February 19, 2014
Today Mobile World Capital Barcelona unveiled “Mobile Ready,” a project that aims to recognize and promote the mobile technology assets already existing in the city and facilitate the creation of new mobile-related initiatives. “Mobile Ready” will offer the people and visitors to Barcelona a catalogue of activities, experiences, and proposals illustrating the potential of mobile transformation and how it can improve their everyday lives. Through this project, MWCapital also seeks to encourage the adoption of mobile solutions in key sectors like Tourism, Commerce, and the Creative Industries.
Mobile Ready will get underway the days prior to the Mobile World Congress with a set of cultural, technological, tourism, and mobile leisure activities. Between February 22 and March 1 this “mobile week” will feature unique mobile technology experiences already existing in Barcelona, along with others created specifically for the occasion. Citizens and visitors alike will be able to access public services, be exposed to some of the city’s tourism sites, enjoy new shopping experiences, and find out about the whole range of “mobile” cultural activities. City landmarks such as Casa Batlló and the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona – MACBA, among others, are involved in Mobile Ready. Both will offer innovative experiences, such as a chance to bring Gaudi’s dragon to life through augmented reality or visit mobile exhibitions such as Megaphone, an exhibit by artist Antoni Abad which, through pictures taken on mobile phones, gives marginalized groups in different cities around the world a voice.
Starting on February 22 Mobile Ready will make available to the public a website and an application through which to access this entire catalogue of mobile assets and options. The tool will allow one to access information on the city’s mobile infrastructures, such as Wi-Fi hotspots, and an agenda of mobile-related activities: lectures, events, notable exhibitions, etc. It will also include a selection of the best apps in Barcelona and the whole set of options featured on apps4bcn.
During the week of the Mobile World Congress Mobile Ready will unveil a route dotted with Barcelona’s top tourism, cultural, and shopping sites, places at which to have mobile-related experiences. In addition, in the context of Mobile Ready Smart Shopping Barcelona will be held, a public celebration sponsored by the organizers of The Shopping Night Barcelona. Scheduled for February 27 at the Las Arenas shopping center and at the L’Eix Comercial Creu Coberta shopping area, participating visitors will be able to enjoy different shopping experiences through their mobile devices.
Mobile World Capital Barcelona will also identify with the Mobile Ready icon those businesses and tourism establishments boasting mobile assets. The objective is to promote the adoption of mobile solutions in the business world too, especially in strategic sectors like Tourism, Commerce, and the Creative Industries.
Permanent MWCapital initiatives to promote technological change
In recent months Mobile World Capital Barcelona has carried out various projects and initiatives that are transforming areas like Education, Health, Entrepreneurship, and Smart Cities. This year’s Mobile World Congress will serve to publicize these initiatives’ major advances.
4YFN: A commitment to mobile entrepreneurs
MWCapital’s commitment to entrepreneurship will also be on display at Four Years From Now (4YFN), an international meeting featuring some of the world’s leading players in mobile innovation and entrepreneurship. 4YFN will take place in conjunction with the MWCongress – from 24 to 27 February, 2014 – with the aim of bringing together supply and demand, and promoting knowledge transfer and networking amongst more than 1,000 professionals, entrepreneurs, startups, accelerators, incubators, and investors from around the world.
mSchools introduces mobile technologies into classrooms
The mSchools program will have its own forum at the Mobile World Congress, presenting the advances made by the “Let’s Mobilize Computer Technology” course, through which over 6,000 students at nearly 200 Catalonian schools currently learn to design apps while developing their entrepreneurial spirit.
mSchools is a groundbreaking initiative promoted by MWCapital with support from the Regional Government of Catalonia, the City of Barcelona, and GSMA. The aim is to get high school students working with mobile technologies in the classroom through the creation and use of mobile solutions, thereby improving their skills in the digital environment, reducing school dropout rates, and improving their academic performance.
MWCapital will present a prototype of a vaccination record app
At the 2014 MWCongress MWCapital will present several demonstrations of projects and applications in the area of Health, including a prototype of a vaccination record in app format, along with a personal medical file – two projects spearheaded and promoted by the foundation, along with other agents in the healthcare community. MWCapital will also reveal the conclusions of the Task Force, a working group made up of renowned experts from the Technology and Health fields to draw up the roadmap to be followed when coming up with mobile solutions related to Health.
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