Europe’s technology sector is frequently criticised for lacking ambition, but growth in so-called “deep-tech” start-ups in less glamorous segments of the industry has raised hopes for the region’s digital hubs.

Industrial applications and technical platforms that underpin consumer- focused services are attracting record levels of activity and investment, according to Atomico, the venture capital fund that specialises in the sector.

The banking business is reinventing itself. The impact of fintech companies, technological maturity, and customers who are used to digital experiences, all mark a transformation that the financial industry is facing in the certain knowledge that innovation and collaboration with new players will play an important role in the future. But what are the most difficult barriers to overcome in this process? For BBVA Research, Santander, Banorte and Tecnocom, all present in the panel on The digitization of commercial banking at the Latibex Forum, the response is clear: the challenges are regulation and the change in corporate culture.

Civil wars, banks that went almost as fast as they came, the brand-new issuing monopoly of the Bank of Spain, unrest in Spanish overseas territories… the later years of the 19th century sure did look challenging for institutions such as Banco de Bilbao. Although the bank had earned a solid footing in its home city, Spain’s situation at that time made it hard to tell how it would fare in the short and medium term.

Americans and Spaniards working together online; helicopters landing and taking off; different kinds of uniforms; and conversations in both languages or, sometimes, in Spanglish. That’s a snapshot of everyday life at the BBVA branch in Rota, south of Spain.

People are also asking machines for real-time communication and customization to build loyalty to a company or brand.

Dark matter is not black. It is, actually, invisible. It is also everywhere – it is estimated to account for 27% of the universe’s total mass-energy density – but we cannot see it because it is too cold and does not emit any radiation. It is completely different from anything we know. And to find it, an invisible light is needed: Cherenkov’s radiation. It is no wonder that the telescopes trying to detect it are called MAGIC.

Collaborative platforms among students, design thinking, mentoring….  Technology is changing educational models.

"Your data is brilliant," pronounced Martina King, CEO of Featurespace, to the audience at 2016 FT Banking Summit, held this year at London’s Intercontinental Park Lane. Marco Bressan, Chief Data Scientist at BBVA and responsible for helping the bank become a data-driven business, talked about the volume of data at the bank’s disposal.

So… vacation time is over and my preseason starts this very day. Gone is the 2016 season. A season that I will never forget, having won at Roland Garros and after making it for second year in a row to the WTA Finals. I’m so proud of these achievements, but they are all part of the past now, and, starting today, I’m be looking to 2017.

BBVA is one of the 10 members of the consortium for financial innovation R3, which have worked together to develop a proof-of-concept (PoC) for a shared KYC (Know Your Customer) system using distributed ledger technology.