PR86532

MADRID, Nov. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Barcelona’s position as one of the world’s great digital capitals has been

bolstered by the beneficial public-private boost provided by the City Council

and other organisations this year, despite the challenges posed by the

pandemic’s global advance.

Two pieces of information confirm Barcelona’s reputation in terms of

connectivity and digitalisation. First, it is the world’s fifth most attractive

city for capturing digital talent, according to the Decoding Global Talent 2019

report from Boston Consulting Group. Secondly, for the third consecutive year,

Barcelona has been named the third best European city to establish a start-up

after London and Berlin, according to the Startup Heatmap Europe. Consequently,

Barcelona will achieve a more prominent role in digital leadership, according

to analysis by Instituto Coordenadas.

The City Council’s updated plans for the 22@ technology district will help

drive Barcelona’s strength as a digital capital. A million square metres will

be developed for business activity and processes will be accelerated by

reducing administrative procedures. The new businesses setting up in 22@ will

not only be technology-based, however, with the district also open to

enterprises working in the green, circular and social economy, as well as in

smart manufacturing.

Trade-fair activity is an essential part of Barcelona’s journey towards

digital-capital status. The first opportunity during the pandemic to hold an

in-person exhibition took place in September with the Biz Barcelona and Salo de

Ocupacio joint event. Its success in terms of turnout, both in person and

online (128 talks with 253 speakers), allowed for a response to the needs of

the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in terms of dealing with business and

start-up creation and new formulas for retaining talent with job opportunities.

Barcelona will also hold two major trade shows in 2021, as it takes on the

organisation of the Mobile World Congress once again, with the show’s

organisers making a commitment to Barcelona until 2024, and provides the

location for the world’s most important audiovisual systems show, Integrated

Systems Europe (ISE), for the first time, turning Barcelona into the 5G hub for

southern Europe.

Administrations and institutions have promoted the 5G Barcelona initiative,

which is an association that aims to position the Catalan capital as a neutral

laboratory for 5G technology design and development, with the goal of making

Barcelona the European hub for digital innovation. The agreement was signed by

the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, the Mobile World Capital

Barcelona Foundation, i2CAT Foundation, CTTC, Atos and UPC.

Other initiatives also show how the institutions and civil society that make up

Barcelona are focused on a technological revolution. One example is the success

of the Barcelona New Economy Week (Bnew) event, the epicentre for the new

economy with 300 speakers and 10,800 attendees from 111 countries, most of whom

attended the event virtually. There is also the commitment between the City

Council, the Correos postal operator and the Consorci de Zona Franca (CZF) to

turn Barcelona’s central post office building into a 30,000m2 business activity

hub for the creation of 150 companies and start-ups that will provide 1,500

jobs relating to the digital economy and talent.

In this context, the good health of tech companies in Barcelona and Catalonia

is also worth highlighting, with 72% ending 2019 with better results than in

the previous financial year. We will continue to monitor this transformation

model very closely, in which Barcelona proves its leadership through innovative

values of collaboration between companies, civil society and municipal

institutions, in which the sum creates value.  

SOURCE: Instituto Coordenadas