José Antonio Nieto, Andalusia’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Development and Public Administration and president of the Andalusia Digital Agency (ADA), called for closer cooperation between Andalusia and Extremadura to seize opportunities from technological change and prevent southern Spain from being left behind in economic and social transformation.
Nieto attended the Potencial Digital 2026 conference in Cáceres, where Andalusia was the invited autonomous community. He toured the exhibition areas with Extremadura’s president, María Guardiola. He also spoke alongside Cáceres Mayor Rafael Mateos and Extremadura’s Minister of Economy, Employment and Digital Transformation, Guillermo Santamaría. Nieto thanked the organisers and described the event as an established technology-sector reference.
He said both regions had experience of arriving late to earlier economic transformations, and argued that this should now spur them to pursue the technological revolution with ambition. Technology, he said, should play an essential role in the economy, culture and residents’ quality of life.
Andalusia’s digital economy currently accounts for 17.2% of regional GDP. The government’s goal is to raise the digital share of gross value added to 22.1% by the end of the legislative term.
Nieto said businesses should continue investing in technology and artificial intelligence, while public administrations should also fully embrace the transformation and be ready to use its opportunities. He listed protecting residents, improving public services and creating opportunities—including better jobs—as objectives. He described artificial intelligence, technological development and robotics as tools already in everyday use, and said they could support development across government and society.
He also called for a digital ecosystem that can provide skilled employment opportunities for young people trained in Andalusia and Extremadura. Over the past five years, the ADA has accelerated, trained and supported more than 1,100 startups and projects, and promoted the development of more than 2,500 entrepreneurs through initiatives supporting digital entrepreneurship.
Nieto said the two regions already cooperate on several projects and expressed a desire to expand that work. Startups connected to the Misión Andalucía programme were attending Potencial Digital, he said, as part of efforts to connect Andalusia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with other regions, companies, investors, universities and entrepreneurs.