Antoni Garrell, President of HM Hospitales and honorary member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (READ), featured on 30 June in a new session of the Peña Cataluña Debates, held at the headquarters of the Círculo Ecuestre in Barcelona under the title “The Second Digital Revolution”, in which the speaker presented the conclusions of his latest work, “The Second Digital Revolution: A New Era for Humanity.” The event was introduced and moderated by Jaume Llopis, Emeritus Professor at IESE Business School and full member and Vice-President of the Board of Governors of the READ.
Dr. Antoni Garrell
Garrell joined the Royal Corporation on 20 November with a speech in which he had already addressed the subject: “The Second Digital Revolution: Are the Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence Leading Us into a New Era of Humanity?”. Llopis, for his part, also addressed this same topic at the 10th International Academic Meeting held by the Royal Corporation between 15 and 20 March in various German cities under the general title “The Rhine as a Current of Knowledge: Cross-Border Dialogues,” where he presented the lecture “Innovation with Purpose: Beyond Economic Profit.”
In this session, Garrell reflected on the profound changes being driven by the transition to a disruptive digital era, highlighting both the opportunities and the challenges it entails in light of the effects of previous transformative revolutions. The expert stressed that the main challenge today is not what technology or artificial intelligence may be capable of, but how societies choose to live with it. Because, he noted, although this technology surpasses many human processing capacities, it still lacks empathy, intuition and ethical judgement. He added that its impact is direct and profound on the economy, employment, education and social relations. Faced with this structural change, Garrell called for organisational and civic commitment to create inclusive strategies and avoid exclusion.
The session also invited those present to reflect on the challenges posed by these new tools, now increasingly embedded in everyday life, on technological acceleration and on the need to move forward with transparency, responsibility and critical thinking. The digital revolution, as Garrell and Llopis pointed out, not only raises technological challenges but also challenges society itself. The meeting’s unanimous conclusion was a call to action, since the success of this new era will depend exclusively on citizens’ ability to think for themselves and guide the course of technology ethically.
Dr. Jaume Llopis
Garrell is an industrial engineer from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, holds a master’s degree in Management and Administration, and pursued doctoral studies in Decision Support Systems. A specialist in innovation and the knowledge economy, he has developed an extensive professional career spanning computational technology and organisational and strategic management, and has held various executive positions at companies such as Arthur Andersen, La Caixa, the University and Technology La Salle Foundation, and the Textile Design Foundation. Since 2021, he has chaired HM Hospitales. He has served on various boards of directors and advisory boards of companies, and has held institutional positions such as President of the Circle for Knowledge and of the Executive Council of the Ramon Llull University Foundation.
In the academic sphere, he has delivered classes and lectures at international universities and is the author of more than 850 articles on technical, economic, and opinion-related subjects, as well as the author or co-author of around 10 monographs on digital technology, multimedia, and industry. He was also the founder of the technology magazine “INPUT.” His two latest books are “Industry 4.0 in the Digital Society” (2019) and “Smart and Sustainable Products and Services” (2021).
