Benidorm hosts a conference on data protection in local governments

Benidorm City Hall Auditorium was the venue today for the conference "Data Protection in Local Governments: Governance, Risk Assessment, and the New Scenario with Artificial Intelligence," organised jointly by the City Council and the Alicante Provincial Council.

The event was opened by the Mayor, Toni Pérez, and the Councillor for Innovation, Aida García. The mayor announced that it would be an "intense and productive" event and advocated for "internalising that technology is a tool at the service of people." In this regard, Pérez stated that "no matter how large or small a local government is, technology facilitates tasks." However, the mayor noted that before implementing the technology, "adequate training is necessary."

The mayor also mentioned the "commitment" that administrations must make by "offering employees the best tools and training them in them to improve their work environment and enable appropriate and responsible use of AI." Pérez advocated that citizens, "as the ultimate objective of government action," benefit from these new technologies by "receiving higher-quality services at an increasingly lower cost."

The opening keynote address was given by Rubén Martínez Gutiérrez, data protection officer and professor of Administrative Law at the University of Alicante, who discussed "The EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence and its implications for data protection." This was followed by a presentation by Lluis Sanz Marco, information technology expert and coordinator of the data protection working group of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, who spoke about "Data Protection in Local Authorities."

The day concluded with a roundtable discussion on "Cases of Privacy and Artificial Intelligence," which addressed aspects of data protection management and reflected on the opportunities offered by AI, as well as the precautions that must be taken to avoid potential dangers.