BNEW closes its third edition with 40% international attendees

Barcelona, once again, has positioned itself as an epicenter of innovation, digitalization, and progress thanks to the celebration of Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW), which closed its third edition this Thursday. The conferences, which have been held over four days, have brought together more than 12,000 professionals, 6,000 in person and 6,500 virtually.

Of the total, 40% were international participants, representing 107 countries, with a predominance of visitors from Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Mexico; and around 1,500 startups have been hosted. Also, about 5,500 networking contacts have been established, more than 2,000 thanks to the digital platform specifically developed by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, organizer of BNEW.

"We have contributed to generating new business opportunities and boosting the economy and industry," highlighted Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, when assessing the event and announcing that next year there will be a new edition of this event that has been maintained despite being born in the year of the pandemic, with the limitations that this entailed. "But we can affirm that BNEW has consolidated itself as an essential event for transversal innovation," defended Blanca Sorigué, general director of the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and BNEW.

"This is a disruptive B2B event, which evolves year after year, and the reception it has had in its most in-person edition shows that it is essential to have a shared space to move towards the new economy, taking into account the key role of digitalization, sustainability and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals," Sorigué recalled, highlighting the framework chosen this year for all activities, the DFactory Barcelona.

This edition featured 622 speakers who offered up to 180 hours of content distributed in 131 panels, sessions, and debates, addressing issues such as industrial digitalization, urban mobility, circular economy, and sustainability, among others.

The only event that has taken place outside the DFactory has been the presentation of the Awards for the Best BNEW 2022 Startups from each of the verticals that make up the event (Digital Industry, Real Estate, Mobility, Talent and Sustainability). The selection was made from among the more than 50 emerging companies that submitted their candidacy to the BNEW Startup Innovation Hub competition, a unique meeting point to learn about technological advances in the industry and connect companies, potential partners and investors.

The awards went to BChange Mindset Management, the first platform focused on digital mindset management; Buildlovers, a service focused on the self-promotion management of industrialized prefabricated or modular homes; Urban Radar, an emerging company that offers solutions for urban planning professionals to make sustainable decisions; Le Petite Planet, the only digital marketplace dedicated to children's products with a circular business model of buying and reselling under the same ecosystem; and Theker Robotics, the microelectronic welding and desoldering technology company that is committed to automated remanufacturing promoting the circular economy.

The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, in charge of presiding over the awards ceremony, advocated for promoting "a new industrial, technological, social and sustainable revolution". She also continued: "Public-private collaboration is fundamental to consolidate the new economy in Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain. Industry 4.0 is a strategic sector, a spearhead in terms of innovation that, thanks to the social and economic fabric, with its entrepreneurial spirit, places us at the forefront of Europe."