The most exact acknowledgments are those of the scientists

BarcelonaAccustomed to film galas, where the winners' speeches drag on until they become yawn-inducing, the FAR awards ceremony was exemplary: it is clear that people in science have precision as their motto. They stuck to the stipulated time, and this was no obstacle for some of the values that unite the community to take the stage: the importance of the team, the perseverance that allows completing the journey from enthusiasm to result, or, above all, the satisfaction of seeing the impact of the different innovations they have contributed to their respective sectors.

Despite being a very close-knit community, as could be seen at the subsequent cocktail party in the lobby of the MACBA, there is also room for debate and the contrasting of opinions. Laia Corbella, general director of the Mobile World Capital in Barcelona, recounted how we have moved from the visible technology of devices to the invisible one of algorithms. "And the more invisible a technology is, the clearer the responsibilities must remain and the more conscious the citizenry must be, as they must get involved in this debate," she argued.

In the chair next to her, however, Genís Roca countered with a 'but'. "I can no longer empower myself any further," the president of Accent Obert joked. "We need to advocate more for citizens' rights. There are responsibilities, yes, but we cannot reach everywhere, and perhaps we cannot demand that people, in addition to eating healthy and losing excess weight, also know how to fact-check a news story." For Roca, it is necessary to preserve sources of reliable information, in the same way that during a catastrophic downpour, the first thing to do is secure sources of drinking water. "We will still die of thirst surrounded by water," he concluded, regarding the abundance of information in which legitimate content coexists with toxic content.

Another axis of the debate was that of science for science's sake. Lluís Torner, founding director of the Institute of Photonic Sciences, applauded this vision of innovation that is applied and seeks impact, but he could not help but also advocate for the people who have sensational ideas, regardless of whether they reach the market. Even if it is only because one never knows when they might be applicable. The rector of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Francesc Torres, defended, on the other hand, the work of those who grind away from the base. And he recalled that out of the 5,000 graduates who leave the UPC, there are 300 who can go to elite laboratories, but that it is the group as a whole, starting with those who stay in the territory, who manage to maintain and improve what is already there. "Because going down a division is very easy, but moving up is not at all," he warned.

In any case, these approaches –more complementary than opposed– did not in any way cloud the cordiality that presided over both the event and the subsequent aperitif. Representatives of companies, the world of innovation, institutions, and universities applauded the ARA initiative. Clearly, there is a scientific star system that has not yet been sufficiently recognized: let the Gaudí awards tremble.