The Council of Ministers approves the creation of the Escrivá company “Sepi Digital” with 20 billion in investments in technology.

On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers sanctioned the launch Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT) – colloquially known as “SEPI Digital” – is a newly created government agency that will manage the recovery plan, costing around 20 billion euros.

“He will manage almost 20 billion million dollars from the recovery plan, aimed above all at developing key sectors in Spain, such as microelectronics, and financial support for innovative products and services of technology and audiovisual companies,” stressed the government spokesman and the Minister of Education. Vocational training and sports, Pilar Alegriaat a press conference following a meeting of the Council of Ministers assembled Europe Press.

In particular, the Council of Ministers approved the Royal Decree on the transformation of the commercial company SEMyS into SETT, together with the statutes of the new organization.

“SETT is a public commercial organization that will manage and coordinate public investment in technological innovation, adapting the administration’s leadership to the speed that sets the pace of technological and economic progress,” the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the State Service said in a statement.

In the “inevitable” launch of SETT, the new company will focus its management on creating synergies, unity of action and a medium-term vision to transform the Spanish economy in a transversal and structural way, incorporating disruptive digital technologies into multiple sectors.

Initially, will manage almost 20 billion euros from the three major funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP).

In particular, it will consolidate the capabilities of Perte Chip, the largest of the 13 strategic projects promoted by the government and contributing to the development of an industrial ecosystem in Spain along the entire semiconductor value chain, worth around 12 billion euros.

SETT will also manage 4,000 million euros from Next Tech Fundaimed at promoting public investment in technology projects, and more 1.7 billion euros support for the audiovisual sector, in line with the financial instruments of the Spanish Plan, the Audiovisual Centre of Europe.

“In addition, the new company will involve high added value technology sectors and will decide on the presence and financing of the Spanish Government in projects involving strategic and disruptive technology companies. Thus, SETT combines, in one and the same, the financial capabilities of the discovery of the most future sectors and the technical capabilities that allow the analysis of technological and digital trends,” added the portfolio led by Escriva.

DIRECTOR OF SETT

In this context, the SETT Management Board will meet “In the coming days” among other things, to select the person who will lead the new government structure, according to sources in the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Civil Service.

Regarding the possibility of opening a public selection process, similar to the one that recently took place in the case of the Spanish Supervisory Agency for Artificial Intelligence (Aesia), the sources interviewed pointed out that SETT is a public enterprise and is therefore managed by a governing board that will be responsible for appointing the person who will lead the new public entity.

As a reminder, Escriva announced the creation of this new organization on February 26 at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona.

In this sense, the government’s initial forecast was that the new state institution could begin operations “from May” this year, although the deadline was eventually extended by a couple of months.

TELEPHONE

One of the main questions surrounding this new state entity is the possibility of managing the state’s 10% stake in Telefonica through the State Industrial Participation Company (SEPI).

“It would make sense, but we’ll have to see over time,” Escriva said a few months ago when asked whether SETT was the right one to manage the state’s stake in Telefónica, a position that remains today.

Last May, SEPI completed the acquisition of 10% of Telefónica, investing almost €2.285 million, so in the current scenario there are two options: SEPI transfers its participation in the telecommunications company SETT or maintains it.