The most exceptional edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) comes to an end. After its cancellation in 2020, the congress has reactivated fair activity in the city. The comings and goings through the corridors of Fira de Barcelona in Gran Via and face-to-face professional meetings, without screens, have resumed. The forecast of attendees was between 25,000 and 30,000, but the final balance from GSMA is still awaited. According to the Mossos d'Esquadra, 27,000 participants would have been reached.
During the four days of the fair, health has undoubtedly been the main protagonist. Not only because of the incorporation of new protocols to prevent coronavirus contagion at the event, making antigen tests, FFP2 masks, and hydroalcoholic gel the new attendees, but also because it has been transferred to the congress program. Many talks and presentations have focused on trying to answer the challenges generated by the pandemic, with the aim of contributing to recovery.
The Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital), one of the traditional local protagonists of the congress, has reinforced its commitment to health for another edition. After making possible the first live operation from the Gran Via venue with 5G during the 2019 edition, the foundation has presented several projects that will improve the healthcare world. From an autonomous robot equipped with 5G to disinfect Mercabarna, to the use of the immediate connection offered by this technology to attend maritime emergencies. This foundation has also managed to make its stand one of the essential stops at MWC 2021, allowing all those who dared to see a 3D copy of themselves to discover the virtues of holograms. A functionality that will surely end up finding some application in hospitals.
Beyond the presentations and talks, the feeling that has been breathed walking through the Mobile has been that there was a greater presence of exhibitors related to the world of health and with covid, especially in the 4 Years From Now (4YFN), a salon dedicated to emerging companies that in this edition has coexisted with its older brother. This is how the CEO of HumanITCare, Núria Pastor, has seen it, who has detected that there were more companies in this sector and that they used very varied technologies. This Barcelona startup offers remote control to patients with chronic diseases. Although the company was created in 2018, the pandemic has accelerated its growth and is now immersed in its first round.
Another Barcelona company dedicated to digital health that has participated in 4YFN has been Oxeen, led by Laia Farràs. The company also monitors patients remotely, but it is designed for those who are on the ward, with the aim of facilitating the work of the nurses who have to control them, showing values such as temperature or blood oxygen on a screen. Precisely, the original idea comes from talking to a nurse, who, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, saw that she could not properly attend to patients because she had to go one by one and it took too long. The emerging company, incubated at the IQS Tech Factory, is currently in the pilot testing phase.
These are some of the more than 40 Catalan companies and entities related to health that have participated in both 4YFN and Mobile, especially focused on telemedicine. In fact, Barcelona is positioned as one of the main European cities in investment in digital health, according to recent data from Biocat presented on the occasion of the salon. Until the end of June, startups in this sector have raised 22 million euros, a figure that represents three times that obtained in the same period of 2020 and the total value raised in 2019.
The contacts that these startups will have been able to make during the congress will serve to maintain this trend. Even more so if one thinks of the special prominence that Catalan companies have had in this edition, characterized by the absence of large multinationals and a predominantly local presence of exhibitors.