannual financial framework and the new objectives of the CAP provide a favourable scenario for accelerating the process of innovation and digitalisation of the entire agri-food sector and the wine sector in particular.
Wine Next Generation also devoted some time to analysing the impact that European funds will have on the digitisation of the different sectors, particularly the wine sector. Both the Director General of Rural Development, Innovation and Agri-Food Training of the MAPA, Isabel Bombal, and the Deputy Director of Industrial Areas and Programmes of the Ministry of Industry, Ramón Herrero, commented on the status and planning of the different PERTEs planned by their departments and analysed the role that associations can play to ensure that the funds reach the sector as a whole.
For his part, the Secretary General for Industry and SMEs, Raúl Blanco, was in charge of closing the event, once again detailing some of the lines that the Ministry of Industry has in place to contribute to the digitisation of the sectors within the framework of the Next Generation funds, urging the promotion of public-private collaboration to ensure that these aids reach the maximum number of companies, especially SMEs.
Wine Next Generation was also the setting for the presentation of U Label, the electronic wine labelling platform developed by the European wine sector to provide consumers with relevant, standardised and detailed information on wines, including information on sustainability.
artica+i has always maintained a close relationship with the Spanish Wine Federation due to our involvement in the wine sector, not only in the promotion of R&D&I projects but also as the technical secretariat of the PTV. This relationship has been further strengthened since last May when we signed a collaboration agreement with the aim of supporting the implementation of the European Recovery Instrument NGEU 2020-2026 in the national wine sector.
