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A total of 360 Catalan companies will participate this year in MWC and 4YFN, the most important technological congress in the world, which is being held in Barcelona from this Monday until February 29. This is the highest figure in the history of the Mobile World Congress, 8.1% more than the 2023 edition.
Specifically, 69 companies, technology centers and Catalan entities will have a stand at MWC 2024 and 291 startups at the 4YFN 2024 show, which is celebrating its 10th edition this year. The Generalitat de Catalunya will host in its spaces 107 of the Catalan firms present at the congress at Fira Gran Via, 2% more than in 2023.
The MWC contributes to positioning Barcelona and Catalonia in the international arena as a technological hub. Thus, the Government's commitment to the congress and the world capital of the mobile phone in Barcelona have made it possible to turn this event into one of the great assets to promote the economic, technological and social progress of the country.
In this sense, the Generalitat has been promoting the presence of companies and the Catalan digital ecosystem at the congress for years, providing them with exhibition space in its pavilions. In addition, it gives visibility and international projection to the Government's digital strategy and to outstanding projects that it promotes in the field of advanced digital technologies. In fact, since the first edition in Catalonia, in 2006, the Generalitat has promoted the participation of 408 Catalan companies and technological centers in the event. In the case of the 4YFN, 183 startups have participated in the salon of the hand of the executive since 2015.
The Minister of Business and Work, Roger Torrent i Ramió, emphasizes that the "MWC has become an important source of innovation" and "is the best international showcase for Catalan companies to present their technology to the world". "The impact of Mobile goes far beyond the days that the congress lasts: it leaves a legacy in the form of investments with high added value that generate more quality jobs and shared prosperity", he concludes.
Likewise, as part of the MWC, the Government organizes the Open Innovation Challenge, a set of meetings where large Catalan and international companies raise technological challenges for Catalan startups to propose the most innovative solution. The aim is to connect emerging companies with the more established business fabric.
This year, 45 corporations are participating (25 are foreign), such as Astrazeneca, ACCIONA, Fujitsu, LG, Rabobank, Samsung, Turkish Airlines or Volkswagen, among others, and are raising around eighty technological challenges between companies, startups and solution providers .
With the slogan 'Catalonia: shaping the future with supercomputing', the Generalitat's demonstration space at MWC 2024 will offer a unique proposal of a humanistic nature that contrasts with the hyper-technological environment of the congress. Based on the metaphor of the grain of sand, he explains the importance and transformative power of supercomputing to respond to major global challenges and build a more humane and sustainable society of the future.
The proposal projects the leadership of Catalonia as a technological hub and the bet to become a world reference in the field of supercomputing, with the impetus of the Government, the knowledge of the largest supercomputing center in Europe, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center , and the power of the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer as the cornerstone.
Through a tour of three pixel-free installations (without screens) in which sand and stones are the protagonists, the demonstration invites you to discover the past, present and future of supercomputing. And it highlights its impact on the resolution of strategic challenges in the fields of earth and life sciences, technological sovereignty and the presence of all languages in the digital age, among others.
'Catalunya: shaping the future with supercomputing' will be officially opened at the Catalonia stand this Monday, February 26, the first day of MWC, and will be freely accessible throughout the four days of the congress.
