PRESS OFFICE @ NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 / JANUARY 2007 INDEX TOPIC OF THE MONTH: @ @BARCELONA AND SANT MARTÍ DISTRICT BRING NEW TECHNOLOGIES CLOSER TO SANT MARTÍ NEIGHBOURS THROUGH THE DISTRICTE DIGITAL PROJECT. @ 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT INAUGURATES THE FIRST AND MOST MODERN PUBLIC NETWORK OF MULTIMEDIA CLASSROOMS OF BARCELONA. @ JORDI PORTABELLA, SECOND DEPUTY MAYOR OF BARCELONA, PRESENTS THE FIRST CONGRESS OF URBAN CLUSTERS THAT WILL TURN THE CITY INTO THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF INNOVATION. @ EGARA MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY OPENS A NEW CENTRE IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT. @ THE CINC GROUP –INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CENTRE OF CATALONIA – EXPANDS ITS ACTIVITY AND SETTLES DOWN IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT. @ THE LANDING PROGRAMME PROMOTES THE SETTLEMENT OF MEXICAN COMPANIES IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT. @ TELEPHONY INNOVATION HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF THE MONTHLY EDITION OF THE 22@UPDATE BREAKFAST OF THE MONTH, ORGANIZED BY 22@BARCELONA AND TELEFÓNICA. @ 22@BARCELONA AND CIDEM ORGANIZE INTRODUCTORY SEMINARS ON EUROPEAN PROJECTS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM COMPANIES. PRESS OFFICE TOPIC OF THE MONTH: 1.- 22@BARCELONA AND SANT MARTÍ DISTRICT BRING NEW TECHNOLOGIES CLOSER TO SANT MARTÍ NEIGHBOURS THROUGH THE DISTRICTE DIGITAL PROJECT. The 22@Barcelona municipal society, in collaboration with Sant Martí district, promotes the Districte Digital project, which is aimed at setting into motion innovative processes in order to foster the use of the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among the neighbours of the district, to spread its advantages in people’s everyday life, to improve vicinity services and to facilitate the communication among people. Districte Digital could be defined as an “umbrella project” whose goals are: • Turning 22@Barcelona into a project at the service of citizens and the district. • Bringing Internet and new Technologies closer to several groups such as the elders, education community, parents associations, pro-women institutions and shopkeeper associations. • Taking advantage of the modern infrastructures of the 22@Barcelona district to create advanced ICT-based services. • Promoting the collaboration between public, private, social and local agents in innovative projects. • Drawing pilot projects towards the 22@Barcelona district addressed to the citizens. Actions The Districte Digital project is based on the creation of synergies among all social and economic institutions and agents of the area, to which it invites to participate actively in the design of initiatives, adapting each project to the needs and features of the several groups so as to maximize their impact and use. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE The Districte Digital project promotes a series of initiatives such as: • Virtual Memory of the Elder: An initiative addressed to the elder and to the education centres of the Sant Martí district. It is a socio-educational project where students and elder people work together to recover the historical memory of the district, at the same time learning how to use the new Information and Communication Technologies. It counts with the participation of 22@Barcelona, the Sant Martí district, the Education Consortium of Barcelona, Barcelona Televisió and the Social Work of la Caixa. • Online families: An initiative addressed to Parents Associations and to families with children in the district schools that consists in the creation of didactic workshops in each educational centres in order to bring computer science closer to mothers and fathers, so that they can share the opportunities and advantages of new technologies with their children in the education and family sphere. This project is promoted jointly by 22@Barcelona, the Sant Martí district, the Municipal Borrad of Governors of Barcelona, the Education Consortium of Barcelona and the University, Research and Society of Information Department (DURSI) of the Generalitat of Catalonia. • Computer recycling: This initiative, promoted by 22@Barcelona, link district companies with institutions. The agreement with the Companies and Institutions Association, 22@Network, will be in order to recycle the computers of the technology companies of the innovation district through their transfer to associations of the neighbourhood. This initiative is the result of the success of the benchmark that the municipal society carried out by giving computer material to thirteen groups of the neighbourhood. • www.districtedigital.org: With this site, 22@Barcelona has created a new website to spread all the initiatives. Among those outstanding projects of the web, you can find 22@Qwertymail, an innovative tool for website creation addressed to new users. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE • Multimedia classroom network: An initiative promoted by 22@Barcelona, the Sant Martí district and the company of Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Red.es, which has facilitated the creation of the first and most modern network of multimedia classrooms of Barcelona (for further information, read the news “The 22@Barcelona district inaugurates the first and most modern public network of multimedia classrooms of Barcelona”). NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 2.- 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT INAUGURATES THE FIRST AND MOST MODERN PUBLIC NETWORK OF MULTIMEDIA CLASSROOMS OF BARCELONA. The alderman of the Sant Martí district, Francesc Narváez; the 22@Barcelona president, Miquel Barceló and the director of Sociedad Digital of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade company Red.es, Antonio Saravia, have inaugurated the first and most modern network of multimedia classrooms of Barcelona with the creation of five new multimedia classrooms in the Sant Martí district. This new classroom network, with a total of thirty computers, are located in La Farinera Cultural Centre of Clot (Gran Via, 837), in the Can Felipa-Poblenou Civic centre (Pallars, 277) and in the elderly civic centers of Joan Maragall (Bermejo, 1-5), Joan Casanelles (Pl. Joan Casanelles, 1) and Verneda Alta (Binéfar, 16-20). These new classrooms add up to those four already present in the district and which are located in the Xavier Benguerel Library (Bogatell Ave., 17); in the Ramon Alòs Moner Library (within the Besòs Civic centre, rambla de Prim, 87-89); in the Sant Martí de Provençals Library (within the Sant Martí Civic centre, Selva de Mar street, 215) and in the Diagonal Mar District Centre (Selva de Mar, 22-32). With the opening of these spaces “Sant Marti district neighbours benefit from 22@Barcelona by using new technologies”, as pointed out by the district alderman, Francesc Narváez. On his behalf, the 22@Barcelona president, Miquel Barceló, has pointed out that this multimedia network is a good example of “the struggle against the exclusion that is involved in the lack of access to the digital culture” and that is being carried out by the municipal society. This initiative is the result of the close collaboration between 22@Barcelona and the Sant Martí District by means of the Districte Digital project and it involves the increase of the offer of computers with internet access for the general public and it also favours the development of the information society. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE These classrooms also promote a basic and advance training in Communication and Information Technologies (CIT) and their use by local institutions and associations favouring their own activities within the district. “With this multimedia network, this district citizens are all new-technologies privileged”, the manager of the Sociedad Digital of the Red.es company, Antonio Saravia has stated. Network objectives In spreading and taking advantage of the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies, it is aimed at promoting the creation of innovative ways of teaching and using new Technologies to foster occupation, education, culture or even citizen participation. Classroom objectives The classrooms constitute a new service devoted to providing access to new Technologies, as well as active support to training. Every classroom will count with a wide offer of free courses, several workshops and a free access timetable or self-service. The free courses will be devoted to the spreading and training of the basic notions and implementation of Internet and Computer Science. Internet job hunting Internet, creation of reports, management of sheets and forms for accountancy, use of online public services and search of information are some examples of the courses available, facilitating the participation of those groups and people who need these services. Moreover, from the second quarter of 2007 onwards, a wide offer of workshops will be published and will be devoted to the training on specific software programmes and project development. How-to By previously booking, everybody can have access to self-service and to use all the tools and software programmes available: office automation, browser, visualization, multimedia treatment and editing of files, chat, video-chat, etc. Moreover, all the users will count with expert advice. The different activities of the courses and workshops will be planned quarterly and registrations and bookings, which have already started, are made directly in the premises. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE Participation of each institution Red.es, public enterprise institution attached to the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, has participated in the project by providing all the computer equipments, peripherals and software, as well as network connections of every classroom. Enhanced by this new service, the Sant Martí district has been in charge of providing public spaces with security and furniture. Both 22@Barcelona, as project coordinator, and the Sant Martí District have defined and set into motion this model of classroom dynamization, committing themselves to the integration of new spaces within the premises and their closest environment. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 3.- JORDI PORTABELLA, SECOND DEPUTY MAYOR OF BARCELONA, PRESENTS THE FIRST CONGRESS OF URBAN CLUSTERS THAT WILL TURN THE CITY INTO THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF INNOVATION. The second deputy mayor and president of the Comission of Economic Promotion of the Barcelona city council, Jordi Portabella, the 22@Barcelona president, Miquel Barceló, and the general director of the Innovation and Internationalization of the Innovation, University and Company Department and director of the Business innovation and development centre (CIDEM) of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Carme Botifoll, have presented the I Congress of Urban Clusters, that will take place in February in the Agbar Tower of Barcelona. The 22@Barcelona president, Miquel Barceló, has stated that this congress, which is intended to continue, “tries to turn Barcelona into a reference of innovation from the point of view of the cluster model, which involves the concentration in a territory of a group of companies of a specialized sector together with knowledge centers”. During the last years, a model of clusters has emerged in Barcelona, originating an intensive knowledge-based productive fabric. “Barcelona has turned itself into a dynamic city which gathers talent, technology and quality of life”, Barceló has pointed out. On the other hand, Carme Botifoll, has added that the Congress responds to the cluster policy that CIDEM promotes and embraces “knowledge, companies and a territory such as the 22@Barcelona district”. To conclude, the second deputy mayor of the Barcelona city council, Jordi Portabell, has voiced his support on this Congress that promotes the four clusters present in the 22@Barcelona district –Information and Communication Technologies (TIC), Media, Medical and Energy technologies -, that “will allow Barcelona to become a cutting- edge city of the 21st century”. Successful attendance The Congress, that will turn Barcelona into the European capital of innovation, counts with the attendance of more than 300 managers and representatives of the most NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE outstanding Companies and institutions of the four before-mentioned clusters: TIC, Media, Energy and Medical Technologies. The Innovation, University and Company counsellor, Josep Huguet, and the Innovation and Occupation alderwoman of the Barcelona city council, Maravillas Rojo, will be in charge of opening the Congress, while the second deputy mayor, Jordi Portabella, will conclude the gathering. It will start with a full session in the morning and four parallel workshops in the afternoon, and one for each cluster, presenting eight pioneer European experiences in these sectors that are being developed in countries such as Italy, England, Germany, Denmark, France, Finland and Spain. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 4.- EGARA MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY OPENS A NEW CENTRE IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT. Keeping on offering better attention and being closer and closer to insurance holders and collaborators, Mutua Egara has set up new premises in Barcelona city. These new premises in Barcelona, which add up to those the institution has in Josep Tarradellas avenue, are sited in Diagonal Mar Tower, where the institution will occupy all the ground floor of almost 1000 m². Thus, Mutua Egara keeps on expanding by settling down in a very powerful business area such as the 22@Barcelona district. Mutua Egara-Diagonal holds an office area and a clinic where services are offered with the most advanced technologies. Their offer of medical services includes: administration and costumer service, urgency care and follow-up of work related injuries, traumatology and rehab, physiotherapy (functional recovery), functional treatment and evaluation unit, medical evaluation and follow-up of temporary leave due to common illnesses, x-ray digital unit and muscular ecography. Mutua Egara is working to offer wider coverage and proximity, foreseeing the needs of their insurance holders and collaborators NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 5.- THE CINC GROUP – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CENTRE OF CATALONIA – EXPANDS ITS ACTIVITY AND SETTLES DOWN IN THE 22@BARCELONA DISTRICT. The CINC group –International Business Centre of Catalonia – expands its activity in Barcelona city, after fifteen years of presence in Girona and has announced its new location in the 22@Barcelona district. Thus, CINC opens its new premises in the district of innovation in April, where advice and management services will be provided together with spaces adapted specifically to the development of different business activities. CINC Business Centre in Barcelona counts with modern and functional premises of more than 500 m² and with a wide offer of services, such as office rental and temporary or fixed rooms and secretary service, or business, job or fiscal consultancy or the banking of societies, thus favouring the saving of fixed costs for structure and offering expert professional support in business attention and management. The new CINC building, sited in Llull street, 321, has 8 stories of which the Business Centre counts with half of the first floor, the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 floor, apart from the ground floor, where the 180 m² will be devoted to a restaurant. It is expected that, in a maximum of 5 years, CINC will have occupied the total of 7000 m² of the building. The Business activity of the CINC group started up fifteen years ago in Figueres with the intention of offering a personalized and quality service in business management and advice and it is addressed to small and medium companies, including freelance and business entrepreneurs, to whom it offers highly qualified logistic and human material, with a minimum cost of maintenance and without any type of previous investment. In Girona and Figueres, where the group has two business centres that have been recognised around the complete area of influence, providing services to more than 500 companies. CINC is also part of the Plenary of the Chamber of Commerce of Girona and chairs the Comissió de Fiscalitat i Estudis Econòmics. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 6.- BY MEANS OF THE LANDING PROGRAMME, LA SALLE INNOVATION PARK, UPC AND 22@BARCELONA PROMOTE THE SETTLEMENT OF MEXICAN COMPANIES IN THE INNOVATION DISTRICT. La Salle Innovation Park president, Miquel Àngel Barrrabeig, as representative of the Landing Programme, which promotes this institution in collaboration with 22@Barcelona and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), have signed an agreement with the Mexican state of Nuevo León to promote the internationalization of local companies into the 22@Barcelona district. Likewise, in particular, several agreements have been signed with the Technological and High Studies Institute of Monterrey, Monterrey University and the Institute of Innovation and Technology Transfer (i2T2) of Nuevo León State with the goal of connection the innovation systems of Nuevo León and Catalonia and facilitate the enterprise cooperation between these two areas. To achieve this, Monterrey Institute offers the “Centro de Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología” to Catalan companies whereas Monterrey University has the “Centro de Incubación y Desarrollo Empresarial” at their disposal. High-tech incubators that will turn into platforms for those Catalan companies that want to develop technologically in this Mexican region. On the other hand, Mexican companies will be able to settle down in the 22@Barcelona district. That is why both technological districts will provide the companies of the area willing to work in the other country with physical infrastructure of incubation, office and technological platform, as well as consultancy and professional services and networking actions with the information and connection to facilitate the settlement of companies in the new market. The Landing Programme is an initiative that is jointly promoted by UPC, La Salle Innovation PArk and 22@Barcelona whose goal is to attract international talent and foreign investment to Catalonia and, to the innovation district. Agreements have already been signed with several technology parks of China and this is the first one from a Mexican state. Thus, actions are carried out to sign similar agreements with institutions and technology parks of EUA, Korea, India, Finland, Brazil and Chile. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 7.- TELEPHONY INNOVATION HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF THE MONTHLY EDITION OF THE 22@UPDATE BREAKFAST OF THE MONTH, ORGANIZED BY 22@BARCELONA AND TELEFÓNICA. The Espacio Movistar of Telefónica has hold the monthly edition of the 22@Update Breakfast, organized by 22@Barcelona in collaboration with Telefónica I+D and chaired by 22@Barcelona president, Miquel Barceló. In this event, the mobile telephony guru and cofounder in Spain of Mobile Monday, Rudy Waele has presented the last trends in mobile telephony, the so-called Mobile 2.0. New multi-functional gadgets with more processing capacity, more memory and with wider band that “are already a reality and that turn mobile phones into platforms of innovation“ Precisely, in the last years, the new mobiles “have evolved and thus allow networking innovation, completely open and in relation to other institutions”, as stated by the responsible of Mobile Monday Barcelona community, Carlos Ferreiro In the 22@Update Breakfast, there has also been present an advance of the Mobile Monday Peer Awards, organized by the global community of mobile professional innovators, Mobile Monday, within the 3GSM on the following 12th February, where the most innovative companies in mobile technology will be awarded. Innovation in Telefónica On the other hand, the Telefónica I+D general manager, Carlos Domingo, has stated that “Barcelona has turned into a centre of innovation” so that Telefónica was determined to establish its research centre in the city, that is aimed to become a centre of reference and excellence both national and internationally. “Innovation in Telefónica is basic to reinforce the project of differential leadership”, Domingo has pointed out. Thus, the company has established a culture of innovation that “has to be part of the DNA of the company, promoting the process of innovation; making this competence of the managers; promoting training and giving incentives among its employees”. NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007 PRESS OFFICE 8.- 22@BARCELONA AND CIDEM ORGANIZE INTRODUCTORY SEMINARS ON EUROPEAN PROJECTS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM COMPANIES. 22@Barcelona municipal society and the Business Development and Innovation Centre (CIDEM) have organized several introductory sessions on European projects addressed to the managers of Small and Medium Companies (PIMES) of Catalonia. Attendees have got to know the advantages and disadvantages that the different European projects provide and being informed about the different aids, both national and international, to European projects that institutions are granting. Per a més informació: Gabinet de Premsa de 22@Barcelona: F&A Tel: 93 419 19 86 - 93 507 35 00 • E-mail: filloy&filloy.com NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12 – JANUARY 2007