We begin by marking an historic anniversary: 50 years since the founding of Ineco (1968-2018), half a century during which we are proud to have had the opportunity to contribute to the structuring of the country through our involvement in the design and construction of major road and rail routes, port and airport development, urban transport and intermodal transport in Spain as a whole. It has unquestionably been a decisive period for the history of Spain and its infrastructure, and also for our growth and consolidation as a high-performance, flexible and technologically advanced public works engineering firm, which enables us to act as a trusted consultant in the eyes of our shareholders and as a valuable partner in the foreign market.

In addition to this celebration, I would also like to add the positive close to the year, promising portfolio prospects and our eager anticipation to support two of the Ministry of Public Works’ major projects this year, namely the Innovation Plan and the Internationalisation Plan, programmes that will begin in February and will certainly provide a great boost to our technological and innovative capacity and open up new opportunities for collaboration with Spanish partners in order to continue with our expansion abroad. Both initiatives have enabled us to join forces and work together with other companies and institutions in the Public Works Group, and they will also soon be joined by the Sustainability Plan.

The 50 years since the founding of Ineco have unquestionably been a decisive period for the history of Spain and its infrastructure

As unity makes strength, this issue also celebrates the connection of the high-speed lines in the north of Spain with those in the south and east, our work with Acciona to improve Costa Rica’s infrastructure and the joint effort of all of Europe to give a final push for the implementation of BIM.

We thank Tomás Elejalde, general manager of Metro de Medellín, for giving us a full interview. And lastly, I would like to mention the exemplary efforts of our technical staff to make the advancement of high-speed rail a reality, as our readers will be able to see in the reports on the Central High-Speed Line in Madrid, the extension of the Basque Y in Guipúzcoa and the traffic control works on the line between Makkah and Madinah, a project that has successfully passed the first test of the entire 450 kilometres.

We open this issue with the news of the contract awarded recently for the design of the new terminal at Schiphol Airport, a project that will make us a participant in the expansion of one of the most important airports in the world. This excellent news joins the announcements of the recent contracts to execute the master plan for the Dammam Airport and the expansion and rehabilitation of the Liberia airport. These international contracts reflect Ineco’s strength and competitiveness in the aeronautical sector, and are complemented by articles covering the projects and construction supervision in two airports in Cape Verde, and the feature article on the aeronautical safety studies.

In the railway sector, the cover story highlights another large project that has already been completed: the high-speed line that our experts have designed in Egypt to connect Cairo, Luxor and Hurghada. More than 1,000 kilometres in length, it is the longest section of high-speed track ever built by Ineco, only recently surpassed by the 1,500 kilometres of another similar project, the high- speed line between New Delhi and Kolkata.

The latest international contracts awarded to Ineco reflect our strength and competitiveness in the aeronautical sector

Projects such as the Indian project and this most recent project in Egypt, are enormous railway challenges that clearly demonstrate the capacity and expertise of the teams, made up of more than one hundred people who contributed to make them a reality. In total, the projects required two years of work which, in order to ensure the success of the study, involved various Egyptian public entities responsible for the implementation of the project, led by the Ministry of Transport and the National Railways of Egypt.

This study by Ineco, with the support of Adif and Renfe, exports the experience and know-how of Spanish engineering and industry in the design, construction and maintenance of high-speed lines. Experience that has pushed us to continue our participation in the development of high-performance networks, such as HS2 in the UK, in which Ineco has been awarded a new contract, projects for the installation of the ERTMS in Denmark, the railway integration works in the historic city of León, and the renovation of the San Bernardo station in Seville, all of which are described in this issue.

Lastly, we cap off this issue with a new section titled In Closing, in which our professionals tell us about the latest developments in their respective areas. In this case, we are starting with Rocío Viñas, our deputy director general of Cooperation and Innovation, who discusses the Spanish Hyperloop project. A closing that is aimed at sharing new developments in the sector with our readers.

The future is here. Technologies that were unthinkable a few decades ago now make it possible to travel long distances faster, more safely, and with less consumption. We can manage and centralize all of the transport and services of a large city or region, prevent or resolve traffic congestion before it occurs and control communications remotely. We’ve come a long way, but paradoxically, we’re still far from where we want to go. But nothing can be achieved without a society with the capacity for change, commitment and transformation. Nothing without innovation.

Sustainability and innovative technology go hand in hand in modern engineering and are the keys to building a friendlier society. This issue’s cover story addresses one of the very latest topical issues that largely represents this demand for progress: the application of information and communication technologies in cities, where more than half of the world’s population is already concentrated. Ineco is responding to this challenge decisively through its commitment to ICTs applied to mobility, smart platforms that make it possible to manage integrated data in real time. An example of this process of digital transformation is Cityneco, the platform that will soon go into operation to help provide truly smart management of traffic in the city of Granada.

The future is here, but nothing can be achieved without a society with the capacity for change, commitment and transformation. Nothing without innovation

In the report on air transport in Peru, we cover the vision of the general manager of AdP, concessionaire of the Chiclayo International Airport, a project to which we are contributing our extensive experience in airport expansion. For years, we have also provided technology to serve citizens through cutting-edge projects like the Galileo satellite navigation system, in which we have participated since 2010 and which is covered once again in this issue.

Lastly, we have technology and sustainability in Renfe’s Universal Accessibility Plan, on which we are collaborating to improve the Cercanías commuter rail stations; the Faros de España project, for which we also have the interview with the head of the Spanish Marine Aids to Navigation Service of Puertos del Estado and reports on ENAIRE’s Flight Plan 2020, and environmental management. We hope our readers will find the contents of this issue interesting and informative.