Gemma Bastida |
Málaga (Spain) (EFE).- The long-awaited arrival of Google in the Spanish town of Málaga (south) led to the emergence of the city in terms of cybersecurity, an area in which companies such as Accenture or Hispasec were pioneers and which were established a national benchmark thanks to the joint work of the public and private sectors.
The decision of the American multinational to open its new cybersecurity center of excellence in the capital of Malaga focused on a city in full technological effervescence, historically known for its tourism, and had a calling effect on other companies in the sector.
This growing business ecosystem was also accompanied in Malaga by important initiatives promoted by public institutions, such as the launch of the Andalusia Cybersecurity Center or the creation of the first degree in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Malaga (UMA). .
“Málaga is undoubtedly experiencing its best moment in cybersecurity and this is going to be long. We are only at the beginning of what all this can become if you think big and continue working with modesty, humility and perseverance”, Manuel Enciso, director of the UMA School of Informatics, assures EFE.
Cybersecurity Pioneers
The rise of Malaga in the field of digital security is the result of years of work by companies such as Hispasec, founded in 1998 and today converted into one of the leading firms in the market, with a turnover of more than three million euros, a staff of more than 60 professionals and operations in fifty countries.
The company, one of the first Spanish cybersecurity companies, was co-founded by Bernardo Quintero, considered the architect of the arrival of the American giant in Malaga.
The computer scientist from Malaga founded the company VirusTotal in 2004, which ended up acquiring Google in 2012 with one condition: to continue operating from Malaga.
catalytic effect
“Hispasec has been the dean of cybersecurity in Spain. From there VirusTotal was born and that makes possible the arrival of Google. They are clear visionaries”, stresses Professor Manuel Enciso, who stresses that the future ‘hub’ of technology in Malaga “is not a company, but much more”: a center of excellence to promote digital security, encourage training and establish ways of collaboration with public and private institutions.
“And that benefits everyone,” says Enciso, who believes that Google is already having a “catalytic” effect, attracting many technology companies to the city, not just cybersecurity.
According to data from the City Council, in 2022 alone, some thirty international companies, mostly technological, such as the French company Capgemini, with a center specialized in cyber defense, settled in Malaga; the British Quantexa; the Japanese NTT Data or Vodafone.
From Madrid to Malaga
Another of the big firms in the sector is Accenture, which has been operating for almost three decades in Malaga. Mar López, who was the first head of the Office of Cybersecurity and Fight against Disinformation of the Department of Homeland Security, has been working there for a couple of years.
After nine years working for the Government, López decided to return to Malaga and is now associate director of Accenture Security and responsible for the Public Sector and Health of the multinational in Spain, Portugal and Israel.
The expert tells EFE that the position that Malaga currently enjoys in this field “does not come from one day to the next”, but is the result of “a clear roadmap” in which companies and administrations have participated.
The role of the public sector
López highlights the determining role that the University of Malaga has played in this process, promoting the country’s first degree in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, which will start in September with an offer of 65 places.
The UMA also has ‘NICS Lab’, a leading R&D group in cybersecurity.
Experts agree that the action of the Andalusian regional government was also decisive in putting Málaga “on the map” of digital security, as well as the determining role played by Málaga TechPark, which has been a focus of innovation and attraction of technology companies for three decades. . It currently has 22,000 employees and some 650 companies with a combined turnover of more than 2,700 million euros.