On September 30 and October 1, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (Gijón) became the national epicenter of defense innovation with the celebration of the first edition of the Defence & Tech Summit by SMEs 2026. The event brought together nearly 200 professionals, officials from the Ministry of Defense, commanders of the State Security Forces and Corps, and representatives from a hundred organizations belonging to the Defense Industrial and Technological Base (BTID), universities, and technology centers across Spain.
As a sponsor of the event, EPICOM® played a strategic role, reaffirming its position as a benchmark in the development of high-security cryptographic solutions and its ongoing commitment to national technological sovereignty and National Security.
The challenge of critical talent: from debate to action with the Future Talent Lab
The shortage of highly specialized profiles and the need to connect technical education with the real demands of the defense sector were among the central themes of the Summit. In this context, EPICOM® led the conversation across two high-impact sessions:
- The Morning Show (Main Stage): Estefanía Bolívar, Chief Commercial, Business Development & Marketing Officer at EPICOM®, participated in the panel discussion “People, training, and critical capabilities for the new defense”. During the session, alongside experts from EOI/IN+DEF, the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of the Principality of Asturias (COIIAS), and Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio (UAX), the panel addressed the urgent need to adapt educational pathways to the requirements of the cybersecurity and defense landscape.
- Talent Workshop by EPICOM® (Future Talent Lab): Facilitated in collaboration with Conecta Industria, this workshop convened 29 professionals from 26 institutions, including SMEs, startups, universities, and technology centers. Utilizing futures design methodologies, participants engaged in 10-year scenario modeling to identify critical capabilities, analyze barriers to attracting young talent, and define concrete partnerships across industry, vocational training, and higher education.
A top-tier institutional framework
EPICOM®’s participation took place within an environment featuring key decision-makers from the country’s industrial and defense ecosystem. The summit included key contributions from CESTIC, the Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE), INCIBE, Red.es, CDTI, and ISDEFE, as well as major industry prime contractors, and was officially closed by the Secretary of State for Defense (SEDEF), Ms. María Amparo Valcarce.
Commitment to the future of National Security
EPICOM®’s presence at the Defence & Tech Summit 2026 highlights that developing advanced capabilities in cybersecurity and cryptography requires close collaboration between the business community, academia, and public institutions. Backed by over three decades of expertise in protecting classified and critical information, EPICOM® will continue contributing its knowledge, certifications, and innovation to consolidate a competitive and sovereign defense industry.
