•  The group celebrates its fifth anniversary, consolidated as the main catalyst of business opportunities for the ICT sector in Cantabria
•   With 64 associated companies and entities, the Cluster trusts that the Digital Agenda for Cantabria will be a reality during the current legislature.

The Tera Cluster celebrates its fifth birthday, consolidated as one of the main references in the technology sector in Cantabria. 64 companies and entities committed to the digital development of the Community are already part of this association which, in just five years, has become the largest industrial cluster in the region. A support that, together with the relevance acquired by digital transformation and digitization in the new economic model, places Tera as the main catalyst of business opportunities for the ICT sector in Cantabria.
The sum of the capabilities of its associates, their overall vision and their strong orientation towards the business allow Tera to successfully respond to any digital need raised by the productive sector. This ecosystem made up of small but highly specialized organizations allows us to cover all the needs and services associated with the sector’s value chain. However, it makes their competitiveness very difficult when it comes to accessing large tenders promoted by the public sector. “Our main objective is for associates to increase their business opportunities and for that they must work together,” explains Juan Carlos Ramos. “Otherwise, our companies will have many difficulties competing with the large organizations in the sector,” explains the Cluster manager.
The creation of different sectoral commissions responds to this approach and has been one of the latest milestones of the Cluster. To date, there are working groups linked to Education, Industry and Health. The latter has already signed an agreement with IDIVAL to technologically exploit the data collected by the Cantabria Cohort project. “Due to all the potential that the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital has and the sociodemographic conditions of the region, digital health is the great opportunity for Cantabrian technology companies in the short term,” says Ramos. Within the healthcare sector, data processing and cybersecurity are the main specializations in which the companies associated with the Tera Cluster are working.
After holding more than 300 meetings with all types of public and private stakeholders, the sectoral organization is confident that one of its main demands will become a reality during this legislature. “The Administration has always been receptive to our Digital Agenda proposal, but now it seems to be closer than on other occasions,” says the manager. “For now, we will remain vigilant so that it can be fulfilled in a reasonable period of time and so that it is a document that truly serves to organize the digital development of the region,” he continues. “For us it is key to be at the core and origin of this document because our companies are the experts in this matter,” concludes Ramos.
Although the overall balance of these five years of experience is positive, the Tera Cluster continues to demand infrastructures and strategies that would directly affect the development of the sector in Cantabria. Aspects such as having your own cybersecurity center; have a defined plan to exploit the data economy; Addressing the digital transformation of the public sector or deploying a series of coordinated and transversal actions to attract and retain talent are the main challenges for the sector in the short and medium term.
Commemorative events
The Tera Cluster will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a day that aims to make visible how the advance of new technologies directly affects all layers of society. “Digital Transformation from a humanistic vision” will be a day for reflection and learning.
An event conceived as a great debate forum in which issues such as the digital gender gap, the digital reality of older people, the safe and responsible management of technologies in the family environment or the digital impact in rural areas will be addressed. The event will be held during the month of May in Santander and expects to attract around 150 people.
In addition, the Tera Cluster intends to organize an intercluster conference in the second half of 2024. The objective is to convene all sectoral organizations that operate in the rest of the Spanish communities to a work meeting. This event aims to unify positions and share challenges to advance in a coordinated manner in digital development.