Óscar López takes the reins of Digital Transformation and will seek to promote AI and the Civil Service

September 6 () –

The Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service has assumed the portfolio of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service this Friday and has set himself the priority objectives of promoting artificial intelligence, the Civil Service and telecommunications, for which he has requested the “help” of the Department’s team.

This was stated at the transfer of portfolios ceremony in which the current Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, handed over to him the reins of the Department of Digital Transformation and the Civil Service.

In 2021, López replaced Iván Redondo as Pedro Sánchez’s Chief of Staff. Previously, he was the PSOE’s Organisation Secretary (between 2012 and 2014) and was with the head of the Executive in his first stage, before returning to the front line of Moncloa after a distancing between the two. Between July 2018 and the same month in 2021, López was president of Paradores.

“I have spent almost six years without speaking in public. Journalists know and intuit the desire I have and the enthusiasm I bring, because I have been silent for six years. Therefore, in other words, there will be something for everyone, including the opposition,” López acknowledged.

Escrivá has thanked Óscar López for his work during these years as Chief of Staff and has expressed his “conviction” that he will now do a “fantastic job” at the head of the Ministry. “The truly exciting challenges and the Government’s transformative agenda in digital matters and the Civil Service are in good hands,” said the Governor of the Bank of Spain.

On behalf of the Executive, the event was attended by the First Vice President and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, the Third Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Parliament, Félix Bolaños, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, and the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo.

The ‘top guns’ of the main ‘telecos’ have also attended the transfer of portfolios, such as those of Telefónica España, Vodafone, MásOrange, Digi,

CHALLENGES: OPERATORS, ‘DIGITAL BETA PORTFOLIO’ AND EUROPEAN FUNDS

The new Minister for Digital Transformation, a graduate in Political Science with a double major in Public Administration and International Relations from the Complutense University of Madrid, will have to face multiple challenges, such as the deployment of European funds, the reorganisation of the radio spectrum or the definitive boost to the Single Broadband Programme.

As for the telecommunications operators, López may face the impact on public opinion of the ERE for 795 people presented by MasOrange despite having previously committed to preserving employment, which has raised complaints from unions, which do not rule out seeking mediation from the Government.

This staff adjustment, which affects 17% of its employees, is added to the cuts carried out this year by Telefónica (3,421 employees), Vodafone (898) and Avatel (674), with a total impact of close to 6,000 people, due to causes such as falling margins, increased debt or corporate operations.

The department also plans to launch an app to verify age and prevent minors from accessing pornography with the first version of ‘Cartera Digital Beta’, the mobile application that will incorporate an age verification system to prevent minors from accessing adult content.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

López, who has a marked political profile and until now Pedro Sánchez’s ‘right-hand man’, is an old acquaintance of the PSOE, since between 2012 and 2014 he was the party’s ‘number two’, after occupying the position of Secretary of Organization of the PSOE. Previously, in 2008, he was elected general secretary of the PSOE of Castilla y León and in 2011 he was a candidate for the Presidency of the Junta of Castilla y León.

In 2015 he was appointed senator representing the Cortes of Castilla y León, a position he held until 2018, when he became president of Paradores.

López, born in Madrid, married and with two daughters, was elected as a member of parliament for the PSOE in 2004 and was a member of Congress until 2011. During those years he was the rapporteur of laws such as the RTVE corporation, the transition to DTT and the General Audiovisual Law.