expansion

A third of the planet’s ships depend on a single Norwegian company. And they have chosen Alicante for their global expansion

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In the world of shipping, there is a silent giant whose technology is responsible for ensuring that a third of the world’s fleet is not lost at ocean or collided in port. This is Kongsberg, the Norwegian conglomerate controlled mostly by its State, which has turned the province of Alicante into an indispensable piece of its global chess board. Today, more than 30,000 ships they are capable of plowing the seas thanks to systems that are managed, maintained and repaired from offices located between La Vila Joiosa and the NOBO business center in the capital of Alicante. A strategic divorce to conquer the stock market. The news that has shaken the foundations of the industry this year is the segregation of the matrix. According to the company itselfKongsberg Gruppen ASA has decided to split into two independent entities to gain agility: on the one hand, the Defense and “Discovery” division (fishing and research); and on the other, Kongsberg Maritime, the jewel in the crown dedicated to navigation systems, which will begin trading separately on the Oslo Stock Exchange on April 23, 2026. This financial independence is backed by solid figures on Spanish soil. According to the newspaper The Informationthe Spanish subsidiary invoiced a total of 31.7 million euros in 2024, with a profit of more than five million. It is not surprising that Lisa Edvardsen Haugan, future CEO of the new independent company, claim that they are “unitarily positioned for value creation in the global maritime sector.” Why Alicante and not Vigo or Algeciras? The story of how a Nordic power ended up installing its nerve center in the province of Alicante has a component that is as human as it is strategic. In 1995, the company was looking for a headquarters in Spain. Although ports like Vigo or Barcelona seemed logical options, the executive in charge of the expansion opted for the coast of Alicante. The reason was the existence of a historical and consolidated colony of Norwegians in municipalities such as La Vila Joiosa or Altea. However, what began as a small delegation for the fishing sector—under the name Simrad Spain— has mutated into something much more ambitious. After the purchase of the maritime division of Rolls-Royce, the structure became too small. Today, the move of Kongsberg Maritime to the NOBO business center in the capital of Alicante responds to a need to attract talent. Miguel Ángel González, general director in Spain, points out that this change seeks to increase the attractiveness of the firm to retain engineers and software developers, in addition to reducing emissions due to staff travel by 30%. The brain of the autonomous boat. Alicante is not a simple administrative office; It is one of the only three resource hubs that the group has on the planet, along with Poland and Norway itself, capable of serving ships around the world thanks to its strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. As explained by the company itselfnaval autonomy is not new — they have been developing Dynamic Positioning Systems (DPS) for 40 years that allow a ship to remain stationary at an exact point in the ocean without using anchors — but now the technology has reached a “critical mass.” Yara Birkeland: The world now look in amazement to the world’s first fully electric, autonomous and zero-emission container ship, developed by Kongsberg together with YARA. Reach Remote: This is a series of unmanned surface vessels (USV) that are controlled from a remote center. According to senior designer Erik Leendersthis allows a single captain to control several ships at once from dry land. The “Jewel in the Crown”: The DPS system is what allows that Sasemar (Maritime Rescue) oil platforms or rescue ships operate with extreme safety on the high seas. The horizon. The future of navigation involves electric motors that generate your own energy with the rotation of the propellers. To manage this complex flow of data, the firm Kognifai has launchedan Artificial Intelligence platform that optimizes ship operations. Although the technology is ready, the company’s technical report warns that the biggest current challenge is not engineering, but legislation. As the firm warnswe are in “uncharted territory” and the IMO still needs to define the rules for these ships without humans. What was born in 1995 as a fishing office in La Vila has become in 2026 the command post from which Norway and Alicante dictate the rules of the future of global trade by sea. Image | Kongsberg Xataka | The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones

Big Tech is turning India into the new darling of its AI expansion

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Microsoft just announced an investment of $17.5 billion in India over the next four years, the technology giant’s largest in Asia. amazon has followed in his footsteps with 35,000 million dollars until 2030. Google already had announced 15,000 million for the same period. The big tech companies They are turning to the Asian subcontinent like never before, and it makes all the sense in the world. Why India has become irresistible. The Asian country brings together three characteristics that make it a strategic target for technology companies: a population of more than 1.4 billion inhabitants with growing access to the internet and smartphones, infrastructure costs significantly lower than in other Asian markets such as Japan or Singapore, and a government that actively promotes digital transformation. According to Ericsson dataan active smartphone in India consumes an average of 36 GB per month, 44% more than in North America and 71% more than the global average. Additionally, the country’s data center capacity has increased 2.5-fold since 2021, reaching 1.5 gigawatts. The perfect time for investments. The race for artificial intelligence has accelerated this trend. Microsoft plans to open its largest cloud region in India, located in Hyderabad, by mid-2026. The company will also expand its three existing data center regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. For its part, Google will build an AI hub in Visakhapatnam which will include data centres, power sources and fiber optic networks. These investments seek to stay ahead of the competition in a market where demand for cloud services and AI tools is growing rapidly among companies, startups, and government agencies. Beyond data centers. Investments are not limited to physical infrastructure. Microsoft has committed to train 20 million workers from this country in AI skills by 2030, doubling its initial goal. The company claims to have already trained 5.6 million people since January 2025. Amazon, for its part, claims to have digitized to more than 12 million small businesses and enabled $20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports. Both companies are integrating their technologies into the Indian government’s digital public platforms, such as the e-Shram and National Career Service systems, which serve more than 310 million uncontracted workers. The battle for digital sovereignty. A key element of this strategy is the proposal of “sovereign” solutions. Microsoft has launched its Sovereign Public Cloud and Sovereign Private Cloud specifically for customers in India, allowing data and workloads to remain within the country’s borders. As the company announced, Microsoft 365 Copilot will process data within India by the end of 2025, making the country one of the first four global markets to receive this capability. “This investment signals India’s rise as a reliable technology partner for the world,” counted Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology. There are challenges. Despite investment enthusiasm, India presents significant obstacles. Irregular power supply, high energy costs and water shortages in several regions complicate the expansion of resource-intensive data centers. These factors could slow the deployment of AI infrastructure and raise operating expenses for cloud providers. However, New Delhi is deploying incentives for AI and semiconductor projects, it has relaxed some regulatory requirements and fosters alliances with telecommunications operators and local technology companies to continue adding value to the global AI race, from local territory. Capacity or mass consumerism. The interesting thing would be to know if India will obtain real technological capacity of its own in the face of so much investment or if it will simply consolidate itself as another consumer market for Big Tech. The government has approved semiconductor projects worth more than $18 billion under its India Semiconductor Mission, seeking to reduce dependence on imported chips. “India is becoming a hot spot for technology investments,” pointed out Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities. It remains to be seen what all this materializes into. Cover image | İsmail Enes Ayhan and Naveed Ahmed In Xataka | Steve Jobs hated obedient teams: he paid his managers to contradict him, not to obey him

Genesis wants to be Hyundai’s lexus. And its general director has no doubt of its expansion in Europe: “We are among the best”

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Genesis is a “premium Korean brand. We are among the best”. With these words, Peter Kronschnabl, director of Genesis in Europe, to the company where he works. After a few hesitant years and a limited presence in a handful of European markets, the Korean company of Premium vehicles will launch new markets from next year among which is Spain. The presentation of the plans came in the IAA Mobilitywhere Xataka He had the opportunity to know the details of an expansion that will play all the sticks. Genesis will be much more than a refined and more luxurious version of Hyundai. The company will have its own sports line and will put all the meat on the grill with its long starting at the WEC, the World Cup, and, therefore, on the 24 -hour Le Mans grill. New life for genesis In our country, Genesis has been little less than a great stranger. You may sound your logo (which can remind Aston Martin’s) and you may have seen some of her cars on the street. But it is rare because our country has been arriving in counted units. In fact, Genesis has only been present in recent years in Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. That is, always with an eye on regions with more bulky wages than Spanish. However, the European hug to the electric car seems to have opened a loophole to other markets. Although there is no official confirmation, the brand has not ruled out that in the future we can see hybrid models. At the moment we know that they will bring three completely electric models. Two of them are SUV, the GV60 and the GV70, which will arrive accompanied by a Berlina, the G80. Genesis will offer models clearly focused on luxury And, in the absence of trying them, with a clear commitment to the most sophisticated comfort. On the way to the Münich airport we had the opportunity to get on its G80 as passengers and we verified first hand the words of its director for Europe. “What does it mean to be a ‘Premium Korean’? Obviously, we talk about the quality of the materials, we do not make any commitment. You will understand when you enter the interior because we are among the best brands of the Premium segment,” said Kronschnabl. And stressed, “for us it is very important They are Nimwhich is the Korean word that is used for the concept of hospitality. And when I say that for us it is very important, it is not only that you buy a car, but also that you have a service package with a car. We will give services that revolve around the experience inside the car. “ In fact, the true protagonists are their rear squares: two heated and ventilated rear armchairs, with the possibility of reclining in all types of positions and with massage included. Curtain for the windows, two tablets behind the back of the front seats and a total control of the infotainment system from a digital center located between the two seats. The movement makes sense in a European market where high -flight electrical options begin to take positions. The Chinese manufacturers As Xpeng or Nio have a clear technological commitment. Genesis, however, is committed to the most traditional luxury line, the BMW 7 Series 7 or a Mercedes S. The Hypercar with which Genesis will compete in Le Mans To this we must add that offering only electrical versions, at least for the moment, the bet is very little risky. Although cars arrive with drops, each electric registration helps reduce Hyundai average emissions in Europe. Import hybrid cars is more problematic because it would continue to represent the relative high cost of importing very low volumes but Without the benefit of directly attacking the average emissions. And when driving? We will have to wait to check for ourselves but from Genesis they already advance that “on one side you have the brands with a very sporty approach and on the other side those that are very oriented to comfort. We have our own positioning. We want to offer a good driving experience but comfort is above all” Of course, with genesis Magna should also come. This firm will be the most sporty version of Genesis. He has the challenge of offering clear differentiation with Hyundai’s N Division and putting a spicy point to cars that clearly bet on extreme comfort. However, Genesis investment for its (new) arrival in Europe is important and will begin by generating brand image In the World Cup. This same year they already took advantage of Le Mans to give first brushstrokes on the project. There they will compete with a Hypercar which was also seen in the Münich IAA Mobility. Live, paint absolutely spectacular. It remains to know how that V8 that will mount. The Koreans, in addition, have not spared efforts to give relevance to their sports commitment. The division is flag Jacky Ickxa myth of motor racing that piloted for Ferrari or Lotus in Formula 1 and is especially remembered by his six victories in the 24 hours of Le Mans. There, the team will be directed by Cyril Abiteboulwho already directed Renault in his passage through Formula 1. Of all this, however, we will know new details later. Photos | Genesis In Xataka | “They are a serious threat but we can contract”: Xavier Martinet, CEO of Hyundai Europe, about China and the Concept Three in response

Wind energy were happy to promise their expansion in Colombia. Until he ran into indigenous communities

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La Guajira is one of the departments poorer from Colombia, home of Wayuu indigenous people and a land shaken by some of the strongest winds in the country (there is talk of gusts of 11 m/sa 100 meters high), which has turned the region into a key protagonist of the Government’s commitment to renewable energies. The problem is that these pieces are not easy to fit. As the wind turbines have been raising in La Guajira they have also done it The voices in local communities that warn of their impact and see the green revolution with distrust. There are those who already speak of “The Wind War”. “Only with the energy of La Guajira …” La Guajira, a Caribbean region located northwest of Colombia, It has sun And wind, which makes it a strategic piece for renewables in the country. He made it clear In 2023 President Gustavo Petro, when during the signing of the Pact for the transition Energy said the department has potential for 25 GW. “With the clean energy of La Guajira at its maximum, we could replace Colombia’s electricity generation, including hydroelectric plants,” He stressed. Mill display. He is not the only one who thinks. La Guajira offers a panorama attractive enough so that over recent years it has caught the attention of companies in the sector. In 2019 the Indepaz Institute I calculated that throughout the next decade up to 57 wind projects promoted by 19 companies could be built, many of them linked to multinationals. In summary: tens of thousands of hectares and several thousand self -generators. For now, BBC points out that in the region there are 15 parks under construction that will be added to existing ones, such as Guajira 1with a power of 20 MW. Something more than wind. La Guajira is nevertheless more than a territory in which to lift wind turbines. The Peninsula is also home to Wayuu peoplean indigenous community that has seen how the soil he occupies for generations became the object of desire for energy. With all that that implies. “The situation is complicated since many companies, several of them, began to arrive with the intention of developing renewable projects,” explained A year ago Mikel Berraondo, a lawyer specialized in human rights and indigenous peoples, in an article published in The country. To that factor is added another, just as relevant. According to data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) of Colombia, at least in 2022 La Guajira was the second department of the country with a Greater poverty index. His fact only overcame him. The area too stands out In studies on “multidimensional poverty” and according to data collected in 2022 in the middle Portfolio Thousands of homes also lack electrical connection. The wind war. The situation in La Guajira has tensioned so much that there are those who already speak of “The Wind War”. And the reason is not so much wind projects themselves as the way they are being deployed. Critical voices They speak of lack of impact studies and a limited participation of communities in the benefits generated by parks. They also question how traditional authorities that represent the peoples settled in the region for centuries have been consulted, which would have in turn referred to conflicts. “Disturb our dreams”. In An article Prepared two years ago María M. Monsalve explains that the Wayuu have questioned the previous consultations that, theoretically, should ensure that the development of wind projects is not done back to them. The reason: according to critics, there are closed pacts with people who do not hold the property of the land or have decision -making capacity. The equation is complicated by the existence of different authorities in the communities, the debate on how to compensate them or the impact of plants on the culture of the natives. “At night, the noise of the turbines disturbs our dreams. For us they are sacred,” Point to the BBC José L. Iguarán. When he now leaves his house in La Guajira, what he sees is a row of mills. What … and how. “There have been no analysis of the risks and studies of impacts on human rights with the participation of the communities. Nor are they seen resolution and mitigation of adverse impacts. And, judging by the complaints that arrive from the Wayuu communities and organizations, the international standards of rights of indigenous peoples ratified in Colombia are not being respected,” laments Berraondo. “Many communities do not oppose the development of projects if their rights are respected.” The debate, served. The issue is complex because other relevant factors are added to the tensions in the community, such as Energy plans from the country or the contributions of companies to the territory. Despite the noise of turbines or how they affect their traditions, Iguarán admits that in certain aspects its people have also been favored with the arrival of the wind farm Guajira i. The company behind the project has financed better infrastructure for water channeling or traffic and pays several communities a quota that depends on the income generated by electricity and the sale of carbon credits. Enough? “Companies are not respecting the right to participation for the benefit of communities and, on the other hand, offer them social investment plans with trap, since they can only execute such plans with the same companies that propose them,” Berraondo trench. A problem with consequences. Beyond the debate generated in Colombia or its media reach inside and outside the country, the situation in La Guajira is relevant because It is affecting to the sector and complicates the plans of the companies. TO late 2024 EDP ​​Renewables, in charge of the Alpha and Beta parks in La Guajira, decided to leave Colombia. The reason: delays and complications in which several factors influenced, such as COVID, but also the increase in indigenous communities involved in the prior consultation phase. In 2023 And after the effect of “Constant” Protests in the … Read more

The thermal expansion has been a headache for centuries. Now we are learning how to dodge it

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Heat tends to make the materials expand and gain volume, a volume that is then reduced when the temperature drops. This is a problem for architects and engineers since this effect is very noticeable in metals such as steel. What if we could avoid this problem? A new alloy. A group of scientists has created a new alloy that barely shows thermal expansion along a wide temperature fork. The key to development has been in invar, an alloy with similar properties that has previously been deciphered. 100 years of mystery. Invar is an alloy composed of iron, nickel and other elements with an extremely low thermal expansion coefficient, that is, an alloy that is barely dilated to an increase in temperatures. In a fork that covers more than 400 k (that is, more than 400º Celsius), invaria only expands 0.0001% of its length for each degree Celsius (or for each Kelvin). This alloy was created at the end of the 19th century by Charles Édouard Guillaume, who I would receive the Nobel Prize in Physics In 1920 “for its discovery of anomalies in the steel and nickel alloys.” We have needed a century since the award concession to begin to understand the underlying science in this low thermal expansion. Thermal expansion. The phenomenon of thermal expansion is an old acquaintance. As those responsible for the new work explain, this phenomenon is the result of the same movement of atoms (remember that the temperature is nothing other than that). When the atoms get hot, they move more and that makes more space need, then the material expands. This phenomenon, they continue to point out, is inevitable, but understanding it in detail opens the door to create new materials that somehow balance this effect. To study it, the team resorted to computer simulations that allowed analyzing the behavior of magnetic materials on tiny scales. “This allowed us to better understand the reason why invaria is hardly expanding,” said Segii Khmelevskyi, co -author of the new study. The effect is due to changes in the state of the electrons that occur as the temperature increases. These changes counteract “almost exactly” the thermal expansion of the material, adds Khmelevskyi. From theory to practice. Knowing the theory opens the way to the creation of new alloys capable of overcoming thermal expansion. It is precisely what the study responsible for the study did, put their findings into practice. And the result is what they have called Pyrocloro magnet. The new alloy combines more than two compounds: zirconium, niobium, iron and cobalt. “It is a material with an extremely under thermal coefficient above a range of unprecedented temperatures,” says Yili Cao, development co -author. “The effect is because certain electrons change its status as the temperature increases. The magnetic order of the material decreases, which makes the material contract, ”explains CAO. This effect is precisely analogous to the one seen in invar. The secret is irregularity. The team explains that the marked of the effect is also to the fact that the Pyroclloric magnet does not have a perfect network structure, that is, with the atoms arranged forming a regular and repeated pattern, but more heterogeneous. Some areas contain more or less cobalt which makes the material expand and contract in an almost identical proportion. Development details were published In an article In the magazine National Science Review. In Xataka | Cheaper, durable and ecological: a new material with the help of ruthenium wants to change the rules of green hydrogen Image | Your Wien

The Spanish travel startup is worth 2.7 billion dollars and strengthens its expansion

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Some Spanish startups are demonstrating to the world that talent, creativity and innovation can transcend borders. Examples of success are not missing: from Cabify to more recent cases such as Domestika, PLD Space and Travelperk. Today it is time to talk about the latter, which not only has received a juicy capital injectionbut has also acquired a company to further reinforce its position in the market. Travelperk, founded in Barcelona in 2015 with the aim of improving business trip management, has raised 200 million dollars in a series E, the type of financing that usually comes when a startup is already well consolidated. With this investment, the company has reached an assessment of 2.7 billion dollars and prepares to strengthen its presence in the United States, in addition to redoubled its commitment to artificial intelligence (AI). Travelperk bets for tomorrow with Yokoy’s acquisition The announcement of the atomic -led financing round and EQT Growth arrives accompanied by other interesting novelties for the future of the Spanish emerging company. Travelperk, that last year I had acquired a service platform called Amtrav2025 begins with Yokoy’s purchase. We are talking about a Swiss expenses management that will help Travelperk to offer a more complete solution to its customers. Taunay-Bucalo, president and director of Operations of Travelperk, has pointed out in a press release After the news announced today that “customers no longer have to make concessions. They can have the best travel management built on the world’s broader inventory, and the expense management product that best works for your business, combined for the best integrated experience that exists. ” Companies that use Travelperk can establish policies and budgets for the trips of their team members, as if it were a vacation trip. If we analyze some Travelperk figures we can discover that it is a very interesting company. In his first decade of life he has managed to reap more than 6,000 clients around the world and has more than 1,200 employees distributed in offices in the United States and Europe. The world seems to be more conducive than ever for the growth of a proposal like this. During the Covid-19 Pandemia, business trips stagnated, but over time they have begun to resurface strongly, driven by the need to restore face-to-face meetings. Although the sector still faces challenges, the future seems promising. With the passing of the months we will know if Travelperk has what is necessary to continue in the race. Images | Travelperk In Xataka | Pebble returns in 2025. The simplest smart watch on the market will return to its roots

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