Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW) starts this Tuesday (6 October) with the goal of turning the Catalan city into the “global capital of the new economy”.
BNEW runs 6–9 October, with registration remaining open throughout the event, offering insight from 350 speakers on how businesses can bounce back from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It will feature top speakers from the business sectors of real estate, logistics, digital industry, e-commerce and economic zones.
The hybrid, business-to-business event – which is taking place in physical and virtual forms – is organised by Consorci de la Zona Franca (CZFB) and will showcase the way in which Barcelona is preparing for the post-Covid world and the “new economy”. It is the city’s first big business event of the year and aims to help revitalise and restart the local economy.
“BNEW will be the first great event for the economy’s global recovery that will allow the redesigning of the productive fabric,” says Pere Navarro, state special delegate at CZFB. “It is an honour to have the participation of renowned professionals and attendees from all around the world.
“As we are not in a position to do a proper ‘in person’ fair, we decided to adapt by creating a disruptive and useful event in this way to relaunch the economy.”
The conference will encompass five interconnected events incorporating real estate, logistics, digital industry, e-commerce and economic zones. More than 8,000 professionals from 91 countries from all over the globe will take part virtually. A further 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the five events in person. Over 200 speakers will take part physically, while the rest will give their talks via a digital platform specially created for the unique event. An advanced digital networking platform – using artificial intelligence – will cross-reference the data of all those registered to offer a large number of contacts and directly connect supply with demand.
The conference will also be simultaneously broadcast in high-quality streaming on six channels, one for each of the five interconnected events and an additional stream showcasing Barcelona’s culture and gastronomy.
BNEW will take place in three venues in the city: Estació de França, Casa Seat and Movistar Centre. All are open, digital spaces committed to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda. Estació de França will host the BNEW Logistics, BNEW E-commerce and BNEW Real Estate events, while Casa Seat will be home to the BNEW Economic Zones event, and the Movistar Centre will host the BNEW Digital Industry.
Some 36 companies are sponsoring BNEW, and 52 start-up companies will take part and present their highly innovative products and services. A further 128 companies will participate in BVillage, a virtual stand where they can show their products and schedule meetings with potential clients.
Highlight sessions will include ‘The era of humankind toward the fifth industrial revolution,’ by digital transformation expert Marc Vidal; ‘Rational optimism’, by commercial communications specialist Luca Lazzarini; and ‘Future smart cities challenges and opportunities,’ by leading voice on artificial intelligence Alicia Asín. Sandra Pina will also talk about how sustainability is transforming us, Jorge Alonso will discuss the humane future of cities and Pilar Jericó will address how to face changes in the post-Covid era.
BNEW is described as a new way of developing your know-how, expanding your networks and promoting innovation and talent.
“Networking is always one of the main attractions of the events, so to carry it out in this innovative way at BNEW – with the high international profile it boasts – is a great opportunity for companies,” says CZFB managing director Blanca Sorigué.
Readers can register for BNEW for free via this link using the discount code BNEWFREE.
