The second edition of the series ‘Moving to Gran Canaria: The complete relocation Guide’ published by Best in Gran Canaria is now readily available
The island’s collaborative investment attraction initiative has updated its trademark guide, including new services, advantages, shortcuts and admin procedures that soften the relocation process to the preferred investment destination in Southern Europe, Gran Canaria.
This much-awaiting free-to-use guide provides all the information required to help relocated professionals, expatriates, remote workers, entrepreneurs and families, and it indeed facilitates their arrival on the island by minimising the natural uncertainties that come along any relocation process.
Published in digital format and available in English and Spanish, the Softlanding Guide was initially launched in 2021 and it is the first comprehensive approach to including all the technical, legal and administrative matters that professionals and their families encounter during the relocation process to the Canary Island. The steb by step approach is simplified by adding a dynamic reading guide, valuable links, checklists and listings of tasks/formalities to be completed before, during and after setting foot on the island. Application for visas and work permits, identification documents (NIE, social security, municipal registration), personal tax info, constitute the core content of the guide, along with advice and solutions for all the typical matters that must be dealt with by families planning to relocate in Gran Canaria.
The 2022 edition incorporates new links and detailed information on public and private infrastructures recently launched in Gran Canaria and keep the centrality of the ‘Reading Guide’, as a tool to help readers navigate through the document. The technical information is grouped according to different profiles, both for workers moving for a short period of time or indefinite/long-term relocations.
The release of the updated version for the ‘Moving to Gran Canaria: The complete relocation Guide’ is a joint effort of the Economic Promotion Society of Gran Canaria (SPEGC)‘ and the island’s economic ecosystem, including local and international companies, coworking/colivings, business associations, consulates, other public entities, entrepreneurs and professionals, that have duly contributed to improving the guide’s content and usability.
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ remains as the single-entry point for enquiries about how to best develop business ventures and R&D project in Gran Canaria, offering highly-regarded services via SPEGC, including: tax information, tailor-made training courses, offices and spaces within the Gran Canaria Technology Park, financing instruments, recruitment tools, etc.
The guide can be downloaded on the 'Best In Gran Canaria' website or by clicking here.
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ joins the international congress DeepLearn 2022 Summer, held in their summer base in Gran Canaria
The ‘Economic Promotion Agency of Gran Canaria’ (SPEGC)and its core Investment Promotion Initiative ‘Best In Gran Canaria’ are currently attending the international congress DeepLearn 2022 Summer, one of the most important events on artificial intelligence in the world.
The conference is being held in the capital of the Canary Islands from July 25th to 29th within INFECAR premises, sponsored by Cabildo de Gran Canaria and co-organized by the Rovira y Virgili University and the Institute for Research Development, Training and Consultancy (IRDTA), based in Brussels and London, with the adding support of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
With a strong academic and professional nature, this annual event focuses on research training based on neural network, deep learning and the capacity of said techniques to solve ultra-complex problems that no other data-handling technologies can master.
Deep Learning is a branch of artificial intelligence based onthe handling of large-scale data, and it lies at the forefront of complex problem-solving, given that other existing tools (such as supervised and semi-supervised machine learning algorithms applied on high-quality labeled training datasets) are costly to manage.
Neural network processes are applied in a wide variety of environments, such as artificial vision, neurosciences, voice recognition, language processing, computer interaction, fraud detection, robotics, biotechnology, communications and climate science.
More than 250 participants, whose large majority are PhD candidates, have been involved in lectures, masterclasses and practical exercises connected to Deep Learning techniques, while also enjoying the many activities happening in a typical Canary Islands summer.
On the first date of the venue, 'Best in Gran Canaria' hosted an evening session introducing the funding and tax break opportunities for companies that run their digital R&D activities on the island, as well showcasing possible collaboration streams with the local environment.
Gran Canaria is involved in producing high-quality contents/datasets for activities in which the island is a regional power (tourism, port & logistics), and the island maintains a committed digital strategy aimed at becoming a smart island. Gran Canaria welcomes digital ventures based on data exploitation. As a sample, SPEGC will be launching shortly after summer the High Technology Incubator for Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence applied to marine and maritime activities.
The 8th edition of the FIWARE Global Summit goes to Gran Canaria
Hosted and supported by SPEGC and Cabildo Gran Canaria with the collaboration of CidiHub, FIIHub, Best In Gran Canaria and Innovalia, the FIWARE’s 8th Global Summit will take place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), September 14-15, 2022. This is one of the leading open source conferences for public administrations, academia, developers, technologists, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, SMEs, large enterprises and investors, that will equally gather a professional community and technological market leaders to discuss challenges and create opportunities for businesses and open innovation around the digital transformation of public administration processes, economic development, business operations and society.
This year, the Global Summit will provide latest highlights on Open Source innovations and implementations, present more than 250 Smart Cities that use FIWARE technology, references in AgriFood, Industry, Energy, Water and Tourism, trends of the future of Digital Twins, Data Spaces, Smart Data Models, and will combine a variety of activities ranging from technical roadmaps to open calls, from expert talks to business workshops, from networking to interdisciplinary negotiations.
FIWARE Foundation
The Summit is organised by FIWARE Foundation with participation of its members including Atos, AWS, Engineering, NEC, Telefónica, RedHat, Trigyn Technologies, to mention but a few, and the FIWARE iHubs network, will bring together more than 150 renowned speakers and leading experts such as Antonio Morales (President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria), Cosme García (SPECG, Managing Director), Francesco Bonfiglio (CEO, Gaia-X), Ana Garcia (CEO, The Big Data Value Association, BDVA), Lars Nagel (CEO, The International Data Spaces Association, IDSA), Dario Avallone (Engineering, and Chairman of the FIWARE Board of Directors), Dr. Cameron Brooks (AWS, General Manager, Europe Public Sector), representatives of the European Commission, and many others.
The agenda of the event is targeting organisations and individuals as well as Public Administrations, ICT companies, SMEs, Accelerators, Universities and R&D organisations that are interested in the development of smart solutions based on open source and open standards technologies. Special attention in the program will be given to business-generating initiatives and funding opportunities led by Digital Innovation Hubs, venture capitalists and accelerators. The development of digital skills will also be one of the cornerstones of the Summit providing live training sessions for developers and technical experts.
A significant role will be given to the currently most discussed topics: Data Spaces forming a single European data space and a genuine single market for data. International experts and business drivers will feed dedicated sessions and play leading roles in the planned Data Spaces World Café, supported by the recently founded Data Spaces Business Alliance (formed by BDVA, FIWARE Foundation, Gaia-X and IDSA), and exchange visions on impacting projects such as i4Trust. It will also be demonstrated how these organisations and initiatives are driving the creation of Data Spaces from a practical point of view.
In addition, the programme will include training for developers, including introductory sessions on FIWARE technologies, followed by hands-on sessions with FIWARE use cases in major application domains such as Smart Cities, Smart Industry, Smart Energy Smart AgriFood, Smart Tourism, Smart Water and Ports.
For more information:
https://www.fiware.org/global-summit/
Registration form:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fiware-global-summit-gran-canaria-2022-tickets-196091122827
U.S. filmmakers visit Gran Canaria to know more about shooting opportunities on the island
More than thirty American film industry executives, most of them directly involved in physical production, have traveled to the Canary Islands to find out the prime advantages that the islands offer for audiovisual productions.
The high level 4-day trade mission has been organized by the Government of Spain, ICEX-Invest in Spain and the Spain Film Commission, with the participation of almost forty representatives of member companies of the United States Motion Picture Association (MPA) and other top American audiovisual platforms and companies. The agenda consisted of a professional journey with stops in a handful of shooting hubs, including Gran Canaria.
After visiting Madrid and Sevilla, executives made it to the Canary Islands, where much of their interest had been place, particularly to incorporate first-hand experiences with locations, companies and the shooting capabilities of the local industry. 'Canary Islands Films' and the Gran Canaria Film Commission were thus involved in explaining tax advantages and also connecting US representatives with local intelligence about the island's world renowed locations, permit management, resources and efficient logistic operations.
The meeting has been based on highly technical content and almost live experiences of the ability of the service providers to meet the industry needs, while also providing hints on practical information about tax advantages, the many attractions and variety of landscapes.
The filmmakers' delegation also visited the brand new production sets of Gran Canaria, build and promoted by Cabildo de Gran Canaria through the SPEGC/Gran Canaria Film Commission, which are the next best thing on the island's live action narrative, allowing for longer, bigger and more complex productions by including indoor shootings.
The Gran Canaria Film Commission is part of SPEGC/Cabildo de Gran Canaria and it plays a key role in building the island's audiovisual hub.
Gran Canaria leads the world ranking of the best destinations for digital nomads
For the first time since Nomad List values and classifies destinations according to the opinions of the network's users, Gran Canaria leads the global ranking as the ideal destination to work remotely and to welcome digital nomads.
Nomad List is the most important global platform for the digital nomad community and today is considered the bible of this movement. The ranking shows the specific assessments and opinions of their community in real time and dynamically.
On May list Gran Canaria occupied the first position over other national cities such as Valencia, which is in 29th place, or Tenerife, which currently occupies number 33. Despite being the first time that Gran Canaria leads the ranking, it is not a surprise, because the island has consistently positioned itself in the top 20 in recent years, and repeatedly among the top 10 destinations.
Of these attributes, the following are worthy of particular note due to their importance: cost of living, climate and connectivity. It also scored above average in other features such as security, diversity/LGBTQ+ friendliness and air quality, above cities such as Miami, Budapest or Lisbon.
Gran Canaria, and in particular the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, stands out also due to the excellent climate, the range of coworking spaces, the quality of life and the healthcare system and its almost-holistic approach to the concept of security guarantee (citizen security, food, health, etc.).
The Economic Development Agency of Gran Canaria (SPEGCm in its Spanish acronym) is a local agency that is firmly committed to raising awareness of the island and promoting local economic performance through its ‘Best in Gran Canaria’ initiative. It also actively works to attract business projects and entrepreneurs, particularly those working in the field of technology and innovation.
Would you consider boosting your pre-commercial Ports 4.0 project in the most competitive business environment?
If yes and your focus area is Gran Canaria, just keep reading.
Since the first Ports 4.0 call of Puertos del Estado, Gran Canaria has been a favourite place to perform tests of concept and validation of innovative solutions to improve efficiency, safety, energy transition and digitisation.
After the success of local companies in the first call, and the high interest and volume of applications in the second call, which closed a few months ago (Ideas and Commercial projects), Puertos del Estado is launching the Second Call for Pre-commercial Projects (TRL3-6), open until June 13th. In addition to advisory support, the Ports 4.0 Tradetech Fund provides grants of up to 60% of the innovation-related eligible costs (maximum aid of EUR1.000.000 per project). Total budget for this specific call amounts EUR11.25 mio.
On top of the national funding, Gran Canaria launches a complementary 'Support Program' to help companies that are committed to running their proof of concept and project validation on the island and/or working with locally based companies.
The Ports 4.0 Support Program, of a national nature, has been created to promote innovative pre-commercial projects in the marine-port field and for the development of disruptive solutions aimed at benefiting the logistics-port community. As an addition and a mechanism for improving the quality of applications and thus its eligibility, Gran Canaria and its port community are firmly embarked on a strategy to attract leaders and companies with disruptive projects that want to collaborate with industry agents from the Canary Islands. To meet this end, SPEGC (Economic Promotion Agency of Gran Canaria), the Port Authority of Las Palmas Port Authority and the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster, all of them members of ‘Best in Gran Canaria’, are jointly launching a tailor-made program that combines individualized training and mentoring for nearly two months, plus dedicated support in the search for industrial partners in the Port of Las Palmas and possible facilitating agents of the port environment of Gran Canaria.
Why Gran Canaria?
There are several reasons why Gran Canaria is the ideal base to execute your idea/project:
- Headquarters of the Ports 4.0 Incubator: Gran Canaria is the Canary Islands’ base for the Ports4.0 Tradetech Fund. All the other 13 bases are located in mainland Spain.
- It is home to the National High Technology Incubator in Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence applied to the marine-maritime environment, which includes specialized programs and mentoring.
- Locational advantages: The Port of Las Palmas is an EU port located in the heart of Atlantic traffics, right at the gateway to West Africa and immersed in the zone of expansion of offshore energies. Thanks to its climate, activity throughout the year is guaranteed without restrictions on tests/operations.
- Size and scope of the port: Welcome to an updated service centre covering all types of maritime cargoes and activity (transhipment hub, fuel supply, repairs, supplies...). No other port in West Africa covers as many services as Las Palmas.
- A varied infrastructure with a thriving port community: A central port facility with global reach (Port of Las Palmas), a multi-cargo port oriented to bulk and offshore cargoes (Arinaga), a liquid bulk port (Salinetas) and eleven other smaller port facilities; an offshore research centre (PLOCAN), including shipyards, workshops, suppliers and large port terminals with global reach that are ready to enter into partnership agreements.
- Tax advantages: Up to 75% deduction on R&D expenses (as opposed to 45% in mainland Spain) and reimbursement available. 4% corporate tax rate for companies operating under the Canary Islands Special Zone regime.
- Other sources of support are available to help you during the project cycle, including financing.
When you choose Gran Canaria (Port of Las Palmas), you choose not only a consolidated maritime centre but also a leading environment for the development and operation of innovative solutions for the port and maritime industries.
Gran Canaria leads european interest in offshore wind energy
Best in Gran Canaria attends Wind Europe for introducing Gran Canaria to the European offshore industry
Gran Canaria takes part in this year's edition of Wind Europe, one of the most important exhibitions of the wind sector worldwide, which is taking place from 5 - 7 April in Bilbao, 'Best in Gran Canaria' represents the island – as the investment attraction initiative, that brings together the Economic Promotion Society of Gran Canaria (SPEGC in its Spanish acronym, Port Authority of Las Palmas, PLOCAN and the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands, among other regional institutions.
The experts claim that wind will become the major source of energy in Europe during this decade, so Wind Europe Bilbao 2022 represents an opportunity to highlight the strengths of ports and companies of the island, as global suppliers within the international framework. More than 8,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors, 300 speakers will participate in this year's edition, and around 70 work sessions are expected to take place.
Focusing on onshore wind energy, Spain is the country with the best figures in Europe, with 27 GW of installed capacity, more than €3bn to Spain’s GDP and provides 28,000 jobs. Additionally, an Offshore Wind Roadmap has been designed - targeting up to 3 GW of offshore wind by 2030. The Canaries will be the spearhead of this strategy. As every strategy demands a well-planned installation process, Gran Canaria is positioned - thanks to its resources and talent -, as the main regional centre of offshore wind power.
In addition to the above, the Port of Las Palmas configures Gran Canaria as the only hub port in all of southern Europe and West Africa for this industry – being a global hotspot thanks to its development, logistics and 24/7 service capabilities, and also the perfect place for the deployment of wind offshore commercial projects.
To promote the Canary Islands potential in the offshore wind energy sector and under the new brand Canary Trade Winds (CTW), companies from the Canary Islands, the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands and FEDEPORT, are present as exhibitors together with ‘Best in Gran Canaria’, the Port Authority of Las Palmas, PLOCAN, ZEC and PROEXCA, among others.
The objective of ‘Best In Gran Canaria’ and SPEGC in this year’s edition of Wind Europe aims to introduce the advantages present on the island for the companies within this sector. Some of the outstanding services provided to support wind projects in their installation process on the island are: information on the Canary Islands tax system, advice on fiscal issues, information on the different sources available for financing R&D projects, the availability of qualified talent and where to find it or access to specialized and tailored training.
Gran Canaria meets Norwegian maritime industries at Nor-Shipping
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ attends one of its major events, in order to reinforce connections in the nordic marine-maritime sector
5 local companies attend the yearly call and profit from a dedicated 'Best in Gran Canaria' stand, therefore contributing to the reinforcement of a historic and long-running partnership between Norway and Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is currently attending Nor-Shipping 2022, Scandinavia’s prime fair for the maritime transport, logistics and marine energy industries, thanks to the support of Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria (‘Gran Canaria Economic Development Public Agency’, SPEGC in its Spanish acronym) and its landmark investment promotion initiative, 'Best in Gran Canaria'.
After an almost three-year wait due to COVID-related restrictions, the most awaited maritime transport fair in the shipping world opens its doors in the Norwegian capital from April 4th to 7th. With the slogan 'Your Arena for Ocean Solutions', Nor-Shipping once again creates an industry hotspot that welcomes high profile international leaders, top experts and recognised marine/maritime industry players as well as Norwegian maritime giants.
A highly strategic meeting for ‘Best In Gran Canaria’, which is attending this year alongside 5 local companies. Along with SPEGC/Cabildo de Gran Canaria (Gov. body of Gran Canaria), other ‘Best in Gran Canaria’ members have duly joined the delegation, including ZEC (Canary Islands Special Zone) and CMC – Canary Islands Suppliers (Canary Islands Maritime Cluster). Gran Canaria aims at exploring new business opportunities and touching base with its current nordic clients, while also promoting and offering the island´s capabilities in terms of maritime and port services in and around the Port of Las Palmas. All current actions related to turning Las Palmas into a stronghold for Smart Port and digital technologies will also be present in Oslo.
The long-established relationship between Gran Canaria and Norway involves several maritime subsectors, including ship repairs, bunkering, ship supplies and marine renewable energies. Gran Canaria is truly Norway's natural base in the Mid Atlantic, both for businesses and for the research and testing of maritime innovative solutions.
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ and EIT Digital Alumni gather 40 digital entrepreneurs to showcase the opportunities that Gran Canaria offers
The Economic Promotion Society of Gran Canaria (SPEGC in its Spanish acronym), through the 'Best in Gran Canaria' initiative, co-hosted a special Gran Canaria-themed meet-up during the yearly the EIT Digital Alumni Co-living 2022. The professional event brought together 40 digital entrepreneurs on Tuesday the 22nd of March.
The event was a new opportunity to broaden information about digital entrepreneurship in the Canary Islands and to continue to promote Gran Canaria as a preferred destination for start-ups and remote workers.
EIT Digital Alumni Co-living 2022 consisted on a four-week retreat in the Canary Islands and the side-activities included a variety of events such as networking meetings, talks and presentations. The ‘Gran Canaria Night’ was aimed at providing information about ongoing and prospected business opportunities, including taxation and dedicated financing streams, but it was also dedicated to facilitate a shared space for dialogue and inspiration to members of EIT Digital Alumni that will soon become start-up founders.
SPEGC plays a significant role in supporting any technological venture that foresees Gran Canaria as their R&D and Operations base, providing local intelligence, technical consultancy services, soft finance, offices and recruitment support.
Gran Canaria hosts ‘Thriving Nomads Conference 2022’
Gran Canaria enjoyed the Thriving Nomads Conference 2022 event which was held on the 7th and 8th March. A hybrid concept event, on-site and online, designed for inspiring and empowering digital nomads profiles, and also for increasing the positive impact on their projects and companies.
The event featured the participation of ‘Best In Gran Canaria’, that conveyed the idea of Gran Canaria as a business and investment destination, and how this initiative provides support for companies and entrepreneurs who decide to test, scale-up and commercialize their projects from the island, as well as investors who are committed to their business growth from Gran Canaria.
In total 8 training workshops, 13 speakers and a panel of experts who provided knowledge and innovative business ideas through seminars, workshops, conferences and master classes focusing on how remote work can have real local impact and how digital nomads can manage a zero waste nomad lifestyle.