business innovation

With 5,000 tech companies and 60,000 employees, the innovation area has become "Catalan Silicon Valley," says association head

The innovation of the BDF Ingredients company consists of adding an enzyme which reduces the amount of chemical additives to the products

Telefónica’s R&D centre in Barcelona’s 22@ technological district will lead the company’s innovation internationally and will significantly increase its staff numbers, which currently stands at 220 workers. The decision strengthens Barcelona’s position as the Mobile World Capital, as it already hosts the main event of the mobile technology industry at an international level. In total, Telefónica has 6 R&D centres spread throughout the world. Besides Barcelona, the company’s innovation centres are based in Silicon Valley, Sao Paulo, London, Tel Aviv and Madrid. The Barcelona centre is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. In the last decade, Telefónica has invested up to €200 million in its Catalan centre, €28 million of which was in 2012.

The North-American company will launch later this year the ‘PayPass Wallet’, a global technology platform that unifies physical and digital payment systems. Master Card has just opened an office in Barcelona in order to take advantage of the synergies in a “pulse for future technological development” according to the president of MasterCard Europe, as Barcelona, was proclaimed World Capital of Mobile Telephony. MasterCard Europe has only one office per country, so Catalonia will be the first exception: with the opening of the new office in Barcelona, the company has two locations in Spain.

The economic crisis that has dragged on since 2008 has led many young professionals to create their own businesses. Such is the case of four Catalan entrepreneurs in new technologies, all of whom have built their own companies in recent months.

Catalan Olga Fontanillas is the founder of this NYC-based company. She assures this is the best time to break into the American market.

The technology multinational will open a Customer Centre in the Scientific and Technological Park of Lleida to serve the entire Iberian Peninsula and international clients.

The tower is located beside the sea in the first number of Diagonal Avenue in the Forum area. It will host the company’s I+D centre and will bring together all the Telefonica offices from around the city.