Mobile World Capital Barcelona broadens the impact of the MWCongress on the city

• 4YFN has celebrated its fourth edition with the participation of more than 600 startups, 700 investors and 19,000 visitors, 60% more than last year
• mSchools promoted its own programme aimed at teachers and students both at YoMo and the GMSA Mobile World Congress
• d-LAB presented the potential of its projects in tourism, health and the public sector to the international business community
• More than 130 companies participated in the activities organised by GoingDigital to discover the opportunities for digitalisation and to incorporate the latest tech trends into their sectors
• For the first time, Mobile Week Barcelona, MWCapital’s new initiative to open the Congress to the public in Barcelona, has promoted activities linked to innovation, technology and culture in the city’s 10 districts

March 2, 2017

The Barcelona Mobile World Capital Foundation (MWCapital) has closed its cycle of activities held over the mobile fortnight with record participation that has exceeded the initial expectations. Between 20 February and 2 March, the Foundation promoted activities that have brought mobility, the latest digital trends and innovation to the general public, professionals and industry.

4YFN, the most important event in entrepreneurship and digital innovation within the framework of the GMSA Mobile World Congress, has closed its fourth edition with more than 19,000 visitors. This record-breaking edition gathered more than 600 startups, 700 investors and more than 270 international speakers, among which Terry von Bibra, Global Manager EMEA at Alibaba, Michael Spiegelman, Director of Product Innovation for Growth & Acquisition at Netflix, Fernando Fanton, CTO of Just Eat, and Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group stood out.

The 2017 edition of the 4YFN Awards saw prizes given to WeFarm (London), hu:toma (London) and TheMotion (Madrid) in the Disrupted by Mobile, Internet of Things and Digital Media categories respectively. WeFarm is an app for farmers in remote areas that provides information for improving crop management. Awarded second place, and in the IoT category, hu:toma is a startup with a market place that creates, monetises and promotes learning with chatbots. Lastly, TheMotion offers a tool for companies that includes digital products allowing them to quickly and easily create video ads on the products in their catalogues.

The consolidation of 4YFN as a global platform for the entrepreneurial ecosystem has been reinforced with the launch of 4YFN San Francisco 2017. The platform already holds activities in Shanghai and Tel Aviv, as well as in the major sector trade fairs such as Smart City Expo World Congress or the upcoming Automobile Barcelona, with 4YFN Mobility, and Barcelona Building Construmat, with 4YFN Building Innovative Village. 

Digital transformation, innovation and business

d-LAB, one of the MWCapital digital transformation programmes, has brought the latest trends in mobile identity and digital security both in the public and private sectors to the GMSA Mobile World Congress today, with special emphasis on the relationship between citizens and public administration agencies.

The programme also presented the latest advances developed in its pilot project on tourism at the Sagrada Familia church on Tuesday to the international business community. This initiative applied Big Data and Internet of Things solutions to the analysis of the flow of tourists around the church, which has allowed the discovery, among other things, of the visitors’ mobility dynamics, how their presence impacts the immediate surroundings and their use of public transport to get around. The project was carried out in partnership with Barcelona City Hall, the Barcelona Big Data Centre of Excellence, Eurecat and Orange, with the support of GSMA.

Additionally, GoingDigital gathered more than 130 companies between 27 February and 1 March with the aim of maximizing the impact of digital transformation in industry and business. The initiative, developed in partnership with ACCIÓ, promotes unique learning experiences to help professionals to face the challenges of digitalisation and brought members of the food, manufacturing and service sectors, among others, closer to the latest technological trends. 

Education and technology among the highlights of the Congress

mSchools, the educational programme sponsored by Mobile World Capital Barcelona in partnership with the Regional Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Hall and GSMA, organised its own activities both at YoMo and the GMSA Mobile World Congress itself. On Wednesday 1 March, mSchools held several events at the Congress site: an awards ceremony for the teachers who have carried out the most innovative projects in the classroom (Mobile Learning Awards 2017), a seminar that welcomed 500 participants to debate on the role of technology in teaching (Changing Education Together) and co-creation workshops in which teachers can develop projects collectively (Edu_Hack).

The mSchools programme also had a prominent presence at the Youth Mobile Festival (YoMo), the event supported by GSMA in partnership with MWCapital and aimed at students between the ages of 10 and 16.

Activity prior to the Congress

The first edition of Mobile Week Barcelona, a new initiative to encourage open reflection on digital transformation and mobile technology, has closed with more than 2,000 visitors. The activities carried out in all 10 of Barcelona’s districts included 10 dialogues, 10 routes and 10 innovative artistic creations in more than 60 cultural and scientific facilities, centres for innovation or investigation and universities, among others.

For the fourth consecutive year, Mobile World Centre gathered the latest developments in tablets, smartphones and wearables in its project “A window on the Mobile World Congress”. The event included brands such as Samsung, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Alcatel, BQ, ZTE and Acer. A MOBILE Story, an exhibition that encourages reflection on the evolution of mobile technology and the most important technological advances in contemporary history, was also open before and during the Congress.

Finally, mention must be made of the second edition of Mobile Lunch Barcelona which gathered 350 companies in the mobile ecosystem on Sunday 26 February in order to have an in-depth look at the digital transformation of industry.