mobile wolrd centre

Barcelona will continue to host each year the world's main event of the mobile phone-related industries until at least 2023, it has been confirmed by the company organising the Mobile World Congress, GSMA, on Tuesday through a press release. “We are very pleased to confirm that Barcelona will continue to serve as the Mobile World Capital and home of the Mobile World Congress for the next eight years”, stated the CEO of GSMA, John Hoffman. The Catalan capital has been uninterruptedly hosting this annual event since 2006 and has been declared the Mobile World Capital, as the project goes beyond the congress and involves the development of a business environment focused on this type of industry at international level. The current contract was due to end in 2018 and a few months ago Barcelona officially told GSMA it was willing to continue hosting the event until 2023.

The 2015 Mobile World Congress (MWC) will have an economic impact in Greater Barcelona of some €436 million and create 12,627 jobs, figures that beat last year’s results, when the event generated €397 million and 7,220 jobs. The 2015 edition of the MWC, which is the world’s largest event in the mobile and cell phone-related industries, will take place in the Catalan capital from the 2^nd to the 5^th of March. It aims to attract 5,000 more visitors than last year and reach 90,000 attendees. For the second consecutive year, Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg will participate in the event. Android creator, Sundar Pichai, and Wikipedia creator, Jimmy Wales, will also be some of the most outstanding speakers at this year’s edition.

Cookbooth and dondeEsta Family are two of the sixteen apps which are finalists at the Mobile Premier Awards, which will be awarded at Barcelona's Sala Apolo on the 2^nd of March, coinciding with the first day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The MWC is the world's largest event of the mobile and phone-related industry, which takes place each year in the Catalan capital at the end of February or in early March. The Best App Award, the Best Audience App and the Big Impact Award will be given. Cookboth is a recipe photo-sharing platform for chefs and food connoisseurs and dondeEsta Family helps families locate their members. Both are available for iOS and Android devices.

The Spanish telecommunications multinational Telefónica will open a new call centre to take care of consumer queries in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, a city literally attached to Barcelona's municipality. The new facilities will be operational from the 26^th of May. It will initially start with 50 workers but by November it will already employ 310 people. According to Kim Faura, Telefónica's Director for Catalonia, the company's strategy is to relocate call centres and place them near the areas where consumers live.  This new call centre will be Telefónica's fourth one in Catalonia and will focus on helping clients going through digital environments. Faura's aim is to make this centre Spain's flagship for this sort of issues.

GSMA, the organisers of the Mobile World Congress, have announced on Thursday that more than 85,000 visitors from over 200 countries participated in this year’s event. The figure sets a new impressive attendance record with an overall increase of 18% on last year’s edition. Around 80,000 attendees participated at the Mobile World Congress at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venues and more than 5,000 visitors attended mPowered industries programme at Fira’s Montjuïc venues. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty delivered highly anticipated keynote speeches, while close to 1,800 international market leading companies presented their latest innovative products and services. In the Global Mobile Awards, the HTC One scooped top award of the Best Smartphone of the year, while Apple iPad was announced the Best Mobile Tablet. Wearable devices were also an exciting highlight of the 2014 MWC.

The winners of the 19^th Global Mobile Awards were announced on Tuesday afternoon, in a ceremony held at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The prizes recognize the most innovative mobile products, apps, services and initiatives from all over the world. More than 175 international industry experts, analysts, journalists and academics were involved in the judging process.In the category of the Best Mobile Handsets and Devices, the HTC One scooped top award of the Best Smartphone, defeating other nominees such as Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Apple iPhone 5S.The Apple iPad Air was announced as Best Mobile Tablet. Nokia was a runaway winner having received awards in two different categories. The Catalan Government was also honoured for the educational mSchools project. The award ceremony was hosted by British comedian James Corden.

Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s biggest congress in the mobile phone industry, takes place from today until Thursday in Barcelona. The Catalan capital is hosting this event for the 9th consecutive year. More than 1,800 companies from all over the world showcase their latest products at the event and more than 77,000 visitors are anticipated at the conference centre at Fira Gran Via. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and new owner of Whatsapp, will follow today’s earlier speech by Whatsapp founder Jan Koum with his highly anticipated keynote talk. Virginia Rometty, IBM´s CEO and recently pronounced most powerful woman in Business, will also appear as a keynote speaker on Wednesday. Leading mobile phone companies such as Samsung, Sony, Nokia, Huawei, HTC and others are expected to launch their new devices at the exhibition.

Some 1,900 police officers, both from the Catalan Police Force (called Mossos d’Esquadra), and from the local polices of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Greater Barcelona), will ensure the safety of the 75,000 visitors expected to attend the Mobile World Congress, the main international event of the mobile-phone-related industry. This trade fair and conference takes place each year in Barcelona and the upcoming edition will run from the 24^th to the 27^th of February. With this safety reinforcement plan, plain-clothed police officers will be deployed in the pavilions of the Mobile World Congress, while the number of uniformed-police patrols will be increased to dissuade pickpockets. Furthermore, there will be more private security guards controlling the premises this year and a dedicated police station where attendees can report any loss or theft will be open all day long.

The Director General of Fira de Barcelona and Executive Vice President of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Agustí Cordón, presented on Wednesday the initiative ‘Mobile Ready’, a set of activities that will show citizens and tourists in Barcelona the potential transformations of mobile technology on their daily lives. ‘Mobile Ready’ will travel across the main architectural, commercial and entertainment points of the Catalan capital. Moreover, coinciding with the Mobile World Congress, the Fira de Barcelona facilities in Montjuïc will host the event ‘4 Years From Now’, which will bring together international investors and over 1,000 entrepreneurs in the Information and Communication Technology sector.

Barcelona’s next Mobile World Congress, which will take place from the 24^th to the 27^th of February, should be the “best edition ever”, according to the CEO of GSMA and Director of the event, John Hoffman. Indeed, 75,000 visitors are expected to attend the world’s most important fair in the mobile industry, meaning 3,000 more than in February 2013. Besides, so far, five weeks ahead of the opening, the number of online registrations is already 15% higher than last year. The economic impact on the Catalan capital will be an additional income of €356 million and the creation of 7,220 jobs. One of the highlights of this year’s edition will be the participation of Facebook-inventor Mark Zuckerberg, who will give a conference on the 24^th of February.

Next February, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s most important event in the mobile industry, will open its doors in Barcelona for the 9^th consecutive year. The major companies in the sector will introduce new products or give conferences on applications designed for many innovative uses. By hosting the fair each year at least until 2018, Barcelona, named Mobile World Capital, is looking to become an international leader in this industry. The city has also created a HUB to develop the sector even further. The 2014 edition of the fair expects to break all records. The Director of the MWC, John Hoffman, stated that 75,000 visitors were expected, meaning 3,000 more than last year. Besides, once the fair will be over, it is estimated the local economy could have gained €340 million from it.

The telecommunications company Cronos Group, based in Hong Kong, is opening its European offices in Barcelona to offer services throughout the continent and worlwide. According to the Catalan Ministry of Business and Employment, the company is expected to create 25 new jobs in the first year operating from the Catalan capital. Currently 10 people are already working in Cronos’ Barcelona offices. The project received the assistance of the Catalan Government’s programme ‘Invest in Catalonia’, which focuses on attracting foreign investment and international business. Cronos’s Managers explained they have decided to settle in Barcelona because it had become the world capital of the mobile phone and of telecommunications, since each year it organises the main international event in this sector. Furthermore, Cronos Group praised the talent and skills of Catalan workers.

The founder and CEO of technology company GFT announced that they will create 500 new jobs in Catalonia in the coming years. In an exclusive interview with the CNA, Ulrich Dietz, stated that he has “aggressive plans to increase the staff” in Greater Barcelona and Lleida. GFT  specialises in developing technological solutions for the banking and insurance sectors, with a turnover of €231 million in 2012. With several offices in Germany, the company is based in Stuttgart and is present in Brazil, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, US and UK. A quarter of GFT employees throughout the world are based in Catalonia. Most of them work in Greater Barcelona, which is the company’s “hub” for the European market. Dietz explained that he has plans to develop Lleida’s facilities, which currently employ 40 people, “significantly”.