Digital Future Society strengthens ties with India and China through the Spanish-India Council and Spain-China Council foundations

• The agreement will allow the creation of links and synergies between communities of experts and relevant institutions of the three countries
• Likewise, the foundations will actively participate in the next edition of the Global Summit of the Digital Future Society, the annual event of technological humanism to be held in Barcelona

1 March, 2021

Barcelona / Madrid, March 1, 2021.- Mobile World Capital Barcelona expands the impact of Digital Future Society by signing a collaboration agreement with Spain-China Council and Spain-India Council foundations. Both private non-profit entities that are part of the Council Foundations Network that promotes and supports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in order to expand and deepen bilateral relations with the main partner countries and strategic allies of Spain outside the EU and constitutes a valuable foreign policy tool. Both agreements will make it possible to establish connection and collaboration channels between communities of experts and relevant Indian and Chinese institutions, belonging to the cultural, economic, business and scientific fields, to carry out activities with a clear technological component that are oriented to analyze and provide solutions to the impacts of technology on citizens.

Digital Future Society, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of the government of Spain and Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ​​works to build a fairer and more inclusive future in the digital age. To achieve this objective, Digital Future Society establishes alliances with relevant agents that can influence and transform this digital agenda. In this sense, the collaboration firms with the Spanish-India Council and Spain-China Council foundations represent a significant step towards approaching two of the countries with the greatest relevance and weight in the fields of technology and innovation. Both foundations will participate in some key research areas of Digital Future Society, as well as collaborate in the Global Summit, the annual meeting of technological humanism to be held in Barcelona in 2021. The Summit will be the meeting point for leaders, organizations and actors internationally relevant in the field of technology and society.

The signing of both agreements took place today at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and its main objective is to establish a collaboration framework between Mobile World Capital Barcelona and the two foundations to exchange knowledge and experiences that benefit the organizations involved and the challenges set. The event was attended by the CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ​​Carlos Grau; the President of the Spain-India Council and Vice President of Acciona, Juan Ignacio Entrecanales; the President of the Spain-China Council and Executive President of Gestamp, Francisco José Riberas; in addition to the presence of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Latin America and the Caribbean, Cristina Gallach.

After the agreement reached, the CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ​​Carlos Grau, pointed out “the need to weave a real and plural international network that allows us to analyze the impact of technology on our society, both risks and opportunities”. He also added that this collaboration is one more step in the desire to make the Digital Future Society a global meeting point to address how kind of society we are building, how we can place the citizen at the center of the debate on technology and how to limit the relationship between technological development and social development to build a more ethical, equitable and sustainable future. And for his part, the president of the Spain-India Council, Juan Ignacio Entrecanales, particularly appreciated the opportunity to establish a formal link with a company whose objective is to manage and promote Barcelona as the world capital of mobile telephony. Likewise, the president of the Spain-China Council Foundation, Francisco José Riberas, highlighted “the importance of the Digital Future Society in raising the conversation on issues such as digital inclusion and the impact of technology on the environment”. Riberas stressed that China is one of the countries with the most digital projection in the world and the Foundation that he presides will provide all its resources and experience available to Digital Future Society to strengthen ties with this country. Finally, Cristina Gallach, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Latin America and the Caribbean, has celebrated the public-private collaboration carried out by the Council Foundations with Mobile World Capital Barcelona “as a model that works”, whose union will have “a very positive impact on companies and civil society”.

In addition to fostering cooperation between experts and research centers from the three countries involved and promoting activities that respond to this objective, as well as the Digital Future Society Global Summit, the parties have also committed to sharing information and establishing cooperation from an academic point of view and to collaborate in the organization and dissemination of workshops or seminars.