The secretary of state for telecommunications and digital infrastructures (SETID) is senior minister of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Department of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. The secretary of state for telecommunications is responsible for the promotion, regulation and knowledge of the

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

sector,

audiovisual Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. Audiovisual service provide ...

services and the

Information Society An information society is a society or subculture where the usage, Content creation, creation, information distribution, distribution, manipulation and information integration, integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drive ...

, the dialogue with the professional, industrial and academic sectors and the coordination or cooperation between different ministries and with other public administrations regarding these matters. The Secretariat of State, led by the SETID, is divided in two departments; one with the level of Directorate-General and other with the level of Deputy Directorate-General.

History

Since the arrival of the democracy to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, becoming an advanced country was one of the goals of the first democratic governments and that means to have a good network of communications. The importance was such that in 1977, a year before the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

was approved, a Ministry of Transport and Communications was created. This ministry assumed most of the competences that the current Secretariat of State for Communications has and the organs of this ministry dedicated to telecoms had most of them the level of Directorate-General. In 1985, because of the fast growing of the communications systems and media, the department dedicated to telecoms in this Ministry was elevated to the level of General Secretariat and was divided in three departments: for mail, for telecoms and for communications infraestructure. In 1990, the Ministry was fusionated with the Ministry of Development but maintain the communications department intact. It wasn't until 2000 when the department was elevated to the level of Secretariat of State and the current department is officially created. At the beginning received the name of Secretariat of State for Telecommunications and for the Information Society and depended from the Ministry of Science from 2000 to 2004 and from the

Ministry of Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

since 2004 to its renovation in 2016. In 2016, a new government reestructuration created a new ministry with competences over Energy, Tourism and Communications, being called

Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda The Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda (MINETAD) was a Spanish government departments, department of the Government of Spain which existed between 2016 and 2018 responsible for the proposal and execution of the government policy on en ...

. With this ministry, the Secretariat of State was renamed Secretariat of State for the Information Society and Digital Agenda. Two years later, in 2018, a change in the government provoked that the competences over telecommunications were transferred to the

Ministry of Economy A Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Affairs, or Department of Commerce is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the economy or economic policy. List Examples of such mi ...

and the Secretariat of State was renamed Secretariat of State for Digital Progress. In 2020, the position of secretary of state for digitization and artificial intelligence was created and it assumed some responsibilities. This new position also assumed the oversight for Red.es, a public company in charge of the development of programs to boost the

digital economy The digital economy is a portmanteau of digital computing and economy, and is an umbrella term that describes how traditional Brick and mortar, brick-and-mortar economic activities (production, distribution, trade) are being transformed by the ...

, innovation,

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

, training for young people and professionals and support for SMEs by promoting the efficient and intensive use of

information and communication technologies Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and compute ...

Structure

Under the authority of the secretary of state, there are the following departments: * The Secretariat General for Telecommunications and for Digital Infraestructures and Safety. ** The Deputy Directorate-General for Telecommunications Management. ** The Deputy Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Operators. ** The Deputy Directorate-General for Planning and Management of the Radioelectric Spectrum. ** The Deputy Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Inspection. ** The Deputy Directorate-General for Customer Service of Telecommunications and Digital Services. **The Deputy Directorate-General for Digital Safety **The Deputy Directorate-General for Market Analysis and Technological Evolution **The Provincial Offices for Telecommunications Inspection. * The Deputy Directorate-General for Programs Coordination and Execution.

List of secretaries of state

References

{{Reflist Secretaries of State of Spain Telecommunications in Spain