Mobile World Capital, award for the Best Business Initiative 2011

May 28, 2012

Barcelona’s appointment as Mobile World Capital has won the award for Best Business Initiative, the oldest award given by El Periódico de Catalunya, thereby recognising the work of the institutions and companies involved in this initiative, which will turn the Catalan capital into the world hub of mobile communications until 2018.

The panel of judges considers that being Mobile World Capital is an important strategic way for Catalonia to advance towards a new productive model, based on the intensive use of technology and know-how. According to the panel, Barcelona’s appointment is a “clear reflection of the intense technological activity of large companies and, above all, of Catalan small and medium-size enterprises”. In this sense, they not only value “the sum total of efforts by institutions, without which this collective success would not have been possible”, but also the economic impact it will have on the city, estimated at some 3.5 billion Euros over the 2012-2018 period.

Barcelona was named Mobile World Capital by GSMA, the association that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, in July 2011after prevailing over the other finalist cities (Paris, Munich, and Milan). The project will be run by a Foundation comprising the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Generalitat, the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Trade, Fira de Barcelona, and GSMA. Important entities and companies from very diverse fields, that wish to deploy their digital agenda in Barcelona, are involved in the initiative.

Barcelona’s appointment will turn the city into a large-scale lab to apply the potential of mobile technologies in many fields, such as shopping, leisure, health and transport. With the aim of making mobiles an authentic tool of economic and social transformation, the Mobile World Capital will transform the city into the permanent capital for this type of industry, attracting talent and new companies and encouraging the creation of new alliances between economic sectors.

The initiative is structured around four major projects: the Mobile World Hub, the nerve centre of the Capital; the Mobile World Centre, an exhibition and experimentation space where visitors will be able to discover the latest technologies; the Mobile World Festival, a cultural and leisure agenda that will culminate with the Mobile Summer Week; and the Mobile World Congress, the leading mobile communications event, which has been held in Fira de Barcelona since 2006 and attracts over 60,000 visitors every year.

The Best Business Initiative Awards Ceremony will take place this evening in the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya.