Some events you expect to go beyond imagination. In search of inspiration and with admittedly big expectations I entered the venue of The Next Web Europe's tenth edition in Amsterdam: home to startups the likes of Peerby, Booking.com and WeTransfer. All prime examples of how the digital economy is disrupting the market place. Hence, I hoped to find the vibe of the disruptive … [Read more...]
Is Barcelona The Smartest City of Them All?
Big data versus Big Brother. Do we want Barcelona to be the smart city to lead all smart cities? Or should the Catalan capital simply save time and money by utilizing open source code to copy other pioneering cities? The 2014 Smart City Expo at Fira Barcelona definitely talked about success being found in a mix of the two. The Mobile World Capital saw 232 businesses and a … [Read more...]
Big Data In Barcelona: Your Intro And Guide To Its Promising Future
According to the latest "Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle for 2013" published annually by Gartner Research, currently Big Data is a technology located near the peak of inflated expectations in the hype cycle curve and its plateau of productivity is expected to be reached in 5 to 15 years (Figure 1). If we interpret this graphic tool using its formal definition, Big Data … [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@ Future Music Forum: trends in music technology
The music business is all about the stars. Stars for being the best, stars for being liked and stars for being awarded. So what better place to feature a conference on the future of music then the Estrella Damm Factory in Barcelona. For two days the world music industry has gathered here to discuss the consequences of big data, gig funding and streaming at the crossroads of … [Read more...]