Many international companies have set up shop in Malaga – and many more are on the way.
Already this year mobile phone giant Vodafone has announced that it will establish its European centre of excellence for research and development in the city. New technological solutions and digital services will be developed at the Malaga Technology Park, the company announced in a statement. To this end, more than 600 highly qualified jobs will be created, and this could increase to 1,000 once the project is up and running.
Malaga was chosen after coming out on top against seven cities in five countries in an internal competition carried out by the Vodafone Group. According to Vodafone, Malaga received the best score in an extensive questionnaire assessing lifestyle, the availability of talent with the necessary technical skills, working conditions, transport, institutional support, links with universities and other established companies.
“The Andalusian city stood out because it had the best combination of all the selection criteria,” said Vodafone Spain CEO Colman Deegan. “We are convinced that the digital ecosystem that has developed in Malaga in recent years will continue to improve even further.
The train station as test lab
Vodafone, in collaboration with the Spanish railway administration Adif, selected María Zambrano train station in the city as the location to run tests on its 5G network in this type of environment.
The solutions developed provide the station with a digital check-in and identity control system for accessing the facilities, allowing travellers to access the boarding area through a barrier using their pre-registered biometric facial data. In addition, interactive maps have been developed for customers and station maintenance staff.
The 5G network will also become a powerful ally in the tourism sector by allowing the application of new concepts such as gamification or augmented reality. In Malaga, with the participation of the city council, the first tests have already been carried out in the Cathedral and the Automobile Museum.
All these developments are part of the ‘5G Andalusia Pilot’ plan promoted by the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation of the Andalusian regional government, which has just been completed. This large-scale trial involved 50 partners, including 14 public institutions and 29 companies and customers from different sectors.
What’s more, Vodafone has chosen Malaga to carry out important research, with researchers at the University of Malaga already working on 6G technology, the sixth generation of wireless communication technology.
It will not only improve browsing speeds, but also support autonomous vehicles and enable further development of artificial intelligence and the use of the internet in everyday life.
