Innovate Europe '05: The Digital Mile in Zaragoza

Innovate!Europe pre-conference activities involved spending some time with senior government and business executives of the City of Zaragoza, capital of the Aragon region in Northeast Spain.

One of the presentations that captured my interest is the "Milla Digital" - the Digital Mile - an ambitious project that would see Zaragoza build a new "Innovation District" from the ground up, essentially using a mile-long piece of land in the center of Zaragoza. This piece of land of over 100ha (+250 acres) was freed by the construction of a new train station accommodating the Spanish hi-speed train.

The goal of the project, led by Councilman for Technology Ricardo Cavero, is to bring in Zaragoza - Spain's 4Th largest economic center - an influx of technology companies and jobs. Zaragoza had also been in the news recently when it was awarded the organization of the 2008 World Fair "Water and Sustainable Development". Both projects are going foster urban and economic development for the city and the region.

What will be built in the new district ?

• 30ha (75 acres) of modern designed housing (for 3,000 apartments)
• 10ha (25 acres) of offices for university labs, startups, companies,...
• A school and a health center, both leveraging the latest technology
• Fiber everywhere and gobs of bandwidth, both wireless and wireline
• Forward looking monuments, like a museum of the Future or an Arts and new technology center.
• Public spaces and streets of the 21st century, where you can be tracked and interacted with - if you so desire.

This entire project is interesting and aggressive, and not dissimilar to what other cities have done in Europe (like France's Poitiers and its Futuroscope). The fact that Zaragoza has attracted the 2008 world expo means that it will benefit from increased visibility, improved infrastructures, etc. Its challenge will be to attract real estate developers, large companies, entrepreneurs, and pockets of money... to help build and fulfill the Digital Mile vision.

Tag: innovateeurope05