Bizkaia Talent sets out the challenges it faces for attracting talent and future needs at the Bilbao Tech Week

• In the session devoted to talent, the participants had the opportunity to discover tools for the development of professional careers, and they took part in a workshop about multicultural management.

Co-organized by Bizkaia Talent, the Ve Centre for Technological Development in Bilbao, Bart Farrell and Binimar Digital Products, BilboRock hosted the third edition of the Bilbao Tech Week, which covered the topics of talent management, software development, digital marketing and blockchain over a four-day period.

In the morning session on the 7th November at which talent was the star attraction, the Managing Director of Bizkaia Talent Ivan Jimenez provided an overview of different innovative tools such as the Basque Talent Map and the Basque Talent Observatory. These tools display the location around the world of highly qualified professionals who either have, or wish to have a connection with our country and they also feature statistics about employment demand in the Basque Country.

During the course of the morning session Aitor Ruiz from the Automotive Intelligence Centre, Leire Armentia from Virtualware and Gaizka Arrizmendiarrieta from Tecnalia also set out the challenges for attracting and retaining talent and analysed future needs. Ruiz spoke about the basics of connected vehicles, while Armentia explained the initiatives that his company is taking with a view to improving its more human side, and finally Arrizmendiarrieta described his professional experience abroad before returning to the Basque Country.

There was a round table at the BilboRock installations and this provided the setting for representatives from Digipen, Orbea, Petronor and RETAbet to discuss the human capital profiles that they require, all closely linked to the world of high technology.

In the afternoon at the Bilbao BBK Talent House, Bizkaia Talent delivered a workshop about multicultural management in companies, attended by highly qualified foreign professionals residing in the Basque Country as well as the following Basque Research Centres and other organizations: Azti Tecnalia, AVS, BCAM, CIC energigune, Faes Farma, Histocell, Idom, IK4-Tekniker, Leartiker and MedWhat.