Can a skin tissue or even prosthetics or functional organs be operated through 3D printing? Is it possible to prevent, predict and treat chronic diseases with artificial intelligence and big data? How are supercomputers being used to make significant advances in healthcare? All these answers, although they seem to come from the science of the future, are closer than we think, and we will be able to find out about them from October 2 to 5, 2023, at the 4th edition of the Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW), the benchmark event of the new economy promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB).
During the three days of BNEW 2023, which will be held at the DFactory Barcelona, there will be knowledge, networking, innovation and talent. The BNEW once again presents itself as a physical and digital B2B meeting that brings together seven singular themes: Proptech, Digital Industry, Mobility, Sustainability, Talent, Health and Experience.
Precisely in the BNEW Health vertical, trends such as advances in medical care with the incorporation of technology and telemedicine, healthy aging, advances in medical research, the 3D printing revolution in medicine, the fusion of AI, gene therapies and alternative medicine and the exploration of robotics in surgery.
And it is that, according to data from the European Commission (EC), the technological revolution will save the health of member countries up to 120,000 million euros in 2030. Experts agree
in which the new technologies will bring us closer to the "5P Medicine": personalized, predictive, preventive, participatory and population-based", and which will imply, above all, a positive impact on people's health and their quality of life.
The BNEW 2023 will bring together close to 500 speakers who will offer up to 140 hours of content, distributed in 100 panels, sessions and debates to jointly draw the roadmap of the future.
According to Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the CZFB, "Barcelona is one of the European cities with the greatest economic and global projection, fully qualified to lead the transformation towards a new economy". And he continues: "Initiatives such as BNEW are essential to accelerate and consolidate the revolution we are experiencing, for example, in the field of health, where Barcelona is located in a privileged position in terms of innovation, talent and entrepreneurship", he adds.
Along these lines, and according to data from the Generalitat de Catalunya, the field of medical sciences represents almost 9% of Catalan GDP and brings together more than 1,350 companies in Catalonia that generate 247,000 jobs. According to these figures, the weight of this sector for Catalonia is comparable to that of the automobile sector in Spain, taking into account that the country is the second largest automobile manufacturer in the world and one of the largest in the world. To see the technological advances and the implication of the new economy in the field of health, among others, the BNEW will soon open an access platform to register on its website, where all the event information is currently located; while the different speakers and participating companies will be announced on the Twitter and LinkedIn profiles.
On the other hand, technology will also revolutionize the work environment and the management of culture and talent, but it also highlights the challenge of reducing the digital divide between professionals. In fact, the data extracted from the "2023 Talent Mismatch" study reaffirms the problems that companies have to find talent (80% of them). Another of the current issues regarding Artificial Intelligence is also related to talent. Can this new technology boost profitability and productivity? Will it be necessary to develop new digital skills and competencies to master it? And even, will it generate new quality employment? According to a McKinsey study, all training related to digitization has been among the most valued in the last decade and the trend continues, since around 40 or 45% of jobs in 2025 will be related in some way. with digitization. Without going any further, the World Economic Forum has also presented the Report on the Work of the Future, announcing that "new technologies and artificial intelligence can have an initial negative impact on employment, but can also be a great opportunity to create new professions with greater added value”.
All of this will be discussed in the BTalent vertical, where trends on talent will be analyzed from a more human point of view within the business and corporate world, and we will find topics related to education, equality or the entrepreneurial and investor character in the new time. Likewise, answers will be sought to the new training and labor needs that are being created as a result of the changes in consumption and production that the new economy poses.
Specifically, topics such as entrepreneurship and business leadership, female leadership and the skills of the future, Diversity and inclusion, Smart Knowledge issues, the digital industry and employment of the future, talent development plans in companies will be discussed. with practical cases and the transfer of talent between senior and junior teams.
Blanca Sorigué, general director of the CZFB, assures that “today it is becoming more difficult to find talent than to locate a profitable investment. Through the vertical BNEW
Talent, companies in sectors focused on technology, innovation or sustainability, can find the right profiles that fit their needs, as well as knowing how to train their own workers.”
It should be added that all the presentations, which will be spread over three TV sets, make BNEW a powerful digital platform for networking, allowing professionals from different economic sectors, industries, small and medium-sized companies, large corporations, administrations and institutions and startups.
In reference to the last edition, this was a complete success thanks to the more than 12,000 participants, 6,000 in-person attendees and 6,500 online, the 35,000 views of the content, the assistance of 1,500 startups, and an international participation of 40% from 107 countries. . In addition, BNEW 2022 carried out 87 agreements with clusters and professional entities.
