It is increasingly evident that Barcelona is managing to capitalize on all the efforts it has made in recent years to consolidate a technological and entrepreneurial ecosystem that is already a global reference. In addition to appearing in more and more international rankings that position it among the best cities in the world in different areas, the Catalan capital is also now part of the usual shortlist of cities that many international professionals have in mind when choosing where in the world they want to settle to develop their talent or professional career.
The pandemic has not only changed the way of working, but it has revolutionized the talent attraction market and introduced new variables that play in Barcelona's favor. High-value professionals feel increasingly free to set their residence, and cities like Barcelona gain attractiveness not only for their climate and quality of life, but because here, in addition to sun and beach, there are also leading universities and technology centers, world-leading business schools, a resilient industrial fabric, good communications, and an extensive universe of startups demanding international talent.
The strength of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is giving birth to multiple successful companies, has had a clear multiplier effect, as now large international corporations are also interested in settling in the city, precisely because they know that in Barcelona there are qualified professionals and also because their internal surveys show that if given a choice, their employees opt to move to Barcelona. That is to say, the location and attractiveness of the city are clearly a plus that tips the balance in favor of Barcelona when choosing where to invest.
In this context, the Barcelona Talent-ed Summit is born, a meeting organized by the Barcelona City Council and by The New Barcelona Post that aims to give visibility to this growing phenomenon of international talent attraction and to put on the table what are the city's strengths in this post-pandemic context and what aspects need to be improved so that this trend is sustainable over time and does not become something fleeting.
This meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, November 30, aims to be a loudspeaker explaining the demands of companies recruiting talent in Barcelona and also a forum to help international professionals considering moving to Barcelona make their decision. Thus, the event will be held entirely in English and will be streamed live so that anyone in the world can follow it. It will also be possible to attend the Barcelona Talent-ed Summit in person, although it is necessary to register in advance to reserve one of the seats in the auditorium of the Cibernarium of the MediaTic building, located in the heart of the 22@ district.
The talent-focused meeting will feature some of the multinationals that have chosen to establish internationally renowned technology hubs in the city, such as Nestlé, which made the decision more than five years ago, or Pepsico, which has just announced its intention to create more than 500 jobs with a digital center that will serve the entire world. Companies such as Ocado Technology, Yego, Amenitiz, Eres Relocation and Banco Sabadell will also participate in the summit to share their experience in recruiting talent and to detail the virtues and also the difficulties they encounter in this process. Likewise, Gizen Baykal, an expert from Michael Page, will present the current main trends in personnel selection and the most demanded positions by the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The Barcelona Talent-ed Summit will be inaugurated by the first deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and will feature the participation of the general director of the Barcelona School of Management (BSM-UPF), José M. Martínez-Sierra, who will address Barcelona's positioning in the global economic and competitive context and its challenges and opportunities in attracting talent. In addition, the Barcelona City Council will present at the event the main characteristics of the Barcelona International Welcome Desk, a new municipal service for international talent that wants to come to reside in the city or has just settled in.
The result of the collaboration with The New Barcelona Post, the Barcelona Talent-ed Summit is an initiative that is part of the Barcelona International Community, the meeting point for members of Barcelona's international community promoted by the city council and which had its big day last Saturday, October 22, with the celebration, again in person, of the Barcelona International Community Day.
Talent and the city's brand positioning are two of Barcelona's strengths to accelerate the economic recovery process. This is one of the priorities set in the Barcelona Green Deal, which aims to focus on the city's capacity to train, attract, retain, and welcome talent. The Catalan capital is an internationally recognized knowledge city, ranking as the 4th most innovative city in Europe and 21st in the world in the Innovation Cities Index, 2019. Likewise, it is at the forefront of European cities as a hub for technological entrepreneurship, being the 3rd preferred city to establish a startup for the third consecutive year according to the Start-up Heatmap Europe Report 2019, and the fifth hub for startups in Europe in 2020, according to the EU-Startups ranking, behind London, Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam.