The director of the Mobile World Capital: "Artificial intelligence has to become an experience for people to understand its potential"

The mobile phone world congress (MWC) is about to die for: there is a week and a half left to finish the preparations, and, from February 27 to March 2, the thousands of congressmen who usually participate in this business event on technology.

The city has managed to banish the ghosts of the congress leaving the Catalan capital —the commitment was recently sealed for the forum to be held until 2030 with the possibility of it already being an indefinite relationship—, but the transformation of the MWC in recent years draws a new challenge: getting the public to understand what this congress is about now.

The MWC has gone from being the place where new mobile phone models were presented, to being a space for debate on new technologies and their applications: metaverse, artificial intelligence, algorithms...

To achieve this connection between what is discussed at the congress and ordinary people is the Mobile World Capital Foundation, which aims to take advantage of the economic activity that is generated in the MWC to strengthen the entrepreneurial and technological ecosystem of the city.

This year, he has prepared a series of activities to make technologies understandable and enjoyable.

The general director of the foundation, Francesc Fajula, who took office last June and now has his first congress ahead of him, agrees in an interview with EL PAÍS on the need to make debates and technologies more accessible that, outside the MWC they may not understand each other.

“Since mobile phone models stopped being presented and one more congress on technologies was held, there has been a risk of losing contact with the public.

And to avoid it, we have to make experiences: technologies, such as the metaverse or artificial intelligence, have to be transformed into experiences so that people understand their potential and enjoy them," says Fajula at the foundation's offices, in the building of the Palau de Mar where the Pier 01 technological center of the Tech Barcelona association is located.

“We have to bring the public closer to the MWC, although understanding that it is still a professional fair”, adds Fajula.

With this objective, the foundation has designed a series of activities in various spaces of the congress, where it will associate different technologies with the senses of the human being to turn them into experiences.

The visitor will begin by creating an avatar using facial recognition techniques.

With it, thanks to augmented reality, you will access a metaverse where you will travel to emblematic places in Barcelona, ​​of which you will feel the smells, introduced thanks to the Puig perfumery company and two startups in the sector.

The second experience will be a gastronomic tasting of chocolates created by the Celler de Can Roca, which will guide the visitor through virtual reality glasses through the tasting.

In the third experience

that of touch, the assistant will put on a haptic sleeve on his arm and virtual reality glasses, and will pretend to shoot the arrow that lit the cauldron of Barcelona '92.

And in the visual experience, the user will be able to use code systems to create a fireworks display that they will see through the virtual reality glasses.

The series of experiences will end in the Beat Barcelona space, where the avatar will have an immersive experience at a concert.

"Congressmen will be able to participate, but we have also made a call to groups that do not normally come to Mobile, such as education or sports, to try these experiences," explains Fajula.

and it will simulate that it launches the arrow that lit the cauldron of Barcelona '92.

And in the visual experience, the user will be able to use code systems to create a fireworks display that they will see through the virtual reality glasses.

The series of experiences will end in the Beat Barcelona space, where the avatar will have an immersive experience at a concert.

"Congressmen will be able to participate, but we have also made a call to groups that do not normally come to Mobile, such as education or sports, to try these experiences," explains Fajula.

and it will simulate that it launches the arrow that lit the cauldron of Barcelona '92.

And in the visual experience, the user will be able to use code systems to create a fireworks display that they will see through the virtual reality glasses.

The series of experiences will end in the Beat Barcelona space, where the avatar will have an immersive experience at a concert.

"Congressmen will be able to participate, but we have also made a call to groups that do not normally come to Mobile, such as education or sports, to try these experiences," explains Fajula.

where the avatar will have an immersive experience at a concert.

"Congressmen will be able to participate, but we have also made a call to groups that do not normally come to Mobile, such as education or sports, to try these experiences," explains Fajula.

where the avatar will have an immersive experience at a concert.

"Congressmen will be able to participate, but we have also made a call to groups that do not normally come to Mobile, such as education or sports, to try these experiences," explains Fajula.

The Mobile World Capital Foundation, which has public and private support, was created 11 years ago to ensure that a congress as important as the MWC, which revolutionizes the city for a week and puts it on the world economic and technological map, was not only that: a one-week hiatus.

Since then, the foundation has tried to ensure that the impact of the congress continues throughout the year, and it does so through different initiatives: one on innovation, with The Collider program to connect research centers and technology development companies with startups;

another program to promote the use of 5G in the metropolis of Barcelona;

another initiative to promote digital talent in the city;

and a program to bring digital transformation to the field of education, among other initiatives.

"In Catalonia,

As in Spain and Europe in general, there is a significant disconnect between research centers and companies, and we try to bridge this with The Collider.

There is also another challenge, which is that of talent, since there is a lack of professionals for these new jobs, and hence our education programs”, says Fajula.

The head of the foundation believes that Barcelona is "facing a unique opportunity" following the MWC's commitment to continue in the city until at least 2030. "We had a dating relationship with the GSMA [the global employer of the mobile phone industry] , and from time to time we had to check if things were going well, if we were continuing, etc.

Now we have a marriage and we can think long term.

We have the opportunity to start long-term projects, ”he points out.

The role of the foundation is key in this new stage, and for this reason Fajula explains that they will soon begin drawing up a new strategic plan and a plan to remodel their brand: "People don't know that many technology initiatives are coming out of the foundation.

We have a spectacular brand, but perhaps we have not been sufficiently capable of communicating it to society”.

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