@ NEWSLETTER ISSUE 18 – JULY / AUGUST 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC OF THE MONTH:
@ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OPENS UP THE CONTEST TO DESIGN THEIR NEW HEADQUARTERS IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
@ THE PRESIDENT OF 22@BARCELONA, MIQUEL BARCELÓ, PRESENTED THE INNOVATION DISTRICT TO 800 REPRESENTATIVES OF 300 TECHNOLOGY PARKS FROM 67 COUNTRIES
@ CATALAN TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, CLOSER TO SOUTH KOREA THANKS TO THE NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE LANDING PROGRAM AND DAEDEOK INNOPOLIS
@ 22@BARCELONA SIGNED A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH THE COMPETITIVENESS INSTITUTE, WORLDWIDE LEADER IN CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT, TO PROMOTE INNOVATION IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
@ 22@BARCELONA PARTICIPATED IN THE 20TH ANNUAL “BOGATELL BEACH HAVANERES CONCERT” IN THE SANT MARTI DISTRICT
@ BARCELONA TECH SUMMER SESSIONS A SUCCESS, MAKING BARCELONA AND 22@BARCELONA THE WORLD CAPITAL OF THE ENERGY AND WATER SECTORS
@ JORDI CAMÍ, DIRECTOR OF THE BARCELONA BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PARK, AT THE 22@UPDATE BREAKFAST: “BARCELONA IS A CITY KNOWN FOR ITS HISTORY AND EXCELLENCE IN CLINICAL RESEARCH”
@ BARCELONA TELEVISION AND TELEFÓNICA I+D, 22@BARCELONA BUSINESSES, MADE THE FIRST LIVE TV BROADCAST WITHOUT USING A MOBILE UNIT
TOPIC OF THE MONTH:
1.- CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OPENS UP THE CONTEST TO DESIGN THEIR NEW HEADQUARTERS IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce has opened up the contest to design their new office building. Entries will be accepted until September 7.
The contest to design their new building marks the beginning of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce’s move from their current location at 452 Diagonal Avenue to the 22@Barcelona district. With their new headquarters, the Chamber of Commerce will be located in the city’s district of innovation, where the majority of knowledge-based business activities will be found.
For the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the 22@Barcelona district is the materialization of what will be an important part of the Catalan economy, and for this reason locating their offices in this zone is the best way to participate in a project that will guarantee the city’s economic well-being and international projection in the coming years.
The Mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu; the President of the Chamber of Commerce,
Miquel Valls; the Managing Director, Xavier Carbonell, and the Dean of the Catalan
Association of Architects, Jordi Ludevid presided over the inauguration of the contest.
Also present were the President of 22@Barcelona, Miquel Barceló, and the Director of
22@Barcelona, Pere Fons, among other representatives from the city’s social, political
and economic sectors.
During the event, special emphasis was given to the importance of locating the new headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce in the 22@Barcelona district. According to
the President of the Chamber of Commerce this decision was based on “a conscious
bet to be near those companies that will lead the Catalan economy in the coming years”. Valls also explained that they want the new headquarters to be counted among
Barcelona’s most emblematic buildings: “A building that is capable of combining the
The Catalan Association of Architects is participating in the organization of this contest. They will contribute all necessary advice, be it technical or institutional, in order to select the architect or group of architects that will be in charge of designing the Chamber of Commerce’s new headquarters.
In March 2006 the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce signed an agreement to allow this new building to be constructed. The terrain where it will be located is on the block between Pujades, Fluvià and Selva de Mar Streets and Diagonal Avenue. There
are 1,250 square meters of land, of which 940 m2 can be developed, allowing for a total
possible space of 20,500m2. The building can have up to 21 floors and a total possible
height of 86.5 meters.
The Chamber of Commerce intends to use 9,400 square meters for offices and internal services. The rest will house communal services and affordable office space for associated organizations.
2.- THE PRESIDENT OF 22@BARCELONA, MIQUEL BARCELÓ, PRESENTED THE INNOVATION DISTRICT TO 800 REPRESENTATIVES OF 300 TECHNOLOGY PARKS FROM 67 COUNTRIES
22@Barcelona, a municipal company, participated in the XXIV International Association of Science Parks (IASP) World Conference organized by the Vallès Technology Park in Barcelona from July 2nd to the 4th.
At the conference the president of 22@Barcelona, Miquel Barceló, presented the innovation district as a model of technology park development to the more than 800 representatives of 300 parks from 67 countries all over the world that met at the Barcelona International Convention Center.
Also, as a part of the conference, 22@Barcelona and the Vallès Technology Park
organized a welcome dinner on July 2nd at the beach. The Forum Swimming Area was
chosen so that the guests could enjoy dinner alongside the sea. During this event, taking advantage of the informal nature of the dinner, 22@Barcelona was able to show participants the project’s latest developments first hand.
IASP
3.- CATALAN TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, CLOSER TO SOUTH KOREA THANKS TO THE NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE LANDING PROGRAM AND DAEDEOK INNOPOLIS
Catalan and Korean businesses in the science and technology sectors will have more opportunities to work together and open new markets thanks to the agreement signed by the main South Korean innovation cluster, Daedeok Innopolis, and the Landing Program, sponsored by UPC, La Salle and 22@Barcelona. The rector of the Polytechnic University
of Catalonia (UPC), Antoni Giró, representing the Landing Program, and In Chul Park,
General Manager of Daedeok Innopolis, signed a collaboration agreement that will allow for more business and technological exchange between Catalonia and South Korea.
This opens up new opportunities that the Landing Program can offer Catalan entrepreneurs and businesses working in these sectors that want to internationalize, find new partners or better understand the Korean market. This new program, sponsored by the UPC’s Innova program, the La Salle Technological and Business Innovation Park and the municipal company 22@Barcelona, will also provide opportunities for Korean companies that want to do business in Catalonia.
This collaboration, which has initially been established through 2009, will offer Korean entrepreneurs the opportunity to use international incubator spaces in the 22@Barcelona district, provide them business support for their sector and give them access to a network of contacts. At the same time Catalan entrepreneurs with knowledge and new technology based business models will be able to internationalize their business, contacting with Daedeok Innopolis, the main innovation cluster in Korea, and all the participating companies.
4.- 22@BARCELONA SIGNED A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH THE COMPETITIVENESS INSTITUTE, WORLDWIDE LEADER IN CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT, TO PROMOTE INNOVATION IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
Miquel Barceló, President of 22@Barcelona, signed a collaboration agreement with Lars Eklund, President of The Competitiveness Institute (TCI), worldwide leader in cluster development and competitiveness, to foster the development of innovation in the 22@Barcelona district.
The agreement includes TCI’s participation in organizing the Symposium on Urban Clusters given by 22@Barcelona, advising on the contents and format of the conferences and choosing the best speakers.
The first Symposium on Urban Clusters, which took place in February of this year, was a huge success. More than 300 national and international experts participated, representing the most important companies and institutions from the sectors that make up the Innovation District (Information and Communication Technologies, Media, Energy and Medical Technology).
TCI is a not-for-profit alliance whose mission is to improve living standards and local competitiveness of regions throughout the world by fostering cluster-based development initiatives. Their main objectives are to promote the creation of clusters and innovation systems, and to encourage entrepreneurs.
As a part of this collaboration agreement TCI has also announced that they will move their headquarters to the 22@Barcelona district. Their offices will be in the future MediaTIC building, which the Zona Franca Consortium is constructing in the Barcelona Media Park and will be finished in 2009. In the meantime, TCI will have its headquarters in the 22@Barcelona building. The Competitiveness Institute will also advise on the design of networking spaces both in the 22@Barcelona and MediaTIC buildings.
The Competitiveness Institute
The Competitiveness Institute (TCI) is an international not-for-profit association that was created ten years ago in order to improve the local competitiveness of regions throughout the world by fostering cluster-based development initiatives.
5.- 22@BARCELONA PARTICIPATED IN THE 20TH ANNUAL “BOGATELL BEACH HAVANERES CONCERT” IN THE SANT MARTI DISTRICT
The 22@Barcelona municipal company participated in the 20th annual “Bogatell Beach
Havaneres Concert”, organized by the Sant Martí District on July 6.
22@Barcelona had a tent at the event to greet any Sant Martí residents interested in learning more about the innovation district.
The following havaneres groups participated in the concert: Arrels de la Terra Ferma, Terra Endins de Girona, Xarxa, l’Arc de Sant Martí from the Casal de Gent Gran Joan Maragall choir, la Veu de la Il·lusió from the Casal de Gent Gran Taulat-Cam choir, and the youth choirs from the Casal de Gent Gran Paraguai-Perú.
6.- BARCELONA TECH SUMMER SESSIONS A SUCCESS, MAKING BARCELONA AND 22@BARCELONA THE WORLD CAPITAL OF THE ENERGY AND WATER SECTORS
“Barcelona and the world have confirmed, through the b_TEC Foundation’s Barcelona Tech Summer Sessions (TSS), the need for heightened awareness and continued work in the energy and water sectors in order to create a more sustainable world. And now is the time to act. We must move from words to actions.” The b_TEC Foundation’s general manager, Josep Escolano, made these comments after seeing the great success enjoyed by the TSS in Barcelona from June 26 to July 13, making our city and the 22@Barcelona district the world capital of the energy and water sectors.
The Barcelona Tech Summer Sessions have confirmed that “it’s necessary to strike a
balance between the demand for energy, competitive prices and the environment. We must work on energy efficiency because this will be a main contributor to reduced emissions and will also contribute to better energy consumption,” affirmed Escolano.
The TSS ended very successfully, having surpassed the initial attendance expectations, with over a thousand people participating in the different activities organized by the b_TEC Foundation in the 22@Barcelona district.
Different seminars, courses, technical visits and round tables took place over three weeks. More than 1,200 people and 69 speakers from ten different countries (Poland, USA, Denmark, Germany, France, Slovakia, Israel, UK, Canada and Spain) participated in this international symposium on the challenges of energy, water and sustainability.
Escolano also said that preparations have begun on the organization of next year’s
Institutional participation
The Barcelona Tech Summer Sessions began with an inauguration presided over by the
mayor of Sant Adrià de Besòs, Jesús Maria Canga, and the second deputy mayor of
Barcelona, Imma Mayol, accompanied by the vice-president of b_TEC, the president of
22@Barcelona, Miquel Barceló, and the Director of the MIT Office of Corporate
Relations, Karl Koster.
During this event, Miquel Barceló said that “this symposium has, once again, made
Barcelona an international reference on energy and water, two of the most important vectors both in our country and in the future, which are central to the Besos Campus that b_TEC is developing in the Fòrum area of the 22@Barcelona district”.
7.- JORDI CAMÍ, DIRECTOR OF THE BARCELONA BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PARK, AT THE 22@UPDATE BREAKFAST: “BARCELONA IS A CITY KNOWN FOR ITS HISTORY AND EXCELLENCE IN CLINICAL RESEARCH”
22@Barcelona, in collaboration with the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), organized the latest edition of the “22@Update Breakfast”. The event, which was
presided over by the Manager of 22@Barcelona, Pere Fons, highlighted Barcelona as “a
city known for its history and excellence in the clinical research sector”.“This city gives us the opportunity to create a critical mass that allows us to be visible”, explained the PRBB Project Manager, Reimund Fickert.
Also participating in the event were the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park’s General
Director, Jordi Camí, who reflected on the challenges facing the biomedical community
when it comes to putting discoveries made in laboratories into practice in clinics in order to diagnose diseases and treat patients.
According to Camí, “a lot of information generated in laboratories isn’t put into
practice”. Also, Camí explained that changes have been made in the academic research sector. So, after only a few years, universities are offering new degrees and creating new organization and training schemes for hospitals. This is causing universities to have to
“deal with joint training of doctors and biologists”, Camí confirmed.
Moreover, according to the General Director of the PRBB, one of the other problems that
exist is that “in this sector new machines and technologies are being developed
which are very expensive and have a very high obsolescence rate.” Lastly, globalization of the sector is occurring due to mobility and online-working, in addition to the confirmed internationalization of scientific activity.
PRBB Growth
As a part of the “Innovator of the Month” program PRBB Project Manager, Reimund
8.- BARCELONA TELEVISION AND TELEFÓNICA I+D, 22@BARCELONA BUSINESSES, MADE THE FIRST LIVE TV BROADCAST WITHOUT USING A MOBILE UNIT
Barcelona Televisió and Telefónica I+D have successfully broadcast a live, full-screen program without using a mobile broadcasting unit.
The program “Hola Barcelona” broadcast a 20-minute live report without using a land- or satellite-broadcasting unit to capture and transmit the audiovisual signal.
All of this was possible thanks to a pioneering system, developed by the Barcelona office of Telefónica I+D, that substitutes the traditional mobile broadcasting unit with a device that controls different mobile phones.
The WENG technology developed by Telefónica, currently in the experimental phase, makes it possible to capture and broadcast a live, full-screen audiovisual feed from anywhere that has UMTS (third generation mobile technology) reception. They accomplished this by using intelligent software that takes bandwidth from different UMTS phones and coordinates traffic in function of the speed of each phone’s connection.
9.- SPANISH PRESIDENT, JOSÉ LUIS RODRÍGUEZ ZAPATERO, VISITED THE GTD HEADQUARTERS IN 22@BARCELONA
The president of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, visited GTD,
a leading company in the aeronautical research sector, as part of his scheduled itinerary in Barcelona. GTD is located in Barcelona’s new innovation district and is a member of 22@Network, the 22@Barcelona Association of Businesses and Institutions.
GTD is one of the main reference points in Spanish aeronautical engineering. The company has been able to transfer and adapt knowledge previously acquired in the space sector, like their working philosophy and their ability to work in critical, complex environments, to become a strong force in the aeronautical, security, defense, utility and public administration sectors.
10.- POBLENOU RESIDENTS RECEIVED THE SECOND ISSUE OF POBLENOU, MOVING FORWARD, THE 22@BARCELONA NEWS BULLETIN
A total of 50,000 copies of the second issue of Poblenou, moving forward, the
22@Barcelona news bulletin, were delivered during the first week of September to residents of Poblenou and the surrounding areas.
This initiative is part of a strategy to open a direct line of communication between those living in Poblenou and the 22@Barcelona municipal company. To achieve this, the news bulletin has two parts: one that is dedicated to the social projects sponsored by 22@Barcelona through the Digital District program, and another dedicated to infrastructure and urban planning news, which keeps neighbors up to date on the project’s progress.
Attached to this Newsletter you will find a copy of the second issue of Poblenou, moving
QUOTES:
Miquel Valls,
President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce
“Having the Chamber of Commerce’s new headquarters in the 22@Barcelona district is a conscious bet to be near those companies that will lead the Catalan economy in the coming years”.
NEW COMPANIES IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT:
x Logística de Mercats
x MKZ
x American Express
x Grin
x Ticona Ibérica
For more information:
22@Barcelona Press Office: F&A
