Last Tuesday, April 28, the Xarxa Punt TIC experienced the fourth virtual meeting of the year 2026. The new online session focused on the promotion of digital talent and had around twenty participants, including Francesc Rambla , coordinator of the National Pact for Digital Talent in Catalonia at the Secretariat of Digital Policies, Laura González , executive officer of the 'Hypatia III' mission and representative of the Hypatia Mars association, and Laura Dubreuil , telecommunications engineer and winner of the DonaTIC Revelation Award.
First, Francesc Rambla, coordinator of the National Pact for Digital Talent in Catalonia at the Secretariat of Digital Policies , presented the current status of the initiative , emphasizing the fact that it is a work in progress that has not yet been approved by the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Rambla explained that the Catalan digital sector has experienced strong and sustained growth in recent years, positioning itself as one of the most relevant economic sectors, and that, in this context, vacancies that are not covered are one of the main challenges, since unfortunately organizations do not find this digital talent. As one of the major causes of this lack of digital talent in the territory, the gender gap is pointed out, where there is much room for improvement regarding the presence of women within the digital sector. Rambla added that the National Pact for Digital Talent in Catalonia wants to respond to the goals of the European Digital Decade to expand digital talent in the territory and that, specifically, the objective has been established to reach 270,000 people employed in the digital sector by 2030. Along these lines, the main objectives set out in the National Pact for Digital Talent in Catalonia were shared: balancing the supply and demand of people in the digital field in Catalonia, doubling the number of professionals in the digital field in Catalonia, ensuring that 50% of these incorporations in the digital field are women, and promoting digital talent with disabilities so that they account for 2% of these incorporations. Finally, the five axes that structure the initiative were presented: the promotion of vocations in the digital field from an early age, the promotion of women's digital talent and the reduction of the gender gap, the attraction and retention of digital talent, the connection with the productive fabric, and digital training throughout life.
Then, Laura González, executive officer of the 'Hypatia III' mission and representative of the Hypatia Mars association , explained her work on analogous missions, that is, two-week simulations to a place similar to Mars, where a multidisciplinary team, geologists, engineers, biologists or journalists, simulates a stay on the red planet. Within the framework of the initiatives benefiting from the latest call for Retech grants to promote female digital talent from the Secretariat of Digital Policies, the Hypatia Mars association was born in 2021 and since then, two missions have been carried out: in April 2023, 'Hypatia I', and in February 2025, 'Hypatia II', in the Utah desert. Currently, the third mission, 'Hypatia III', is being prepared, which will take place in the summer of 2027 in the Canadian Arctic. In this sense, González will be the executive officer of the 'Hypatia III' mission and was a reserve engineer for the 'Hypatia II' mission. González shared the objectives set for the Hypatia Mars association: to promote space research, inspire and connect with the general public, and empower women in science, technology and mathematics. González also shared that the Hypatia Mars association carried out various informative and educational activities, such as, for example, the publication of the book 'The Mars Explorers', inspiring events and talks, and the 'Catmart' project, where sand from the Utah desert was provided to educational centers for children, adolescents and young people to investigate.
Next, Laura Dubreuil , a telecommunications engineer and winner of the DonaTIC Revelació Award, explained her professional career. Dubreuil pointed out that she began working in the field of neurotechnologies to improve brain health at Neuroelectrics, in Boston, and continued researching how neurotechnologies could help in drug identification at Genentech, in San Francisco. Dubreuil detailed that, after a period of proactive search, she managed to return to Catalonia with a stimulating job, with competitive conditions and with a global impact. Dubreuil currently works at AstraZeneca Barcelona, in Catalonia, delving into research into emerging innovative technologies such as, for example, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, post-quantum cryptography, neuromorphic computing or neurotechnologies. The virtual meeting ended with a round of reflections and questions.