Spanish Ministry launches innovation sandbox for tourism technology

International

New experimentation platform enables companies, universities and research centres to develop and test digital solutions before market deployment

Spain's Ministry of Industry and Tourism has launched a new experimentation environment, known as sandboxes, to support the development of innovative technological solutions for the tourism sector. Integrated into the Smart Destinations Platform, the initiative provides an open innovation framework where organisations can develop, test and validate new digital applications before implementing them in real-world environments.

Developed by SEGITTUR, the state-owned tourism innovation agency, the project forms part of Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and is funded through the European Union's NextGenerationEU programme. Its aim is to accelerate the digital transformation of Spain's tourism industry.

Secure environment for testing new ideas

The new sandbox service functions as an on-demand digital laboratory, providing technology companies, universities, research centres and other organisations with access to advanced cloud computing resources in a secure and flexible environment.

Participants can develop prototypes, evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of their projects and test new use cases without the risks associated with operational systems. The platform also includes a catalogue of digital services featuring artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, data storage and processing, as well as application development tools.

Supporting collaboration across the tourism ecosystem

By allowing participants to test ideas in a controlled environment, the new platform is designed to shorten development cycles and encourage collaboration between businesses, research institutions, tourism destinations and public authorities.

Companies can use the service to develop and validate prototypes before bringing products to market, while universities and technology centres can apply their research to practical tourism projects. According to the Ministry, this cooperation is intended to accelerate the creation of digital solutions that address the evolving needs of the tourism sector.

Platform designed to evolve

The sandbox environment has been developed with flexibility in mind and can be expanded as user requirements change. Participants are invited to propose additional tools and services for future integration into the platform. These proposals will be evaluated by SEGITTUR, enabling the service to evolve continuously and support new technological developments within the tourism industry.