Jump2Digital: a ten-hour intensive to enter the ICT sector

The Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital) launched Jump2Digital a few years ago, an event designed for digital talent, both to facilitate their access to companies in the sector and to attract those who are considering entering the world of programming. It started as a pilot test and has grown, so this year it had to move to the Montjuïc exhibition center to accommodate the more than 5,000 attendees it expects. The third edition will be held this Friday. With free access, there will be more than ten hours of workshops, talks, and entertainment.

"It will be one of MWCapital's major medium-term projects," says Jordi Arrufí, Talent Director of the foundation, created by the Mobile World Congress (MWC) to leave a legacy in the city that hosts it beyond the few days the congress lasts. For MWCapital, Jump2Digital serves to attract more people to dedicate themselves to the ICT sector, which has a deficit of professionals, but also to "position and consolidate Barcelona as a technological city." The event has a budget of half a million euros.

The third edition of this small digital talent fair will arrive at Fira de Barcelona after the Llotja de Mar became too small. It will feature about twenty workshops explaining how to develop a website, a mobile application, a database, or a video game. As expected, artificial intelligence will also be discussed. Jump2Digital complements its training offer with more than 30 speakers, including astronaut and researcher Sara García and streamer Cristinini, who recently jumped to television with the new Gran Prix. Their presentations will be distributed across two stages in the Plaza España pavilion with capacity for about 500 people.

Another important leg of Jump2Digital is the participation of companies such as Alexion, Boehringer Ingelheim, HP, NTT Data, Pepsico, Sanofi, Softonic, Schneider Electric, and Zurich. They will be some of the 20 companies that will be dedicated to holding job interviews with attendees, with the forecast of conducting more than 800. According to Arrufí, two out of ten interviews conducted that day end with a contract. In addition, a technological competition will be organized to solve different challenges, in which the organizing companies will also be looking for new workers. This year, tests will be proposed that will have to find solutions to issues such as drought, local commerce, sustainable tourism, and gender inequality.

There will also be spaces to have fun without forgetting technology. You can take selfies and version them with AI, you can try indie video games developed in Barcelona, you can watch a robot battle, and you can greet a robot dog that dances and jumps. All this, while an autonomous vehicle developed by students from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) circulates freely around the fairgrounds. Surprisingly, the main event will be chess. The well-known Rey Enigma, there are also influencers in this field, will challenge those who want to play for four consecutive hours and in multiple games.