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A total of 360 Catalan companies are participating this year in the MWC and 4YFN, the most important technology 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 Catalan companies, technology centers and entities have a stand at MWC 2024 and 291 startups at the 4YFN 2024 show, which this year celebrates its 10th edition. The Generalitat of Catalonia hosts in its spaces 107 of the Catalan firms present at the congress at the Gran Via Fair, 2% more than in 2023.
The MWC contributes to positioning Barcelona and Catalonia internationally as a technological hub. Thus, the Government's commitment to the congress and the world capital of mobile phones 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 an exhibition space in its pavilions. In addition, it gives visibility and international projection to the Government's digital strategy and to notable 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 technology centers in the event. In the case of 4YFN, 183 startups have participated in the show led by the executive since 2015.
The Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent i Ramió, highlights that “the MWC has become an important source of innovation” and “it 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 high added value investments that generate more quality jobs and shared prosperity,” he concludes.
Likewise, within the framework of the MWC, the Government organizes the Open Innovation Challenge, a set of meetings where large Catalan and international companies pose technological challenges so that Catalan startups can propose the most innovative solution. The objective is to connect emerging companies with the more consolidated 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 they pose around eighty technological challenges between companies, startups and solution providers.
With the motto 'Catalunya: shaping the future with supercomputing', the Generalitat's demonstration space at MWC 2024 offers a unique proposal of a humanistic nature that contrasts with the hypertechnological environment of the congress. Using the metaphor of the grain of sand, he explains the importance and transformative power of supercomputing to respond to the great 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 commitment to become a world reference in the field of supercomputing, with the promotion 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 a 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 officially open this Monday, February 26, the first day of the MWC, and will be freely accessible throughout the four days of the congress.
