The new Minister of Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, is preparing several changes in the organization chart of his department. Specifically, the Executive is planning movements at the head of the Secretaries of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence and Telecommunications. “Spain is becoming a world reference in these areas,” said López a few weeks ago, when he took possession of his portfolio, where he assured that the government “is aware of the importance of digital transformation, of modernizing the public service, promoting artificial intelligence and transforming the country economically.
The current Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, María González Veracruz, will become Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence. Among the pending issues that he will have to manage in his new position, González Veracruz will be responsible for the official application that the outgoing minister, José Luis Escriva, was planning to launch to prevent minors from accessing pornography on the Internet. The measure will be implemented through a “digital wallet” and, initially, it was announced that it would be available “after the summer.”
In addition, González Veracruz will lead the definition and coordination of the Linguistic Technologies Plan, which is part of the “AI Strategy Spain 2024”, endowed with 1,500 million euros from the Recovery Plan, and with which the Executive wants to develop and expand the use of artificial intelligence in a transparent and ethical manner and facilitate its application in the public and private sectors.
With the departure of González Veracruz from the position of Secretary of State for Telecommunications, Antonio Hernando, current deputy director of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government, will assume this position. Hernando will have significant political weight within the ministry, since any regulatory change related to the regulation of television will depend on his secretariat, through his powers in the promotion and regulation of the telecommunications sector and audiovisual communication services.
This State Secretariat is also working on the adaptation of the European directive on the energy efficiency of data centres, currently being transposed, and of the regulation on the first phase of the common assessment regime of the Union for these infrastructures. The objective of these standards is to obtain a transparent framework for the collection of data on energy consumption, promoting sustainability in the sector.
Where there will be no changes is at the level of the Secretary of State for the Civil Service. Clara Mapelli, a career civil servant of the Higher Corps of Civil Administrators of the State, will continue to lead this department, responsible for steering the management of the Government’s policy in public administration and the coordination of personnel policies between the various organizations.
The government announced in July a record offer of public jobs, with a call for more than 40,000 places by 2024. In addition, pending issues are on the table, such as the recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which maintains that temporary workers become permanent employees without becoming civil servants, which could allow the administration to sanction the abuse of this figure. Or the official offer of the Administration for the new agreement with Muface for 2025-2026. At present, a possible increase in bonuses of 25% has been proposed, which private entities consider insufficient.
Pending confirmation from the ministry, with these changes, some sources place the current Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence of the Bank of Spain, alongside the former minister Escriva.
