The political course seems to have taken seriously this statement that September is the month of changes. Only three days after the beginning, what was already an open secret was confirmed: the departure of José Luis Escriva from the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Service to fill the position of governor of the Bank of Spain after the position left vacant by Pablo Hernández de Cos.
There have been several weeks of rumors and conversations about Escrivá’s return to an institution he was part of years ago and speculation about what, if anything, would happen with the portfolio he himself inaugurated at the end of last year. Finally, yesterday, this movement was unofficially confirmed.
Once this change was confirmed, the only doubt that remained to be resolved was the fate of a ministry that is barely a year old and that, during this period, has already faced various variations.
It was in November 2023 that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced after his re-election the creation of a specific portfolio for digital transformation, which until then had been part of the economy, under Escrivá’s mandate. This composition did not last long, barely a month, since it was then that Sánchez decided to include the Civil Service, which until then depended on the Treasury, alongside Digital Transformation. It was born, like that, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Civil Service.
To this busy beginning, different exits and entries of profiles are gradually added, among which the most notable is that of the former Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas, who was replaced by Mayte Ledo, or that of the CDO of Spain, Alberto Palomo.
Today, less than a year later, a new change is coming to this ministry, which It will be directed by Óscar López in his new stage.
Lopez comes to the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Service from the Office of the President of the Government, where He was considered a “key man” since the departure of Iván Redondo. In theory, no changes are expected in the government until Teresa Ribera leaves the European Commission next November.
The challenges ahead
The arrival of Lopez at the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Service is not without challenges, because it is facing one of the most prolific stages of digital transformation, both at national, European and international level.
One of the aspects that will mark this new stage in the country’s digital portfolio will be the landing of the European regulation on artificial intelligence, which came into force a few weeks ago. Then, a transition period was opened during which certain provisions will be gradually applied until they become mandatory in August 2026.
The weight of to facilitate this transition in the most efficient and simple way possible with the help of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA), the body responsible for implementing this law in the national territory. In fact, this institution began operating just a day before Escrivá’s departure was announced and, now, the current minister must strengthen its operations, which include the development of the famous test environments (sandboxes).
Continuing with artificial intelligence, one of the former minister’s major milestones was the approval of the new Spanish AI strategy, which has come to reinforce the existing one and which implies an investment of 1,500 million euros, to which are added 600 million already in progress in programs, mainly, dedicated to talents. It is now expected that the new president will complete the deployment of the initiatives presented in accordance with this document.
Beyond AI, López will also have to build on other initiatives launched in recent months by the previous minister. such as the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), known as “Digital SEPI”. At the beginning of August, the first meeting of this organization was held, during which the proper names that will make up said entity were announced, so the sector is waiting to see its first actions (beyond the financing of the construction of the IMEC building in Malaga announced last July).
Another of the previous minister’s major initiatives This was the beta digital walletan application developed by the government that includes a verification system to guarantee the age of majority to access adult content that is part of the entry into force of eIDAS2. As Escriva promised, a first version would be released at the end of the summer available to citizens, so it is the new president who should take over.
In addition, López must win some of the calls presented during this period and that are still valid, for example, the last one of the Digital Generation Program for SMEs, which is open until September 18, those of the Digital Kit, Consulting Kit or, the last one, the 200 million announced by Red.es dedicated to digital training through professional associations.
