Planned obsolescence, a driver of consumerism?

The useful life of products is getting shorter and shorter and we are forced to replace them compulsively. This is what is known as planned obsolescence. But is the premature death of products really driving the market?

Welcome to Livermore, California. This is where you will find the world’s longest-lived light bulb in the world, located in the town’s firehouse. It was made in Shelby, Ohio, around 1895, and its filament is an invention of Adolphe Chaillet, created expressly to last.

The image of the bulb can be seen on the internet 24 hours a day and has already outlasted three webcams so far. A few years ago, in 1871, the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas A. Edison, had succeeded in producing a small light bulb. Edison had succeeded in producing a small light bulb with a comparatively enormous resistance, which in 1881 achieved a life of 1,500 hours.

A few years later, in 1924, a group of men met in Geneva with a secret plan: to create the first cartel to control the world’s light bulb production and share the profits. The cartel was called Phoebus and was made up of major light bulb manufacturers from Europe, the United States and even the colonies in Asia and Africa. At the time, Phoebus proudly advertised a life of up to 2,500 hours in its bulbs.

Despite advances in science, Phoebus’ milestone was cut short the following year by the “1,000 Hour Life Committee”, set up to technically reduce the lifetime of light bulbs. Phillips (Holland), General Electric (USA), OSRAM (Germany) and Lámparas Zeta (Spain), among others, were members.

Why is the life of products shortening?

Obsolescence is the depreciation of capital goods as a result of technical progress. Following this idea, planned or programmed obsolescence is the at least reprehensible practice of companies and manufacturers to offer products with performance and qualities that are inferior to the technology available. The aim is that these objects cease to function after a certain period of time and that the consumer is forced to replace them.

The main reason why companies design products with planned obsolescence in mind is, of course, the argument that it increases sales. In an article in Printers Ink, an advertising manual from 1928, it was already argued that ‘an article that does not break down is a tragedy for business’. Therefore, the main cause of the rise of planned obsolescence has ultimately been the very economic system that governs our societies. An economic system based on growth economics, where the logic is not to grow to satisfy needs, but to increase profits.

In short, businessmen will say: an economic system based on growth, of course, has no future without growth; and therefore, if the consumer does not buy, the economy does not grow. Industrial designer Brooks Stevens, often cited as the inventor of planned obsolescence, defined it as ‘the need to own something newer, something better, something sooner than necessary’, although his idea was to make the consumer always want something new, rather than to create low-quality products that were necessary.

Is an economy without planned obsolescence viable?

Possibly, there is an alternative to planned obsolescence, but only if it is supported by the administration and the business community. In our country there are already several initiatives that seek to reduce the impact of planned obsolescence. This is the case of the Catalan association Millor Que Nou, which promotes appliance repair and exchange as an alternative to generating more technological waste.

On the other hand, the Energy and Sustainable Innovation Foundation (Feniss) concluded that a family of four could save 50,000 euros over a lifetime if household appliances lasted longer or were designed to be repaired. Experts explain that labelling the durability of products could help consumers make purchasing decisions.

The European Union has also taken part and is committed to circular economy models. Technology brands should allow parts of their products to be taken back for replacement. There are also plans to create a label for products that are easy to repair, one of the proposals of the so-called Right to Repair Act, which aims to increase the lifespan of electronic devices to achieve

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Brussels wants to secure the EU’s sovereignty by improving the autonomy, competitiveness, and resilience of its industrial sector to reduce its dependence on other global players

The EU’s industrial sector still accounts for more than 20 per cent of its economy, generates some 35 million jobs and is equivalent to 80 per cent of exported goods. Yet, it is in danger of lagging behind the world’s two major powers, China, and the United States, which are promoting massive reindustrialisation processes.

The disruption of the raw materials and semiconductor supply value chains caused by the pandemic and the sanctions on Russia highlighted the need to reflect on how to promote reindustrialisation policies that guarantee the strategic autonomy of the 27 member states.

It was evident that the structural base in key sectors, such as dual-use high technology, energy supply, raw materials, rare earth and the defence industry, had to be strengthened while favouring the energy transition towards a new economic model less dependent on hydrocarbons.

Financing technological sovereignty and energy transition

In this context, the EU’s Next Generation funds were launched, a programme agreed as an economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and endowed with 800 billion euros to finance the digital and ecological transitions.

However, much of the allocation of this funding has been hampered by bureaucracy. By December 2023, only around 30% of available grants and loans had been disbursed, according to EU figures. This disastrous management of the programme’s aid is making it difficult to transform the economic model that was intended to be changed.

Also in December, EU ministers agreed to increase the production of green technologies through the Zero Emissions Industry Regulation. The aim is to cover 40% of the EU’s needs in strategic technology products, such as solar photovoltaic panels or wind turbines, to be able to compete with China.

Likewise, the “Chips for Europe” initiative was launched to boost the continent’s technological sovereignty, ensuring that Europe meets its digital decade target of doubling its share of the global semiconductor market to 20%. A project that has been reinforced by state initiatives such as Spain’s PERTE or Germany’s subsidies of more than 22 billion euros to semiconductor manufacturers to set up production plants in its territory.

Sovereignty means acting as a sovereign entity

One point that European institutions cannot ignore is that ensuring industrial sovereignty must not only be based on the use of subsidies but also a change of mindset in the geopolitical sphere. Europe needs to impose its own foreign policy rather than acting as an entity subservient to US economic interests.

The economic sanctions imposed by the US on Russia, Iran and China in recent decades, but especially on Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine, call into question the ‘cui bono’ behind the economic interests of the actors involved in these conflicts. These economic sanctions have greatly benefited the US and have had devastating consequences for the economies of EU member states.

The growing tensions between the United States and China are the prelude to a repetition of the geopolitical tug-of-war seen with Russia, which has led to war in Europe and has greatly damaged the European industrial sector. The European Union economic bloc has enough bargaining power to look after the interests of its industrial sector vis-à-vis the major global players, but this means facing up to an inescapable fact: the European Union will either act as a sovereign entity or it will cease to be.

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Digital systems using artificial intelligence are slowly being implemented, and are the linchpin on which the fourth industrial revolution revolves. Yet these changes are also changing our working lives and raising ethical questions: can algorithm-based monitoring decide whether a company should fire an employee?

Technological dystopias have been a popular genre in science fiction films and literature for many years. In these future scenarios, such as those depicted in Aldous Huxley’s novels or in series such as ‘Black Mirror’, humans are subjected to omnipotent control with the help of artificial intelligence. These dystopias have fuelled all kinds of conspiracy theories, but with the success of teleworking and platforms such as Uber, Glovo and Amazon Flex, they run the risk of ceasing to be fiction and becoming a sad reality of our day-to-day working lives.

Is it the fault of the method or the algorithm?

It is no secret that digital platforms such as Amazon have been using algorithms for years to manage the millions of customers and third-party sellers on their online marketplace. These are computer programmes known as “bots” (informal for robot) that help to prevent commercial fraud, but with which you cannot have a dialogue in the event of a dispute.

Amazon has recently used the same algorithmic management with Amazon Flex, which provides delivery services by using a fleet of freelance drivers using their own vehicles. Yet, according to a Bloomberg investigation, some of these workers have been fired by automated email sent by an algorithm. The algorithm has decided, based on parameters beyond the employee’s control, that their productivity was not sufficient to justify the job.

We found a similar case with Xsolla, a Russian fintech that laid off 147 employees, 30% of its workforce, using an algorithmic evaluation system. This dismissal went viral when the company’s founder explained by email to the workers, and in a bad way on social media, that the artificial intelligence (AI) system had determined that the workers were not engaged and productive enough.

But without resorting to extreme cases, there is no doubt that the monitoring of working time and the massive collection of data by AI systems is a reality. This method is being implemented to cover the lack of human supervision due to teleworking. Many companies already use a myriad of tools and software applications, such as Microsoft Productivity Score, Track People, Hubstaff and Asana to spy on or monitor the productivity of their employees. It is perhaps not the application of monitoring algorithms per se that is the problem, but the way businesses use these tools that should be questioned.

A necessary evil that needs to be regulated

The use and abuse of some of these monitoring devices can lead to the violation of fundamental rights related to workers’ privacy. A fact that has led the European Union to come up with a new regulation, which has not yet been implemented, to minimise the negative repercussions of this rapid increase in the use of robotics and artificial intelligence in our socio-economic and working environment.

Spanish legislation recognises that businesses have the right to adopt the surveillance and control measures they consider most appropriate to check that the employee complies with his or her work obligations and duties, as long as his or her dignity is respected. However, within the Data Protection Law, there is a more specific regulation, related to data protection within digital environments, which states that workers have the right to privacy in the use of digital devices made available to them by the company.

The normalisation of the coexistence of people and artificial intelligence in the workplace has only just begun, and it will be years before the legal, legislative and regulatory uncertainty it creates is resolved. But, above all, it will require an effort of transparency and trust from both sides, workers and companies, to delimit the red lines that should not be crossed.

11Onze is becoming a phenomenon as the first Fintech community in Catalonia. Now, it releases the first version of El Canut, the super app of 11Onze, for Android and Apple. El Canut, the first universal account can be opened in Catalan territory.

Did you know that the first person to predict the appearance of credit cards was the writer Edward Bellamy in 1888? We have talked about the history of the credit card on several occasions at La Plaça. Now, we are going to review it again with our agent 11Onze Jennifer Roca. 

The first credit card was created in 1914 by the Western Union company for its most select clients with the idea of offering them credit without surcharge. But it was Frank McNamara, in 1949 in New York, who had the idea of a universal card with two other friends, when he realised that he had left his money at home and his wife had to carry his wallet to pay for dinner. Do you want to know all the details of the story? Watch the video!

11Onze is becoming a phenomenon as the first Fintech community in Catalonia. Now, it releases the first version of El Canut, the super app of 11Onze, for Android and Apple. El Canut, the first universal account can be opened in Catalan territory.

In contrast to the current economic development model, which is based on the uncontrolled extractives of natural resources, the bioeconomy seeks to provide goods and services sustainably across all economic sectors. Emerging technologies are expanding the areas in which a circular bioeconomy can transform our society.

According to the strategy adopted by the European Commission in 2012, designed to steer the European economy towards a more sustainable use of natural resources, the bioeconomy is an economic system that uses the earth’s biological resources and waste as inputs for food and feed production, as well as for industrial and energy production and the use of biological processes in a sustainable industry.

Since then, both the European Union and the OECD have implemented specific bioeconomy policies affecting various industrial sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, food and renewable energy. Europe aims to accelerate the deployment of a sustainable bioeconomy model to maximise its contribution to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change.

However, despite decades of investment, technological progress, and optimistic market forecasts, the transition to a bio-based economy still has a long way to go before it can offer a commercially viable alternative to the current dependence on fossil fuels in all facets of the economy.

A technology-driven bioeconomy

The World Economic Forum’s report “Accelerating the Tech-Driven Bioeconomy 2024” provides a detailed overview of how technology is transforming this sector and the opportunities and challenges ahead. Specifically, it examines how bioengineering and other technological advances create the perfect conditions for a bio-based economic transformation.

“The world is positioned better than ever before to accelerate the global transition to a bio-based economy. Capturing increasing quantities of carbon, tackling previously incurable diseases, delivering clean water, sustainably feeding a growing population, remediating environmental damage and reducing carbon emissions represent just a few areas for bio-innovation.”

According to the WEF study, done in collaboration with Capgemini, several converging technologies are revolutionising the bioeconomy. For example:

Gene editing through technologies such as CRISPR is being used in a wide range of applications, including the development of more resilient, productive and nutritious crops, and human medicine such as the elimination of infectious diseases. Unlike the technologies that preceded it, CRISPR has democratised genome engineering because it is easy to use and low cost.

Bioengineering is creating microorganisms designed to produce sustainable chemicals and fuels that are transforming industrial production. Biological engineers want to mimic biological systems to create products that can replace, or improve upon, some chemical and mechanical processes.

Digitalisation applied to precision agriculture using sensors and global positioning systems on machinery or using drones allows for more efficient and sustainable management of agricultural resources. On the other hand, the traceability of supply chains, thanks to blockchain technologies, guarantees better transparency.

Similarly, technologies for converting organic waste into bioproducts and bioenergy improve sustainability, thus contributing to the circular economy by reducing the use of non-renewable natural resources and minimising environmental impact.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

Treballar i estudiar a distància ha generat un nou escenari on les presentacions virtuals tenen més pes que mai. Us portem les eines imprescindibles per assegurar l’èxit en les vostres presentacions.

Sigui un projecte laboral, un treball acadèmic, una presentació en grup o una classe en línia, tots ens hem trobat o ens trobarem amb la necessitat de fer una presentació virtual. Per tal de rebaixar els nervis i l’estrès que una presentació oral pot suposar, us portem deu eines que us ajudaran a tenir-ho tot sota control. 

Tota presentació virtual necessita certa organització prèvia. Un cop tinguem això clar, passarem al següent pas: crear una bona presentació.

Un suport imprescindible

• Sway: El programa de Microsoft pensat per crear presentacions. Un format a l’estil de PowerPoint pensat per a presentacions del segle XXI, que permet enllaçar fàcilment tuits, vídeos de plataformes com YouTube o contingut de SoundCloud.
• Prezi: Una de les plataformes per a presentacions més coneguda, amb la qual faràs autèntiques filigranes sense dificultat, fins i tot en format 3D. A més, la pantalla compartida de Prezi Video et permetrà aparèixer en pantalla i interactuar amb els continguts durant la presentació.
• Genially: Segueix la dinàmica de les eines anteriors, però posa l’èmfasi en l’originalitat. Tant si crees contingut acadèmic com laboral, innovar en la presentació serà la millor manera de diferenciar-te.
• Mentimeter: Soluciona el principal problema de les presentacions virtuals: la falta d’interacció. L’aplicació incorpora preguntes, reaccions de “M’agrada” i enquestes, per tal que els participants puguin reaccionar a les teves paraules, al més pur estil de les xarxes socials.
• Canva: Per a tots els amants del disseny que busquen rapidesa i agilitat, Canva ofereix infinitat de plantilles amb dissenys per a tots els gustos i canals, des d’un post d’Instagram fins a un cartell o una presentació virtual.
• Videoscribe: La teva pissarra digital per escriure i dibuixar, al mateix temps que pots afegir imatge, text i so. L’eina més dinàmica i personalitzada, en què la creativitat serà el teu millor aliat.
• Oomfo: Pels amants de l’Excel i dels gràfics en general, aquesta eina serà imprescindible per al vostre dia a dia. Permet visualitzar gràficament les dades directament importades des d’Excel amb el format i la llegenda que prefereixis.
• Preseria: Per a gestionar conferències o projectes amb diverses presentacions, Preseria permet agrupar-les totes, gestionar-les, i en modifica el contingut posteriorment o crea un calendari de presentacions. Disponible per a arxius de PowerPoint, PDF o vídeos i per a formats de Windows i macOS.
• Knovio: Enfocat a crear contingut didàctic, tant per a empreses com per a formacions. Permet convertir el contingut en píndoles audiovisuals i seguir tot el procés, des de la creació fins a la distribució i el seguiment dels vídeos.
• Google Slides: Per als que creeu les presentacions en equip, aquesta és una de les eines més eficients per a treballar de forma conjunta. Tot i que les plantilles predefinides i les opcions de disseny són limitades, pots convertir-les en presentacions interactives gràcies a plataformes com Nearpod o Pear Deck, que ofereixen recursos enfocats a l’educació. L’altra opció és descarregar plantilles en pàgines com Slidesgo.

Aquests són només alguns exemples, però cada any apareixen noves eines i actualitzacions que ofereixen tantes possibilitats com imaginació tinguem. Això sí, recorda que els suports potenciaran la teva presentació, però el contingut que hi incorporis, el teu discurs i la presència seran la part més important.

11Onze és la fintech comunitària de Catalunya. Obre un compte descarregant la super app El Canut per Android o iOS. Uneix-te a la revolució!

Artificial intelligence facilitates the fulfilment of 79% of the sustainable development goals set globally in the 2030 Agenda. We analyse a Nature Communications’ study to find out why this figure has been reached and from which areas it will be achieved.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

Although there is no single way to describe it, an accurate way is the one described by Britannica, understanding AI as the ability of a digital computer or robot to perform tasks that require human intelligence. In other words, taking advantage of technological tools to optimise human tasks and, at the same time, achieve challenges that until now seemed impossible. Social and economic development cannot be understood without these AI mechanisms that, today, already mark our daily lives. Facial, fingerprint and voice recognition, weather forecasting, interactive communication with machines, automated knowledge extraction and logical reasoning are some of the achievements that will undoubtedly mark this century. The focus, and the challenge, is to create and use this technology to contribute to sustainable development on a global scale.

The three pillars of sustainable development

Society, economy and environment form the basis for understanding today’s world and are therefore the key points for developing strategic actions. The Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), have been created from these three pillars. 17 goals and 169 targets shape the present and future challenges on a global scale to keep technological advances at bay and ensure that every step contributes positively to social progress.

The 169 goals address all areas such as poverty, quality education, access to food, health and water for the population, clean and affordable energy and the creation of sustainable cities. The Nature Communications’ study, based on more than 60 sources, finds that the right AI development can have a positive impact on 134 of these goals, 79%. The uses of AI are multiple, and we find them represented in most everyday actions.

AI to reduce social inequalities

Technology is opening up to reach all pockets, also from an economic point of view. Today, using AI through our smartphones is part of our routine. Voice, touch and fingerprint recognition, device localisation, connectivity… AI tools are being incorporated at full speed to simplify the user experience and make technology accessible to everyone. The aim is to reduce the digital divide.

But AI goes further and seeks to create inclusion mechanisms for certain groups. One example is tools such as Google Lookout or Microsoft Seeing AI that facilitate the perception of the environment for blind people thanks to the identification of objects, people or text.

At home, applications such as the Localizador de la Fundació Arrels use technology as a way to care for groups at risk of social exclusion, in this case focused on supporting homeless people. Another example is the Refugee Aid App, which provides migrants with the location of NGOs, social and humanitarian aid centres where they can be assisted.

This is one of the key points of AI, favouring interconnection between users from all over the world and facilitating the creation of meeting spaces from which to collectively tackle egalitarian and inclusive social development. Technology provides the platform, but it is the citizens who have to take action.

AI for a circular economy

In terms of sustainable development, the concept of a circular economy is emerging, in which production is aligned with the life cycle of products and moves away from the traditional system based on buy, use and throw away. AI encourages this system based on the simplest everyday actions. Beyond connecting brands and consumers, digital platforms encourage the exchange of second-hand products and, from the digital environment, a trend has been created based on reusing products and promoting DIY.

The industry is also joining production based on the 7Rs, and it is doing so in many different ways. Machines are put at the service of the environment to carry out production based on recycled materials, from tyres to making roads to clothing. The technology is also reaching into means of transport, which are increasingly sustainable and encourage co-operation over private ownership.

In the area of wealth generation, AI is also key in the business sector in terms of efficiency and process optimisation, as well as in the recruitment process. From bringing companies and jobseekers together to creating automated talent selection processes. Along the same lines, investment companies such as Circularity Capital connect, through applications, investment and sustainable projects. The business fabric is adapting to environmental needs, with technology as its main ally.

AI in the environment: technology to understand the world

With the aim of environmental preservation, platforms have been created that use data analysis to identify species at risk of extinction, prevent desertification in at-risk areas or favour the maintenance of forests. For a more everyday use, there are applications that encourage the consumption of seasonal food, promote local commerce or encourage sustainable consumption of fish, without forgetting the weather forecast that is key in the maritime or outdoor sectors.

At the same time, from our mobile and thanks to AI, we can calculate air quality in real time, greenhouse gas emissions or the carbon footprint we generate on a daily basis. All facilities that demonstrate that leading a sustainable lifestyle is just a click away.

Technology allows us to understand and know what is happening all over the planet, and even on other planets. The applications created through AI extend to all areas and a global vision is positive: we are managing to create a type of technology that makes life easier for humans and, above all, that strives for sustainable development, thinking in terms of the community. The real challenge in this matter, which the study emphasises, is to ensure that the creation and maintenance of this technology does not have a negative impact on the planet. AI can favour sustainable development, but this will only be achieved if the process of achieving it is also environmentally friendly.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

Registered with the Central Bank of the Netherlands and headquartered in Amsterdam, Bitvavo, which 11Onze recommends, is the leading European cryptocurrency exchange platform in terms of crypto trading volume in euros. We have prepared a tutorial explaining the easy steps you need to follow to open an account.

Since its market launch in 2018, Bitvavo has been driven by one of its founding pillars in making cryptocurrencies accessible to everyone. It was entering a sector dominated by US-based exchanges that were pioneers in facilitating the exchange of digital assets, but which were unintuitive for people inexperienced in trading cryptocurrencies and had some shortcomings in terms of the security they offered to their users.

With a very tight fee structure that allows them to be among the most competitive exchange platforms in Europe, success was not long in coming. Bitvavo, which 11Onze recommends, accumulated more than 26 billion euros in trading volume by 2023 and has climbed to first place among European platforms in crypto trading volume in euros.

Steps you need to follow to open an account

Oriol Blanch, Bitvavo’s affiliate manager, has prepared a tutorial so that members of the 11Onze community who have not yet registered on the platform can start buying or selling cryptocurrencies and add or withdraw money in any format in a very simple way.

As Blanch points out, ‘to get started, it is important to open an account through the 11Onze Recommends link, so you get €20 just for registering’. This link takes you directly to the Bitvavo website, where you can claim the €20 bonus and start the registration process.

Firstly, you will have to select your country and enter your first and last name, as well as your email address and password. You will then receive an email to confirm your email address.

With this done, you will be able to log in to Bitvavo. After answering a few questions, you will need to verify your identity and the bank account you want to link to the platform. From here you can start using the application. In the tutorial, Blanch also explains the basic operations you need to know and some of the more technical terms related to cryptocurrency trading.

11Onze Recommends Bitvavo, cryptocurrency trading made easy, safe and at a good value.

Cryptocurrencies have revolutionised the global financial system, but like any new technology, they raise a lot of questions. We have prepared a small glossary of the basic terms you should understand getting started in the world of cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies, also known as digital currencies, are alternative currencies that can be defined as digital assets that use cryptographic encryption to guarantee their ownership, ensure the integrity of transactions, and control the creation of additional units. That said, there are a few key concepts to be clear about when understanding how cryptocurrencies work.

Blockchain

The blockchain is a technology that allows transactions between two or more people without the need for intermediaries. It is the ledger where all transactions are stored, and distributed on computers, which can be anywhere in the world, interconnected through a Peer-To-Peer (P2P) network, and without the need for a central server. It is a technology that facilitates the decentralisation of financial applications and any other digital records. Furthermore, it is also considered very secure because a record of everything that has happened on the network can only be changed if all parties agree.

Mining

While in the traditional monetary system, governments print money according to their needs, monetary creation in the ecosystem of the most popular cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, is limited. Moreover, cryptocurrencies are not issued and made available to everyone, they are put into circulation in encrypted blocks that have to be decrypted. This is where the concept of cryptocurrency mining comes from, a computational process by which a set of computers, the miners connected to the network, are given a new algorithm to solve a mathematical problem, which, once solved, is rewarded with a commission for issuing a new unit of the cryptocurrency, which is added to the blockchain.

Cryptocurrency wallets

Cryptocurrency wallets are virtual wallets by which we can manage our cryptocurrencies. The main difference with other virtual wallets that we can find in many banks lies in the security offered by their software, allowing absolute control of the public and private keys to sign transactions and operations executed with cryptocurrencies through the blockchain network. The use of these wallets is indispensable when managing cryptocurrency-based digital currencies that do not exist in the physical world.

Staking and Hodling

The concept of ‘staking’ consists of acquiring cryptocurrencies and keeping them locked in a wallet in order to support the security and functioning of the blockchain. In return, we receive a profit, or reward, in the form of additional cryptocurrencies. Hodl is a similar process, but in this case, the assets are not locked and you can use them freely. It is an option used by investors who want to hold their assets for a long period of time in the hope that they will appreciate in value.

Tokens

Although the concepts of token and cryptocurrency can be considered synonymous, the distinction lies in the fact that cryptocurrencies have their own blockchain, while tokens are issued on another blockchain, such as Ethereum. A token is a unit of value issued by a person or a private company, with which you can represent different objects within a blockchain. It is a transferable value within the blockchain network but has no real value outside of it, similar to what would happen if we had casino chips or airline points. Therefore, a token can have different purposes: from giving access to more functionalities in an online game, to being able to be exchanged for real objects, collecting, and participating in an event …

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

El Banc d’Espanya (BdE) ha comunicat que dona el seu suport al projecte de l’euro digital, poc després que el Banc Central Europeu (BCE) anunciés els seus plans d’avançar cap a una nova fase en el desenvolupament dels nous diners electrònics.

L’euro digital és el que es coneix com una CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), és a dir, una divisa electrònica gestionada i supervisada per un banc central, en aquest cas pel Banc Central Europeu (BCE). Podrà ser utilitzada tant per particulars com per empreses i, almenys en principi, no hauria de substituir sinó complementar els diners en efectiu.

Tot i que l’emissió d’un euro digital no és una certesa, després de dos anys d’un estudi preliminar sobre la possible introducció de la nova moneda digital, el dimecres passat la institució europea donava la llum verda als seus funcionaris per avançar cap a la següent fase del projecte. Amb la publicació d’un informe sobre el disseny i la distribució de la CBDC europea, el BCE anunciava que volia “començar a establir les bases per a la possible emissió d’un euro digital” a partir de l’1 de novembre.

Està previst que aquesta segona fase duri aproximadament dos anys, fins al 2025. Durant aquest període de preparació del projecte es finalitzarà el codi normatiu i la selecció de proveïdors per a desenvolupar la plataforma i la infraestructura. Segons el BCE, aquesta fase també servirà per “aplanar el camí per a una possible decisió futura sobre l’emissió d’un euro digital”.

El Banc d’Espanya es posiciona a favor de l’euro digital

Després que el Banc Central Europeu (BCE) anunciés la segona fase del projecte, el Banc d’Espanya (BdE) emetia un comunicat destacant el que considera com els avantatges de la CBDC i donant el seu suport al BCE. Juan Ayuso, director general d’Operacions, Mercats i Sistemes de Pagament del Banc d’Espanya, afirmava que l’euro digital conserva els avantatges de la moneda física.

El banc afirma que el format d’efectiu físic “no permet aprofitar tots els avantatges que ofereix la creixent digitalització de l’economia i la societat”. Un punt contenciós entre els proponents i crítics de les CBDC, que argumenten que els les monedes digitals centralitzades no poden garantir l’anonimat que ofereixen les transaccions en efectiu. Com admetia Christine Lagarde, presidenta del Banc Central Europeu, “L’anonimat total —com el que ofereix els diners en efectiu— no sembla una opció viable”.

Per altra banda, Josep Borrell, vicepresident de la Comissió Europea, afirmava que no hem de patir per la nostra privacitat i protecció de dades que “les dades personals estarien totalment protegides. Els bancs, ni tan sols el BCE, no veurien ni podrien rastrejar les dades o detalls personals de la gent. Els pagaments sense connexió oferirien un nivell de privacitat similar al que ofereix avui els diners en efectiu”.

Per a tranquil·litzar a la població i a les associacions de consumidors, la Comissió Europea i el Banc Central Europeu van presentar el juny passat un paquet de propostes legislatives per convèncer al Parlament Europeu i al Consell de la UE de donar suport al llançament de l’euro digital. Les autoritats europees justifiquen la necessitat d’una CBDC  perquè cada vegada hi ha més ciutadans —un 55% segons les seves enquestes— que prefereixen pagar a través de mètodes electrònics.

Tanmateix, Javier Rupérez, president de la plataforma Denaria que dona suport a l’ús dels diners en efectiu, reaccionava a l’anunci del BCE assenyalant que, tot i que creu que l’euro digital podria ser un mitjà de pagament gratuït que “conviurà amb els diners físics, encara no existeixen garanties fermes que assegurin aquesta coexistència”. 

Queda per veure si les CBDC podran garantir els conceptes de privacitat, anonimat i llibertat que ara tenim amb els diners físics i les criptodivises, però el debat està servit i sembla que l’euro digital està cada vegada més a prop.

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