The table moderated by Emilio Saez, from the Research Group of Technologies Applied to Audiovisual Communication (ITACA) of the UJI, had the participation of the following speakers: Miguel Chover, responsible for Degree in Video Game Design and Development and researcher at the Institute of New Image Technologies (INIT); Ramon Nafria, of the company DOID; Daniel Parente, Camilo José Cela University, and Michelangelo Pastor, Halfbrick studios.
During the initial debate, the role of the Universities was insisted upon. Miguel Ángel Pastor from Halfbrick insisted that universities must offer all-terrain training to students, since most companies are small and do not have time to invest in the specific training of new employees. Daniel Parente, from the Camilo José Cela University, added that in addition to training in practice, the University must also instruct in the entrepreneurial aspect. For his part, Ramón Nafría, from DOID, assured that it is important for universities to get closer to the business sector and also for the business sector to get closer to universities.”
The second topic of debate was the role of research in this industry. Miguel Chover, head of the degree at the UJI, stated that “more and more work is being done on these topics and then integrating them into the business sector, although, sometimes, the research carried out is not related to companies.” Ramón Nafría believes that “research should serve to do those things that companies do not have time to do later”; Daniel Parente indicated that “companies should present their needs to universities” and Miguel Ángel Pastor commented that, in his case, “it was we ourselves who developed a technology that we later sold.”
Finally, the speakers commented on the controversial issue of subsidies. Some said they were against it, preferring tax exemptions. Those who were in favor stressed that the distribution should be more equitable, and recognized that some European aid or national and regional programs can serve to launch ideas.
The conferences were organized by the ITACA-UJI Research Group, the Institute of New Image Technologies and the Scientific, Technological and Business Park (Espaitec) with the sponsorship of the Generalitat Valenciana, the departments of Languages and Intelligent Systems, Engineering and Computer Science and Communication Sciences; and the collaboration of Ingevideo.
