On January 27th, Innovation in Barcelona (Part 1) appeared on Barcinno. This article is a follow up and is based on interviews with Joan Marti Estevez (Acc1o), Jorge Juan Fernandez (Biocat & Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Sonia Mulero & Guillermo Marqueta-Siibert (Fundacion INLEA), Chelo Fernández (Barcelona City Council), Jesus Purroy (Parc Científic Barcelona), Marc … [Read more...]
Heard@ 4YFN: Startups, Wearables & ‘All You Can Eat’ Solutions In Barcelona
The 4 Years From Now (4YFN) event at the Mobile World Congress was all about experiences. Partly due to the popularity surge of the user-experience movement, but it's also related to the process of creating something from nothing. It was clear that the key to innovation is to build upon past achievements while keeping your eyes on the future. I want to touch upon two highlights … [Read more...]
Part 1: Innovation In Barcelona
This article is based on interviews with changemakers, influencers and innovation practitioners: Joan Marti Estevez (Acc1o), Jorge Juan Fernandez (Biocat & Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Sonia Mulero (Fundacion INLEA), Jesus Purroy (Parc Científic Barcelona), Marc Ramis (Tech & Business Innovation), Joan Cortes (Lead To Change) and Nigel Ten Fleming (Adventura Capital) … [Read more...]
Call to Innovation: How To Solve Spain’s Greatest Challenges
Call to Innovation is a call for action. For the fourth time, Spain is gathering its future leaders and encouraging them to propose projects to resolve the country's biggest problems. Actually, not only in Spain, but from any country. In the future we can expect much more unemployment when jobs will become obsolete due to technology. Think about robotics and self-driving … [Read more...]
Heard@ Intrapreneurship Conference: Ambassadors Of Change
"There's no such thing as failure in intrapreneurship, just opportunities to pivot." With this one-liner, speaker Neil Fogarty kicked off and set the tone of the Intrapreneurship Conference in Barcelona. Over the course of two days, attendees from all over the world focused on asking the right questions and continued the conversation to help ‘trouble makers’ accelerate … [Read more...]
The Art of Sharing Knowledge: Introducing The Barcelona Knowledge Hub
Another organization just set up shop in Barcelona to promote knowledge-sharing and innovation. Barcelona Knowledge Hub was officially launched last week and is located in the beautiful cloister premises in the Carrer del Carmen. It is a collaboration between Academia Europaea and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI): two organizations that have knowledge … [Read more...]
In Search Of A Co-Founder: The Importance Of Teaming Up
Innovation does not occur by the individual. You need a team effort to push an idea through the innovation funnel and turn it, eventually, into an implemented product or service. The team does not necessarily have to be the same over the whole process, but a good balance in technological, business and user-insight skills are key. Team up to innovate and stimulate business … [Read more...]
Smart City Expo: Barcelona World Congress 2013
This week Barcelona hosts the Smart City Expo, focusing on how smart cities can change the world. The word smart city is popping up all around us and is driving the urban innovation portfolio. Smart cities ask for clever and integrated solutions on urban complexity, traffic congestion, emission, public service coordination and energy efficiency challenges. Just to name a few. … [Read more...]
Heard@ Smart Fabrics 2013: Trends In Wearable Technology
The 2013 Smart Fabrics Europe Conference on wearable technology was held in Barcelona last week. Don’t be fooled by the name smart fabrics. In reality, this is a multi-disciplinary topic touching upon (flexible) electronics, nanotechnology and interaction design while attracting artists, designers, manufacturers, fashion labels and large multinationals as Nokia, LG, Apple, … [Read more...]
How To Find Your Startup Co-Founder: The Importance Of Teaming Up
Innovation does not often occur by an individual acting on their own. You need a team effort to push an idea through the innovation funnel and turn it into an implemented product or service. The team does not necessarily have to be the same throughout the entire process, but a good balance in technological, business and user-experience skills are key. Team up to innovate and … [Read more...]