Experts highlight Huawei's role in digitalizing transport in Spain

MADRID, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Key players in the Spanish transport sector have highlighted the role of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in the digitalization of southern Spain's transport network.

Huawei presented its new proposals for equipping data centers in the Spanish capital of Madrid on Thursday and highlighted the help it has received from the local government in the city of Alicante, eastern Spain, in building a network of data centers to provide "essential and safe public services."

"Huawei is playing a very important role in the modernization of transport in Spain. The company's contribution could help to revolutionize this sector," Juan Carlos de la Heras, the head of Security and Telecommunications Networks at French company Alstom, told Xinhua.

This idea was shared by Javier Rivilla, director of technology at consultancy firm Indra.

"It's impossible to think of a future without companies such as Huawei, which provide the technology for the safety and efficiency of the transport sector," said Rivilla.

Felix de la Fuente, a sales chief at Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said that innovation is the basis of the company's contributions to Spain's transport sector.

"Our idea, as well as the exchange of data and new technology, is to improve transport for passengers ...," he told Xinhua.

Huawei's task was "to accompany them in the process which goes from buying tickets to their arrival at their destinations," he said.

To that end, "we are investing heavily in AI, it is an element which differentiates us from other manufacturers in the sector," he added.

De la Fuente said that the Chinese company began working alongside ADIF, a company which manages the infrastructure of the Spanish railway network, in 2011 in a project to improve rail transportation.

The company also has agreements with AENA, which operates Spain's airports with similar ambitions to improve air transit, he said.

"Nobody travels today as they did, 5, 20 or 15 years ago," said De la Fuente.

"Now we are looking for fluidity in transport and the way we travel will never be the same. It depends on the elements which make up the whole of the journey, such as traffic and the destination," he added.