On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Digital Transformation to create the Global Spanish Language Watchdog, a centre for analysis and futurology that will identify the projects with the greatest impact on maximising the value of our languages in the digital transformation process that is being promoted by the Government of Spain via the Recovery Plan.
This is the second initiative to be launched under the Strategic Project for Recovery and Economic Transformation (PERTE) on the New Language Economy following support for the creation of expansive linguistic corpora for Artificial intelligence alongside the Spanish Royal Academy and the National Supercomputing Centre.
The Global Spanish Language Watchdog will be chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, and made up by representatives from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the Regional Government of La Rioja, the region where the watchdog will be based.
The Watchdog will report to the Cervantes Institute and its director will chair the permanent executive committee. Under his leadership, the watchdog will:
1. Analyse the current status of the Spanish language and co-official languages around the world, especially within the new digital economy.
2. Foster knowledge and the prestige of Hispanic cultures and language.
3. Coordinate action by the Spanish language watchdogs located in various countries.
4. Conduct studies and make proposals of great value for making language a driving force for economic growth.
The Strategic Project for Recovery and Economic Transformation (PERTE) on the New Language Economy, under which the Global Spanish Language Watchdog will exist, seeks to boost the entire value chain within the knowledge and artificial intelligence economy, two factors at the heart of the digital transformation. It has been allocated a budget of 1.1 billion euros of public investment, of which at least 30 million will be exclusively allocated to supporting projects in co-official languages.
By launching this project, the Government of Spain has strengthened its commitment to making Spain a dynamic and benchmark agent of the Spanish language worldwide, leading to benefits for the entire Spanish-speaking community.