NEWSLETTER ISSUE 24 – MARCH 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC OF THE MONTH:
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF 22@BARCELONA, JOSEP MIQUEL PIQUÉ, PRESENTS THE DISTRICT’S NEW STRATEGIC PLAN TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
22@BARCELONA, MAIN FOCUS OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES EXECUTIVE BREAKFAST SEMINAR
MAYOR OF LISBON, ANTÓNIO COSTA, VISITS 22@BARCELONA
22@BARCELONA FUTURE HOME TO THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS COMPLEX IN BARCELONA: THE 22@ BUSINESS PARK
TOP ENERGY EXPERTS FROM MIT (MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY) WILL PARTICIPATE IN CONFERENCES AT THE BARCELONA TECH SUMMER SESSIONS ORGANIZED BY THE b_TEC FOUNDATION IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
22@BREAKFAST ANALYZES HOW TO ATTRACT TALENT TO BARCELONA FROM THE MEDIA AND ICT (INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES) SECTORS
TOPIC OF THE MONTH:
1.- MANAGING DIRECTOR OF 22@BARCELONA, JOSEP MIQUEL PIQUÉ,
PRESENTS THE DISTRICT’S NEW STRATEGIC PLAN TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
Third deputy mayor of Barcelona and president of 22@Barcelona, Jordi William Carnes, presided over the latest 22@Barcelona Board Meeting at the Barcelona City Hall, with eleven board members present. This board meeting was the first to be held with the new executive team, headed by Josep Miquel Piqué as managing director.
During the meeting, the Managing Director’s report was presented, in which Piqué introduces the municipal company’s “Strategic Plan 3459”, broken down into three parts: urban-planning, economic and social; four dimensions: district, Barcelona, Catalonia and international; five clusters: Information and Communication Technologies, Media, Biotech, Energy and Design; and nine programs: cluster and business development, talent, international, district, communication, demand, 22@institute, urban and infrastructures. This plan focuses the different action lines the municipal company will develop from now on.
The report on management of the activities developed by the different departments of 22@Barcelona was also presented. The 2007 year-end accounts were approved as well as the Action Report and the proposal to apply its results.
2.- 22@BARCELONA, MAIN FOCUS OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES EXECUTIVE
BREAKFAST SEMINAR
More than thirty top executives from the most important companies in the United Kingdom from the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Media, Biotech and Design sectors attended the Executive Breakfast Seminar, organized by the Barcelona City Council’s International Economic Promotion department and the Financial Times, at this prestigious newspaper’s headquarters in London.
The event was presided over by the president of 22@Barcelona and deputy mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Promotion for the Barcelona City Council, Jordi William Carnes, who was accompanied by the Managing Director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué.
This meeting allowed them to introduce Barcelona and the 22@Barcelona district’s opportunities and attractions to British companies.
3.- MAYOR OF LISBON, ANTÓNIO COSTA, VISITS 22@BARCELONA
Mayor of Lisbon, António Costa, visited the 22@Barcelona district in order to see first hand the city of Barcelona’s economic and urban-planning project.
The Mayor was received by the President of 22@Barcelona and deputy mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Promotion for the Barcelona City, Jordi William Carnes, who was accompanied by the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué; the general director of Economic Development, Talent and Innovation for 22@Barcelona, Liz Monfort; and the director of Corporate Development for 22@Barcelona, Sergi Guillot.
The visit began at the Agbar tower, where the Mayor was able to see the current state of the project from a privileged position: the 33rd floor. From here he was also able to see the area in which 22@Barcelona is taking action.
Afterwards, the mayor of Lisbon and the president of 22@Barcelona spoke at the Barcelona City Council’s Urban-Planning Fair, where the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué, stressed the importance of clusters in the Information and Communication Technology, Media, Biotech, Energy and Design sectors that are being developed in the innovation district, as well as exporting this consolidated model to the rest of the city and Catalonia.
Piqué also explained the Landing Program, promoted by the La Salle Innovation Park, the UPC and 22@Barcelona Innovate Program, which provides Catalan and Spanish companies with tools to grow and internationalize their activity as well as attracting foreign technology companies to Catalonia and, specifically, to the innovation district.
The Mayor’s visit to the 22@Barcelona district was part of the City Councilman’s broad program in Barcelona, which allowed him to see the city from both the economic and urban-planning points of view.
4.- 22@BARCELONA @BARCELONA FUTURE HOME TO THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS COMPLEX IN BARCELONA: THE 22@ BUSINESS PARK
The 22@Barcelona district will soon start construction on the 22@ Business Park, the most important business complex in Barcelona, which will be located between Bolívia, Ciutat de Granada, Sancho d’Àvila and Badajoz Streets, just in front of the Agbar Tower.
The most important real estate company in 22@Barcelona, Group Castellví, will be in charge of construction, which requires a total investment of 185 million euros. The new business complex will have 41,000 m2 in five office buildings and one hotel, as well as a 20,000-m2 underground parking garage.
Designed by the team of architects Enric Batlle and Joan Roig (Batlle and Roig Architects), this business park is predicted to be totally functional by the middle of 2011.
The project also includes the construction of new facilities necessitated by the enlarging of the University of Barcelona’s continuous training center in the innovation district, IL3.
This transformation will also include the construction of subsidized and non-conventional housing, as well as the creation of three squares on the inside of the blocks that will allow residents to enjoy open spaces.
TECHNOLOGY) WILL PARTICIPATE IN CONFERENCES AT THE BARCELONA TECH SUMMER SESSIONS ORGANIZED BY THE b_TEC FOUNDATION IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
The top experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the energy sector will participate in the inaugural conferences at the third edition of the Barcelona Tech Summer Sessions, an international symposium on energy, water and mobility that the b_TEC Foundation organizes every year, promoting the Besós campus in the 22@Barcelona district.
These inaugural conferences will take place in Barcelona on June 19 and 20 and will include the deputy director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), Robert Armstrong, who will explain the important collaboration between MIT and b_TEC in the energy sector and professors Steven B. Leeb, who will speak about energy efficiency, and Paul D. Sclavounos, who will analyze the current state of wind energy.
These inaugural conferences will be the beginning of more than three weeks dedicated to energy, water and mobility, in which the b_TEC Foundation will organize seminars for specialists, courses for university students, technical visits to innovative installations and cultural events to spread scientific knowledge. From June 19 to July 11 more than 1,000 people will participate in the third edition of the Barcelona Tech Summer (TSS).
The most prestigious national and international universities, research centers and the most innovative companies linked to the energy and water sectors participate in the TSS. TSS is a multi-theme and multi-format event that gives participants a view of the existing panorama in the energy and water sectors. It is an essential meeting where executives from companies in this sector, engineers who work on technological development, university students and, even, members of general society, can exchange information.
FROM THE MEDIA AND ICT (INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES) SECTORS
March’s 22@Breakfast, organized by the 22@Network, the innovation district’s Association of Businesses and Institutions, and 22@Barcelona, analyzed how to attract talent to Barcelona from the media and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) sectors, where innovation is often found far from the official circuits.
The president of 22@Barcelona and deputy mayor in charge of Finance and Economic Promotion for the Barcelona City Council, Jordi William Carnes, presided over this event, accompanied by the president of the 22@Network, Josep Maria Vilà, and the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué.
The 22@Update Breakfast’s invited guest was the director of innovation for Cromosoma, Xavier Martí, who explained how Cromosoma has created the Digitalent Foundation, which was founded in order to attract and value innovation in the media and audiovisual content sectors.
As “Innovator of the month”, CEO of Adamo, Fredrik Gillstrom, explained this company’s entrance into the ITC sector, offering megaband service for private and business use, and their business plan that breaks with the typical mold of a traditional service provider.
7.- RNE CATALONIA STARTS BROADCASTING FROM THEIR NEW STUDIOS IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT
Spanish National Radio (RNE) in Catalonia has begun broadcasting from their new headquarters located at 127 Roc Boronat Street, in the heart of the 22@Barcelona district.
The new facilities include a four-storey building with 3,000 m2. The new headquarters, which incorporate the latest radio production technology, house the 120 people who were transferred from the old Ona Catalana offices, on Aragó Street, where RNE was broadcasting from over the past months.
With this change, RNE Catalonia has increased its programming, centering on the production of programs for their various channels and broadening the Radio 4 social spaces.
The director of RNE Catalonia, Antoni Vidal, “positively” evaluated the location of the new headquarters in the Barcelona Media Park, “where both technology and audiovisual companies and universities are present, as the Pompeu Fabra University will move its communication department there.” Moreover, Vidal noted that “the new facilities will also have access to the latest 22@Barcelona infrastructures like centralized district climate control and dark fiber, among others.”
QUOTES:
Nick Leon,
Director of Design London
Joaquim Castellví
President of Castellví Group
“One part of the landing plan for companies in 22@Barcelona is based on helping put professionals in contact with the most innovative and dynamic organizations as well as helping them with housing and cultural integration.”
“The 22@Business Park shows our dedication to the 22@Barcelona district, which has made us the number one real estate developer in the innovation district.”
NEW COMPANIES IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT:
x RNE
x SADIEL
x CONFORTEL
For more information: