- The signing is part of the development of the conference, which is held in the Castilian-Leonese capital, under the title of Business and employment opportunities in smart cities
- Under the Madrid Emprende brand, a broad network of support for entrepreneurs has been established that reached more than 50,000 people last year.
Five Spanish cities together in the commitment to innovation, the effort to attract investments and the economic development of investors. First, Madrid and Valladolid signed an agreement in 2013 to materialize that purpose. Today Oviedo, Vitoria and Logroño have joined. It was in Valladolid with the presence of the mayors of these cities, with the exception of Vitoria, which was represented by its deputy mayor. "We want - explained Ana Botella, the Madrid councilor - to establish bridges of collaboration between the five city councils to help citizens' talent be directed towards business activity."
The signing is part of the development of the conference, which is held in the Castilian-Leonese capital, under the title of Business and employment opportunities in smart cities, in which, in Botella's words, the aim was to give "the "prominence of this day to entrepreneurs." "The municipal initiative can, and must, improve public services with the help of technology," he continued, "but the participation of small business initiatives is essential to achieve this."
The importance of the municipal initiative has one origin: the cities in which "the main productive resource of the 21st century is concentrated: people. That's why you can't think about making a smart city without turning your back on the talent of the people who live in them," Botella stressed.
In her speech, the mayor reviewed some of the examples that the Madrid City Council has carried out in terms of smart cities. A work that is rewarded day by day by good data, and by facts such as the choice of Madrid as the headquarters of a campus for entrepreneurs by Google. "It is a unique opportunity for our city," he stressed.
EMTs
The Municipal Transport Company summarizes this municipal government policy well. The EMT was a pioneer in the development of a smartphone application in order to inform travelers of the real time of bus routes and waiting intervals. The good reception of this service led the company to "open its data so that this information could be exploited by whoever wanted. The result is that, since then, more than 20 applications developed by individuals have appeared. In fact, some of these apps compete to be the most downloaded with the official EMT app," he explained.
Other actions
In addition to these two examples, the mayor gave some insights into the history of the Madrid City Council in supporting entrepreneurship. Under the Madrid Emprende brand, a wide support network has been established that reached more than 50,000 people last year and whoever today wants to start their business journey has in Madrid "a complete offer of resources and services that cover all phases of the start-up. progress of the project; from the preparation of the business plan to the search for financing, including training, business accommodation and the procedures for registering the new company.
A Network of Business Incubators, with more than 300 startups hosted; Madrid International Lab, which houses fifty foreign companies, in addition to the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank; the 7+7 initiative to double the number of centers for new entrepreneurs in this legislature and "there are already 6 of the 7 planned that are in operation (Espacio Emprendedor San Blas, Factoría Cultural, Smart Lab, Factoría Industrial, Madrid On Rails, Tetuán Meeting Point), which will be joined before the end of the year by the last of them, the incubator of the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Along with the new spaces, it is important to highlight the measures to facilitate the "startup" of any initiative: the funds. Along these lines, Botella highlighted the public-private seed capital fund, which, with the participation of angel investors and venture capital entities, mobilized 3.4 million euros towards Madrid startups in 2013. Or the 50% reimbursement mechanism of the social security contributions established by the City Council for self-employed young people a year before the State's flat rate was approved. "It meant that 595 people under 30 years of age benefited from this measure," he reported while giving one last example: Madrid Tax Free, which returns to businesses established after 2011 an important part of the municipal taxes that they have had to pay. to start your activity. "663 SMEs and micro-SMEs have already benefited from this last measure."
Prior to signing the agreement, Ana Botella visited the Philips factory in Valladolid, the company in charge of supplying the material for the renovation of the city's lighting following sustainability criteria. And also, along with the rest of the mayors and municipal officials, he has visited the Valladolid Innovation and Economic Development Agency.
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