"Researching more, with more ambition, with more depth, is undoubtedly one of the challenges facing the University of Navarra in the coming years". This was emphasized by president, María Iraburu, during the official opening of the 2022-23 academic year, in which the academic center celebrates its 70th anniversary. It is an "exciting and shared"challenge , as she pointed out, which will require the joint effort of all those who work at the University "and of so many public and private institutions to make the research work sustainable, also economically".

In this sense, he referred to project Bioma and thanked all the institutions and companies that are supporting its launch. He also recalled "the good news" received this week about the inclusion in the general state budget of an item of 2 million euros for the Science Museum that is part of the project. "These are very welcome funds. And so will be all those that may come to us," he said.

This project, with its "dual research and exhibition dimension", is emerging as "a unique contribution that, with the partnership of all, wants to offer the rigor and reliability of science to open new horizons of sustainable development ". It will also become a space for interdisciplinary reflection "in which to explore issues related to sustainability, to give them depth of content, to discover their anthropological roots and their ethical consequences".

Bioma is part of the Strategy 2025 "University and Sustainability". Professor Iraburu recalled that this roadmap of the University of Navarra for the coming years "aspires to a research open to the needs of society and institutions, involved in that great collective challenge which is to seek ways for a deeply human development , able to make innovative proposals and to face the consequences of a pandemic or the destabilization caused by a war on the international scene".

In particular, he spoke of the training of young researchers that has always characterized the University and of "the need to increase the presence of students from doctorate".

teaching more committed innovator

The president, who presided over this academic act for the first time after taking office in January 2022, commented on an expression of the first Chancellor of the University, St. Josemaría Escrivá: "In the very birth of things. With it he invited those who listened to him "to be protagonists committed to the times in which they live. Although for this institution the speed of change could be seen as an obstacle, he pointed out, the University must be at the origin of the changes. "To remain on the sidelines or limit our involvement to closed criticism would be a betrayal of our university vocation, which urges us to enter into dialogue with the questions and problems of society," he said.

Regarding the teaching, the other major front where the university can be at the origin of changes, the president called for a "more committedteaching ": "Every September 1st , the new invades our classrooms and the meeting between people that defines the university takes place. It is this meeting that can and must inspire us to a more committed teaching , more in tune with the hopes and needs of our students and with the challenges posed by society".

In his opinion, the possibilities for progress in this field are diverse: "Methodologies such as service-learning, which favor a solidarity-based approach of the profession itself; the integration between the humanistic subjects of the core curriculum and professionalizing contents; or projects that lead our students to learn about the difficult economic, social and human reality in which most of the world's population lives, in order to try to improve it," he concluded.

The event was attended by various authorities, including María Chivite, President of the Government of Navarra; Unai Hualde, President of the Parliament; Juan Cruz Cigudosa, Minister of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Government of Navarra; José Antonio Sánchez, chief prosecutor of the Superior Court of Justice of Navarra (TSJN); Joaquín Galve, president of the TSJN; Ramón Gonzalo, President of the Public University of Navarra; José María Guibert, President of the University of Deusto; and Teresa Imízcoz, director of the UNED of Pamplona.

Also in attendance were Carlos Gimeno, counselor of Education; Santos Induráin, counselor of Health; Mikel Irujo Amezaga, counselor of development Economic and Business; Javier Remírez, counselor of Presidency, Equality, Public Function and Interior; Ana Ollo, counselor of Citizen Relations; Inmaculada Jurío, vice-president 1st of the Parliament of Navarra; Yolanda Ibáñez Pérez, 2nd vice-president of the Parliament of Navarra; and the parliamentarians Ramón Alzórriz, José Javier Esparza, Maiorga Ramírez, Juan Luis Sánchez de Muniáin and Patricia Fanlo.

Inaugural lesson: cryptocurrencies and inflation

After a Mass at the chapel of the Amigos Building, officiated by the Archbishop of Pamplona, Mons. Francisco Pérez, the opening ceremony began with the summary of the academic report of the 21-22 academic year by the University Secretary, Jesús María Ezponda. Then, the professor of the School of Economics, Antonio Moreno Ibáñez, read the inaugural lecture "The new digital currencies". In the speech he emphasized different aspects that "illustrate the present and the future of money".

The Full Professor of Economics explained how "in the current monetary system the creation of money is not backed by a precious metal, but essentially by two pillars: being designated as the legal tender of governments and being subject to the conduct of monetary policy by central banks". In addition, he stated that a good monetary and financial system has to bring together stability in the value of the currency and financial stability. He also referred to cryptocurrencies and made it clear that, due to its volatility, "bitcoin has not managed to acquire a good reputation as a transactional currency, which has condemned it to be a purely speculative currency".

Addressing the topic of inflation, and referring to the current cases of Turkey and Argentina, Professor Moreno commented: "In practically all cases where inflation accelerates uncontrollably, there is a mismanagement of policies, which often has to do with the institutional framework lack of operational independence of the central bank with respect to political power". In his opinion, the emergence of the so called stable-coins is causing "central banks to consider the implementation of an official digital currency, the so-called euro or digital dollar". This means that the central bank will also issue its own current accounts, so that users can make payments from there.

The director of the Master in Economics and Finance explained that "we are close to the birth of a monetary ecosystem with a new balance of forces between central banks, commercial banks and technology-based financial companies". So it will be core topic toregulate three dimensions of the new digital currencies. First, the sustainability of some cryptocurrency platforms, because of their exaggerated use of electricity. Second, striking a balance between the privacy of personal data and being able to monitor fraudulent payments or criminal activity. Finally, tech giants could impose their market power. "We are not going to have a new monetary system whose fundamental basis is cryptocurrencies, nor will bitcoin be the new currency of reservation world, we will continue to have a fiduciary system, but with new capabilities, with more versatile and efficient monetary platforms," he stressed.

In conclusion, he spoke of the dominant role of the dollar, which remains the world's most important currency. However, "the combination of new official digital currencies and decentralized digital platforms have some disruptive potential in this regard," he said. Countries such as China could take advantage of this new ecosystem to push the implementation of its digital currency in many other countries and presumably will try to unseat the dollar's dominance.