The present and future of data and technology, protagonists of a Sectoral

The present and future of data and technology, protagonists of a Sectoral

The meeting , organized in partnership Tecnun, the university's engineering school, took place on February 20 at the postgraduate program headquarters postgraduate program Madrid. The first part featured a presentation by economist José María Álvarez-Pallete, former chair and CEO of Telefónica.

Álvarez-Pallete, named Spain's best CEO by Forbes in 2016, analyzed the role of technology from a historical, economic, sociological, and anthropological perspective, inviting attendees to reflect on responsibility in the management of data AI, stating that the discussion is not focused on technology, but on values.

The impact of technology use at different levels (ecological, economic, and sociological) means, for Álvarez-Pallete, a need to put AI and data service of people. He urged alumni to ask themselves questions about the future: how do we want to build the world, how is human dignity defined, how do we tackle inequality, how do we defend the truth, and how do we restore geopolitical balance? In this context, he highlighted the role of academia, which plays a crucial part in the discussion , trusting that technology will not dehumanize society.

It should be noted that professional ethics, focused on service, responsibility, and the common good, is one of the fundamental pillars of the University of Navarra's 2025-2030 Strategy. 

Networking: professional relationships and opportunities

Following his presentation, and now in the second part of the workshop, attendees took part in networking sessions to exchange experiences and ideas on data quality and ethics, entrepreneurship, data centers, the approach , cloud infrastructure, and language models.

Efrén Díaz ( DER'01, PhD'20), manager Technology, Geospatial, and Space Areas at the Más y Calvé law firm, pointed out how surprised he was by the convergence and coexistence of alumni from different backgrounds—engineering, law, Economics, communication, etc.—in the sector. —in a unique conversation that brings different enriching perspectives to the challenges posed by the Data and Technology sector. "The interesting thing about this interdisciplinary relationship is discovering that there are many more things that unite and enrich us and lead us to ask ourselves the same questions than those that apparently separate us."

For her part, Leyre de la Calzada (MEBDS'25), manager and GTM manager Microsoft, highlighted: "I think it is enriching to hear perspectives from people with different backgrounds and different years of experience to understand their perspectives, which add a lot of value; since we often tend to focus on our own point of view, losing sight of what other approaches contribute."

The director of Master's Degree Big Data Science at the University of Navarra, José Antonio del Valle, highlighted the value of sectoral alumni in listening to alumni, their needs, and connecting them. "We have had the opportunity to listen to stakeholders in order to prepare an ecosystem, a product, in this case, the Data & Tech sector, which adds value and enriches us all, both the university and the alumni, whom we have put in contact they can establish enriching staff professional networks."

With this approach, the sector aims to consolidate an active community in the field of Data & Tech that promotes partnership and the creation of professional opportunities among alumni.

This Data & Tech sector event joins the list of previous meetings that have brought together alumni the real estate, banking, and fashion sectors. Alumni is currently working on creating communities of professionals in the pharmaceutical and marketing sectors.