Innovation, Digitalisation and Startups: The commitment to the new post-COVID Mediterranean economy at MedaWeek Barcelona

• Innovation, Digitalisation and Startups: The commitment to the new post-COVID Mediterranean economy at MedaWeek Barcelona

• The Innovation and Digitalisation Summit will take place on Wednesday 18 November and will be responsible for inaugurating MedaWeek Barcelona 2020.

• The event, which will be held as part of the 14th edition of MedaWeek Barcelona (18, 19 and 20 November), will attract hundreds of participants to share their knowledge and good practices on the key issues of Mediterranean innovation and the digital world.

• The disruptive power of technology is positioned as a fundamental aid to wealth creation in the Mediterranean region.

• Attendance / participation is open, free, and accessible for companies, entrepreneurs and professionals, experts, consultants, and university students. The registration period is now open: https://www.medaeconomicweek.org/register/

Barcelona, November 13, 2020.-  MedaWeek Barcelona, The ‘Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders’, the reference event to promote Mediterranean economies, business cooperation and the Mediterranean region around the world, opens its first day with the celebration of a Summit with three forums dedicated to promoting three key areas for Mediterranean countries in the post-COVID-19 scenario as Innovation, Digitalisation and SMEs, and the ecosystem of Startups.

MedaWeek’s Mediterranean Summit on Innovation and Digital Transformation, which this year is positioned as a leading theme as a consequence of COVID-19, aims to attract policy makers, business people and academics from the Mediterranean region to share their knowledge and best practices on the key issues of Mediterranean innovation and the digital world, and thus generate wide-ranging debates that will enrich the economy.

The forums comprising the Summit will serve as a collaborative platform for international and regional companies, startups, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to showcase their inventions, discuss market trends and establish business relationships. During the day, the importance and need to offer new responses based on innovation and digitalisation to address situations of uncertainty will be highlighted. One example is the health emergency situation due to the COVID-19 in which innovation and technology have positioned themselves as the main allies to relieve the impact of the pandemic, demonstrating that innovation is not an option but a necessity.

“It is time to react in a coordinated way to the new challenges, because innovation and digitisation are here to stay. Their implementation has accelerated and there is no turning back. The way we work, learn, buy or communicate has changed. We must be prepared for the so-called “new normality”, says Anwar Zibaoui, General Coordinator of ASCAME (Association of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry). He continues: “Leaving the Mediterranean behind in the digital transformation is not an option. The crisis will be overcome, but we must not forget that innovation and digitalisation are the path to survival and development, the fuel for constant progress and the model for the rise of a company, a nation or a region”.

The Mediterranean needs a Technological Revolution

The figures show that 40% of the jobs created between 2005 and 2018 were in digitally-intensive sectors. The Mediterranean region will have to create millions of new jobs. In that sense, technological change threatens jobs, but it also creates alternatives.

The digital potential is unlimited, which represents an opportunity for the Mediterranean. The disruptive power of technology is positioned here as a fundamental aid to creating wealth in the Mediterranean region, home to a population of over 500 million people, which can become a flourishing centre of innovation and entrepreneurship if it is committed to a digital future.

A successful transition to the Fourth Industrial Revolution would ensure business competitiveness and be a determining factor for regional industrial consolidation. One of the aims is to expand the Mediterranean startup ecosystem and create a hub of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. It is precisely in young people that the resources to find solutions to pressing problems are to be found. In this sense, Barcelona has been outstanding in creating a unique ecosystem for innovation, technology and education in the Mediterranean region.

“The increase of digitization and integration in the main industries in the region could generate annual revenues of approximately $45.9 billion and cost savings of $30.3 billion” says Anwar Zibaoui.

The Mediterranean Summit on Innovation and Digital Transformation will focus on:

• Analyse digital initiatives in the region and their potential impact on society and businesses.
• Become a digitally enabled centre of trade, innovation and investment through the use of digital technology from the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
• Accelerating innovation through AI, AR and robotics, the region aims to become a world leader in the adoption and application of AI.
• Making the technological revolution relevant and urgent.
• Focus on implementation. The Mediterranean has great potential to build its start-up ecosystem to support the digitisation plan.
• Modernisation and digitalisation of the Mediterranean economy.

About MedaWeek Barcelona

MedaWeek Barcelona 2020 is organised by ASCAME, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Free Zone Consortium. A business cooperation platform that aims to boost the economy of the Mediterranean regions through the building of relationships between the key economic sectors on the two shores of the Mediterranean.

The ‘Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders’ has become the main forum for the promotion of the private sector and the integration of the Mediterranean regions. An event for which more than 20,000 professionals, businessmen, entrepreneurs, representatives of the public sector and journalists have passed, since its creation.

More information about the event at: www.medaeconomicweek.org

More information about ASCAME at: www.ascame.org

  ^{@ascameorg #MedaWeek20}

Press contacts:

 Anabel Frutos afrutos@ascame.org 619 503 142

 Area Manager ASCAME

 Events, Communication & Marketing Area

Alive comunicación

Gema Lloret gema@alivecomunicación.es 630 78 95 45

Ainhoa Bueno prensa@alivecomunicación.com 622 573 576