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The Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT) and the School of Public Administration of Catalonia (EAPC) organized this Thursday the closing day of the 2025 specialized training course for data protection officers (DPOs). The meeting, open to the general public, served to discuss the use of artificial intelligence in the public sector and how to establish mechanisms to reduce its potential negative impact on the right to data protection and other rights and freedoms, especially in the face of unauthorized uses, the so-called Shadow AI.
The director of the EAPC, Jaume Magre Ferran, and the director of the APDCAT, Meritxell Borràs i Solé, oversaw opening the event. In her intervention, Borràs recalled that the Authority maintains a strong commitment to training staff responsible for ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Especially, she said, with the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, “we have no time to lose.” In this regard, she announced that next November, APDCAT and EAPC will schedule new training sessions on AI and data protection, following the success of the first edition last June.
She also highlighted other resources that APDCAT disseminates through its website, such as studies on the Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AIR), the new roles of data protection authorities, or the Catalan FRIA model for assessing fundamental rights in the use of AI. This model is pioneering in Europe and has been promoted by APDCAT within a working group of the “DPP en xarxa” community led by professor and expert Alessandro Mantelero, with the goal of ensuring reliable and respectful AI systems. It has been very well received internationally, and other authorities such as those of Colombia, Croatia, and the Basque Country will promote it in their respective areas as a reference model. Starting in August next year, high-risk AI system providers will have to assess and mitigate risks, and the Catalan model offers a reference guide that can provide step-by-step orientation, with concrete case examples.
Borràs reminded that in the face of the “lonely and complex” work of data protection officers (DPOs), APDCAT chose to create community spaces for sharing and generating knowledge. In this sense, she celebrated that the “DPD en xarxa” community already has 310 members and took the opportunity to announce that it will hold its second in-person meeting on October 30.
After her speech, in the conference “Use of AI in Public Administration: Data Protection and Beyond”, the Head of the Department of Open Government and Presidency Coordinator of the Sant Feliu de Llobregat City Council, M. Ascensión Moro Cordero, spoke about the use of AI by public employees and the need for good management by organizations. She stressed the importance of giving clear guidelines to DPOs and other public professionals on the steps to follow, to raise awareness that it is not only necessary to safeguard data protection, but that other rights and interests may also be at stake. Finally, the director of APDCAT handed out the certificates to the present students who completed the course.
Fifth edition
This closing marks the fifth edition of the specialized training course for data protection officers (DPOs), promoted by APDCAT and EAPC. On this occasion, it was aimed especially at technical staff of the public sector and departments of the Government of Catalonia, as well as technical staff of local entities and the local public sector.
The objective is for DPOs to acquire new skills, competencies, and knowledge to ensure optimal development of their advisory and supervisory role within entities, in accordance with data protection regulations. It is an 180-hour in-person training course, with theoretical and practical classes distributed across 25 units.
As part of the closing event of the 2025 DPO Course, the Catalan Data Protection Authority (APDCAT) and the School of Public Administration of Catalonia (EAPC) promoted a debate on the use of AI in the public sector, in an event open to the public.