Mobile World Capital Barcelona launches Digital Future Society, a think tank for worldwide technology and citizen training

November 14, 2018

Digital Future Society (DFS), the think tank implemented by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, has started functioning with an international meeting focused on the challenges and opportunities prompted by digitalisation that will determine our society’s future development. The programme was established with a view to offering specific solutions to the new scenarios associated with digitalisation and to this end brought its Global Board of Trustees together for the first time. On a parallel basis, the summit also featured a co-creation workshop involving the participation of 70 professionals and experts in innovation and technology, researchers, thinkers and representatives of civil society.

Attendees at the session included Luca de Meo, Chairman of SEAT; Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA; John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd.; Daria Tataj, European Unión Strategy and Policy Advisor; and Rahilla Zafar, Managing Director of ConsenSys, all of whom are members of the Global Advisory Board (*); and Arantza Ezpeleta, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Acciona, Sarah Harmon, Country Manager for Spain and Portugal of LinkedIn, and Andreu Veà, Chairman of Internet Society in Spain.

DFS also enjoys the firm commitment and support of Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia and the Spanish Ministry for the Economy and Business, as evidenced in the contributions of Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Puigneró, Minister of Digital Policies and Francisco Polo, Secretary of State for Digital Advancement, who closed the session. 

DFS: more than just reflection

DFS’ first Summit provided for the establishment of the conceptual foundations upon which the project is built. Specifically, the work session –which took place as part of Smart City Expo World Congress– explored in depth the fundamental concept of DFS: the creation of a new social contract in response to the new dynamics of the digital era.

How global economic policies will evolve in a digital and interconnected environment, how cities will play an enterprising role in assisting the public’s digital transformation, and how women’s talent will be incorporated into real corporate leadership were some of the questions raised at the session and matters that will be tackled with the contents developed by the think tank. The end result of this workshop will be summarised in DFS’ manifesto, which will be published before the end of the year.

As a project with global ambition, DFS’ reflections extend to issues with an international impact that transcend states or traditional organisations. DFS’ value proposition is therefore far-reaching and offers the debate a venue –the city of Barcelona– in which to make this reflection reality and in which to observe how to deal with specific opportunities and challenges.

DFS has been established with a clear structure that is organised in 3 core areas: the think tank as a centre for reflection, a laboratory for testing and developing the proposals of the working groups participating in it from Barcelona, and a schedule of activities either for specialists or for the public at large and held throughout the year that will familiarise the public with these abstract concepts and offer training in light of the challenges raised by digitalisation.

Following on from this first Summit, there will be two specialised meetings in December in Barcelona and Madrid, plus a further summit that will take place on 24 February 2019 as part of the GSMA Mobile World Congress.