See how ABES participated in the Smart City mission in Barcelona

More than 50 representatives of public authorities, businessmen and executives from 14 cities in Brazil participated in a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce Brazil Catalunya, in Barcelona, as part of the first official commitment of the Brazilian delegation that participates in the Barcelona Smart Week, a week dedicated to getting to know the innovations in the Catalan capital and to delve into the topic of smart cities. Jamile Sabatini Marques, director of Innovation and Development at ABES, represented the entity in this international mission, promoted by the companies iCities and Global Business. “In 2014, we only had 5 people in our entourage. Today, we are at 50 and next year we plan to have more than 300 Brazilians at the World Congress”, commented the co-founder and director of new business at iCities, Roberto Marcelino.
 

Joan Clos and Jamile Sabatini Marques

The meeting at the headquarters of the Foment del Treball Nacional, the main employers' organization in Catalonia, featured a lecture by Joan Clos, former executive director of UN Habitat and former mayor of Barcelona, who presented the New Urban Agenda, a series of global guidelines to encourage sustainable development in cities in the long term. The commitment came after the 3rd United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III). Clos also showed some of the experiences when he commanded the city of Barcelona, considered one of the smartest cities in the world.
 
He was accompanied by the former president of IASP (International Association of Science Parks and Innovation Areas), Josep Piqué, who also shared his experience as CEO of Bairro 22@, an old industrial area completely revitalized to become a hub of innovation in the city. Companies that carry out tests and research for the development of technologies and innovative solutions aimed at urbanism, education, mobility, sustainability and that improve the quality of life of citizens have set up on the site.
 

Then, the mayor of Curitiba, Rafael Greca, spoke about the challenges and opportunities of the smart cities sector in Brazil. Greca highlighted the advances that the capital of Paraná has been developing and how the city's innovation environment has been fostered.
 
“We are committed to the idea of innovation and we are triggering an unprecedented creative process, as Curitiba is committed to improving the quality of life of its population with modern and intelligent management,” he said, citing some of the city’s innovations such as Vale do Pinhão, the Saúde Já app, the Worktiba Barigui, and the Lighthouses of Knowledge and Innovation.
 
“The main objective of the mission is to bring managers and executives closer to solutions and technologies that can improve the quality of life in cities through innovation. For this, there is nothing better than getting to know the examples of Barcelona, a reference in the field of smart cities, which has already implemented several solutions that make a difference in people's lives”, explained the co-founder and marketing director of iCities, André Telles. 
 

 
 visits
 
On Monday afternoon (11/12), the delegation visited the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) in Spain. They saw how high-performance computing (HPC) works and the management of MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe. The purpose of the visit was to demonstrate the strategic importance of such a structure for the development of research and global projects to improve the quality of life through technology.
 

On 11/13, Members visited the Smart City Expo World Congress, the world's largest event on smart cities, organized by FIRA Barcelona. The eighth edition of the event received around 18,000 people from over 700 cities around the world, in addition to around 100 mayors, 400 speakers and 800 exhibitors, including large companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Huawei, Siemens, Bosch, SAP and MasterCard. Several countries, including Brazil, have spaces designed to showcase their own solutions and innovations.
 
“Barcelona and FIRA Barcelona have signed several partnerships between cities around the world, which host regional events, and Brazil is a major center for the development of topics related to smart cities. Curitiba, in particular, is the most sensitive city and the one that most carries out innovative actions. We can consider the city the capital of smart cities in Brazil”, says Ricard Zapatero, CEO of Fira Barcelona, remembering the Smart City Expo Curitiba in 2018, and the city will also host the second edition of the event in Brazil, which will take place on March 21 and 22, 2019.

According to Jamile Sabatini, the balance of the mission is very positive. “We were warmly welcomed and held important conversations with members of the international community who work on projects and technologies for smart cities, aiming to generate synergies with ABES activities and partnerships for our associates”, highlighted the executive.