- Mobile World Capital Barcelona and the Malaga City Council sign today a collaboration agreement with the aim of bringing technology to citizens, developing projects related to 5G and implementing emerging technologies in the city
- In addition to Mobile Week Málaga, which will take place in December and will be coordinated by FYCMA, the alliance will be transformed into events, activities, programs and initiatives in innovation, technology and digital talent through the Polo Nacional de Contenidos Digitales
Barcelona/Málaga, 3 March 2021 – Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital) and the Malaga City Council have signed today, and for the first time, an ambitious collaboration agreement to bring technology closer to citizens through a considerable number of activities that will take place this year in Malaga, and will combine the face-to-face and the virtual format.
The initiatives will be framed within the four main lines of action of MWCapital: society, technology, innovation and talent. In society field, the alliance will be reflected mainly in the celebration of Mobile Week Malaga in December of this year, the first major event already planned, which will allow technology to be transferred to the day-to-day life of the people of Malaga, thus helping to reduce digital gaps through free activities and workshops. In this way, Malaga becomes part of the list of cities and territories that this year will also celebrate its Mobile Week.
Within the technology field, projects and activities will be carried out in innovation, digital talent, smart communications and emerging technologies, with special attention to 5G. With this objective, a direct collaboration has already been born with the National Digital Content Pole, the ecosystem in Malaga of the digital media and entertainment industry. This synergy will be shaped by hackathons, challenges, and pilot programs.
In the area of innovation, both institutions are already working on startup development and acceleration actions to promote entrepreneurship, connecting science and technology. And finally, in terms of talent, work is already underway on the deployment of initiatives to help resolve the current digital talent gap, through training in digital skills for professionals and attracting talent to the Malaga digital hub.
Technology at the service of society
The signing of the agreement became effective today at the Malaga City Council with the participation of the CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Carlos Grau, and the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre Prados. The event also featured the first Deputy Mayor and Delegate Councilor of the Urban Innovation and Digitalization Area, Susana Carillo; the Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Tourism and Promotion of the City, Rosa Sánchez; and the general director of FYCMA and the National Digital Content Pole, Yolanda de Aguilar.
This framework agreement on technology is based on the alignment of objectives between the Malaga City Council, which is committed to turning the city into a hub for innovation and trends in digital matters, and Mobile World Capital Barcelona, the foundation that, with a focus global and a local application, it has public and private support to promote the digital development of society.
In the act of signing this alliance, Grau highlighted the exceptional reception of the city of Malaga to MWCapital's proposals and added “we are delighted to expand our purpose of improving people's lives through a digital transformation oriented towards citizenship and to continue strengthening ties with cities, administrations and institutions to create a strong technological ecosystem that will help us with future challenges”.
For his part, the Mayor of Malaga, has pointed out that “the collaboration with Mobile World Capital Barcelona, an international benchmark, allows us to count on their trajectory and experience to continue advancing in our positioning as a technological hub. We will also do so by putting citizens at the core of the strategy and promoting, professionally, the innovative ecosystem that captures and generates talent and knowledge”.
Mobile Week Malaga, in December
In the act of signing the agreement, it was announced that the first Mobile Week Malaga will be held in different emblematic locations of the city on December 9, 10, 11 and 12. This will have activities organized throughout the city with the aim of reaching the maximum public, prioritizing, whenever possible, the face-to-face format, but also with some actions in virtual format. Mobile Week Malaga is a city project, led by the Malaga City Council and which will be coordinated by FYCMA (Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga), which will be in charge of organizing this week of activities. A score of entities and institutions from Malaga, from the academic, business and other representatives of civil society have already joined.
It will be a wide program of activities that will make up this week entirely dedicated to technology in Malaga with conferences, debates, exhibitions, workshops and other family activities, all of them aimed at Malaga citizens and totally free. Four main axes will define Mobile Week Malaga 2021, with different thematic areas that will be addressed within these fields. In terms of digital transformation, activities will focus on new smart cities, disruptive technologies, digital territories, and smart and sustainable mobility. In the training field, the activities will be encompassed within STEAM women, talent and work, education and learning. In terms of communication, leisure, and communication and networks will be the topics that will be discussed. And in the sustainability field, activities will address migration, health and life sciences, and new economies.
Boosting the potential in digital innovation in Malaga
The collaboration that is born today between MWCapital and Malaga sets a precedent with Andalusia to boost the potential of a digitally innovative city. An ambitious agreement that, through common initiatives in the fields of society, technology, talent and innovation, brings the digital world closer to and more understandable to the citizens of Malaga.
Málaga is committed to a city model based on technological innovation by promoting agreements such as the one signed with MWCapital and initiatives such as Mobile Week Málaga related to technology, R & D & i and entrepreneurship. The creation of synergies and collaborative agreements with relevant agents of technological humanism, as well as holding an event of these characteristics in Malaga and aimed entirely at citizens, contributes to consolidating the modern, innovative and technologically advanced city model.
Mobile Week: the initiative
Mobile Week was born in Barcelona in 2017 with the aim of bringing technology closer to citizens, after five editions in Barcelona it has become a benchmark space for debate, reflection and participation around digital transformation and digitization. With the same philosophy, Mobile Week Catalunya emerged three years ago, an initiative that this year will reach 18 local editions, thus expanding the scope and benefits of transferring technology to the everyday life of citizens.