Yesterday morning the Huércal – Overa Flying Point was inaugurated with the aim of bringing digital tools to all residents. The event was attended by the mayor of the municipality, Domingo Fernández; the delegate of the Andalusian Regional Government in Almería, Aránzazu Martín, and the deputy for European Fundraising and Entrepreneurship, José Juan Martínez.
Aránzazu Martín, the delegate of the Andalusian Regional Government in Almería, pointed out that Andalusia had begun a process of unstoppable digitalisation and the Vuela Points had become an essential tool for this.
The Vuela network has 95 active centres in Almeria, of which 61 have been modernised and are now Puntos Vuela, following a total investment of 3.5 million euros. The Andalusian Regional Government’s commitment to complete the rest of the network before the end of 2025 was highlighted.
The main objective was to boost digitalisation to ensure equal opportunities for all Almerians, regardless of their location, age or income, by providing them with digital content, training, equipment, resources and services.
The Mayor of Huércal Overa highlighted the importance of the collaboration between institutions for the success of the Guadalinfo Fly Point, which offered services to the local residents.
The Provincial Council José Juan Martínez highlighted the institutional collaboration that had made the Vuela Points possible, pointing out that these centres were fundamental to equalise opportunities among the people of Almeria and to fix the population.
During the past year, the Punto Vuela in Huércal – Overa programmed 101 digital training activities with 306 participants. 884 different people requested at least once the services of the centre in 2023, while 210 people registered as new users.
The centre was equipped with new materials, such as a new interactive digital screen, virtual reality glasses, 3D printer and robotics elements, among others. It also offered a user service point, multi-purpose spaces for training and active learning, and a coworking space for teleworking.
During the visit, a 3D design activity was carried out with Tinkercad, with the participation of 20 users belonging to workshop schools in the municipality.
In the province of Almeria, during 2023, 9,622 people registered as users of the network for the first time. In those 12 months, 164,683 people accessed at least once the services of the Puntos Vuela network centres in the province and participated in one or more of the 10,929 activities programmed by the 95 existing Puntos Vuela.
The Vuela Points, managed by the Fernando de los Ríos Consortium and promoted by the Digital Agency of Andalusia (ADA), offer free wifi services, coworking spaces, teleworking stations, a ‘maker’ area for emerging technology, access points to electronic services and new equipment. They also have a local innovation agent who provides support and training to users.