Thinx 5G Barcelona laboratory to incorporate Fira de Barcelona as a partner as it grows its blockchain and 5G NSA capacities

• Jaume Saltó, president of the Lleida Chamber of Commerce, Julián Vinué, Digital Innovation Manager of Telefónica, Marta Antúnez, director of Wayra Barcelona, ​​Dani Marco, general director of Innovation and Digital Economy of the Government of Catalonia, Marisa Catalán, director of i2CAT’s IoT research line, Roger Bou, director of the IoT Solutions World Congress, Josep Pardell, director of i2CAT, Eduard Martín, CIO and director of Intelligent Connectivity at MWCapital
• Thinx 5G Barcelona will incorporate new blockchain and 5G NSA (non-stand alone) capacities in its new setting in the Catalan headquarters of Telefónica in Barcelona.
• Fira de Barcelona organized IOT Solutions World Congress becomes the Telefónica Tech laboratory’s new partner, thus joining Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ​​Fundación i2CAT and Telefónica as promoters.
• Thinx 5G Barcelona becomes one of the most advanced and best equipped IoT (Internet of Things) labs in the world.

July 14, 2022

Thinx 5G Barcelona inaugurated its new facilities in Telefónica’s corporate headquarters today. The organization also announced that Fira de Barcelona is adhering to the project as a priority partner, thus joining Telefónica, MWCapital, and i2CAT as promoters of one of the initiatives within the 5G Barcelona alliance. This addition will grant startups using Thinx 5G Barcelona facilities access to the companies and professionals taking part in the IOT Solutions World Congress, the international event on the digital transformation of industry through IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and other disruptive technologies organized every year by Fira de Barcelona.

The presentation ceremony brought together representatives of the entities involved in this initiative: Telefónica, Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital), Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona City Council, IOT Solutions World Congress – Fira de Barcelona, ​​i2CAT Foundation and Chamber of Commerce of Lleida.

Thinx 5G Barcelona is a test bench and open laboratory where private entrepreneurs, partners and institutions test their Internet of Things (IoT) projects in real conditions before its massive implementation, with the support of professionals from Telefónica Tech. Thinx 5G Barcelona new setting features new 5G NSA (Non-Stand Alone) and blockchain capabilities on Telefónica Tech’s TrustOS platform. Hence, Thinx 5G Barcelona becomes one of the most advanced and best-equipped IoT environments in the world, with state-of-the-art radio access, such as LPWA technologies (NB-IoT, LTE-M, etc.).

Thinx 5G Barcelona saves companies developing IoT projects time and money; testing guarantees the quality of the final product and the optimization of available resources, all of which simplifies and accelerates the creation of prototypes. In addition, it provides technical support and know-how

Launched in September 2018, Thinx Lab  is currently part of Telefónica Tech and a unique test bench in the field of IoT where more than 50 startups have tested technologies such as NBIoT and LTE in health, mobility, smart cities, transport and energy related projects, among others.

As for the three editions of the ScaleUp program that the laboratory hosts annually, a total of 49 companies have presented their use cases and eleven have benefited from the 13-week acceleration program. This includes laboratory access as well as training and support sessions in areas such as finance, sales, marketing or investment.

Four years after its launch, 150 groups of entrepreneurs, large companies representatives and institutions (such as GSMA, spin-off Fractus Antenas, or the IoT Catalan Alliance corporation) have visited Thinx 5G Barcelona. Training sessions and workshops have been organized for leading companies as well as master’s and postgraduate university students to learn first-hand about the lab’s work and operation.

Last but not least, several companies in the province of Lleida have been accelerated through the Thinx 5G Barcelona Lab with the support of the Lleida Chamber of Commerce which houses the Ponent 5G Area laboratory.

ABOUT THE 5G BARCELONA ALLIANCE

5G Barcelona is a public-private initiative that works to position Barcelona and Catalonia as an innovative and open environment for the validation and adoption of 5G technologies and applications in a real-life environment. The initiative seeks to create synergies within the 5G ecosystem and offer an experimental infrastructure to test, prototype and implement new digital solutions. 5G Barcelona wants to stimulate and consolidate existing innovation, help attract foreign investment, promote new technology companies and generate an entire industry around 5G technology. The initiative is promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ​​the i2CAT Foundation, CTTC, Atos and the UPC.

ABOUT MOBILE WORLD CAPITAL BARCELONA

Mobile World Capital Barcelona is an initiative that drives the digital development of society and helps improve people’s lives globally. With public and private support, MWCapital focuses its activity on four areas: accelerating innovation through digital entrepreneurship; the transformation of the industry through digital technology; the growth of digital talent among new generations and professionals; and reflection on the impact of technology on our society. As a whole, our programs positively transform the economy, education and society. MWCapital hosts MWC in Barcelona and is the founder of 4 Years From Now (4YFN), the business platform for the startup community present at all MWC events around the world.