The 10th AMETIC Seminar held in Santander, with Isdefe’s participation

The gathering on “Satellites as a key element in security, defence and Public Administrations applications”, held in Santander from 6 to 8 September, was brought to a close by the Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Agustín Conde Bajén.

The seminar took stock of the importance of the sector, which was deemed to be essential to developing and activating the economy by allowing for the development of the industrial fabric and directly providing more than 4,300 high-quality jobs.

Other aspects of importance during the seminar dealt with the need to continue developing the sector by investing in new R&D programmes, making the most of the synergies generated in a sector that combines dual civil/military technologies, and increasing international cooperation to use the opportunities that international organisations in both Europe and NATO have projected to face the future satellite needs of the Armed Forces and law enforcement and civil protection agencies.

The defence institutions have expressed their clear desire to support Spain’s space industry and the development of its technology for the clear purpose of addressing the technological changes and challenges of the new digital paradigm.

Jesús Alonso, Isdefe’s Head of Business Development, took part in a roundtable moderated by Division General (AF)  Salvador Álvarez  Pascual, Assistant Director of Programme Management at DGAM, titled “Challenges of the defence space industry in the 12th Legislature”, and by Óscar Pastor, Head of Critical System and Infrastructure Security, titled “Cyberspace: New domain for military operations”, which presented the new scenarios that have resulted from technological developments and the importance of developing cyber-defence and cyber-security technologies.