Mobile World Capital Barcelona calls for 3 challenges to solve social problems and improve people’s lives through mobile technology

• The first challenge will be launched on 20 February and will address how to empower people with disabilities using mobile technology
• The d·LAB programme will also promote between 3-6 pilot initiatives a year to optimize the use of digital solutions in the public sphere, such as in health management, relations with public administration agencies or tourism

January 17, 2017

Mobile World Capital Barcelona launches d·LAB, a new digital transformation programme that aims to solve social issues using mobile and digital technology. d·LAB kicks off with activities in two different formats which will allow it to launch international challenges on specific issues and implement initiatives via public-private consortiums.

In 2017, d·LAB will announce 3 international competitions to solve high-impact social issues using mobile and digital technology. The first challenge, which will be launched on 20 January, centres on the empowerment of people with disabilities using mobile and digital solutions and seeks to attract disruptive and innovative proposals that have a positive impact on their quality of life. The aim of this competition is to select a maximum of 2 solutions that help overcome current obstacles, such as access to more personalised and economically sustainable services that are unlimited by geographical barriers, among others.

The 2 winners of this first challenge will be announced in May, and their proposals will go on the market with d·LAB’s guidance. d·LAB will accompany them throughout the development and execution of the project as well as in the launch of the first pilot in Spain, for which it will provide them with the necessary communication and diffusion tools. After this initial implementation phase, d·LAB will also collaborate in developing the initiative on an international level.

During the entire process, the winning projects will benefit from advice from the Vodafone Spain Foundation, the ONCE Foundation, the CERMI (Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities) and the CEAPAT-IMSERSO (State Reference Centre for Personal Autonomy and Technical Aid). These organisations are all d·LAB Ambassadors and have participated in the definition of the challenge. They will all be involved in evaluating the proposals received and will collaborate, if appropriate, in their implementation.

The second challenge, which will be launched in May, will tackle the transformation of health services by means of the secure and collective governance of citizens’ personal data. Therefore, this challenge will encourage the design of new solutions allowing citizens and patients to share and use their personal health details to contribute to the acceleration of research and the sustainability of the public health system.

The final challenge, which will kick off in September, will propose fighting against cyberbullying with the use of mobile technology. Digital bullying is one of the most important challenges facing the education community, which is formed by students, families and teachers. d·LAB aims to promote the use of mobile technology as a tool for awareness and for the prevention and reduction of this type of behaviour.

The three subjects that make up the 2017 challenges have been selected by the d·LAB team and the programme’s Advisory Committee whose members are David Altabev, Senior Programme Manager of Government Innovation at the Nesta Foundation; Boyd Cohen, Deputy Director of Research and Professor of Entrepreneurship & Sustainability at EADA; Jarmo Eskelinen, Chief Innovation & Technology Officer at Future Cities Catapult; Eva Fabry, Director of the European Centre for Women and Technology (ECWT); Genís Roca, President of RocaSalvatella, and Marc Vidal, Digital Transformation Analyst at Rehset. 

Pilot projects with a social impact

d·LAB currently has 3 active pilot projects that take a closer look at the potential of digital transformation in sectors such as tourism, health or relations between citizens and public administration agencies.

The first – Big Data in Sagrada Familia – uses big data and IoT (Internet of Things) solutions to analyse the flow of tourists around the church. This study allows the discovery of the visitors’ mobility dynamics, how their presence impacts the immediate surroundings and their use of public transport to get around, among other things.

The second – mConnect for digital public services – works towards the construction of secure, barrier-free digital environments allowing access to the online services offered by public administration agencies. This pilot project is at an advanced stage and enjoys the participation of 3 Catalan City Halls – Manlleu, Castellar del Vallès and Esparreguera – that will use mConnect to manage the digital services they offer to their local citizens.

The final pilot project underway is mConnect in the private health sector, which promotes the implementation of mConnect as a new digital authentication standard in the health sector. This pilot project will allow citizens to access their personal online health data file with a simple, private and secure password linked to their mobile telephone.