FC Barcelona reaffirm their commitment to the Mobile World Congress for Barça v Girona

The match between Barça-Girona this Saturday at Camp Nou is an opportunity for FC Barcelona to reaffirm its commitment to the most important fair in the field of technology and innovation, the Mobile World Congress. Josep Maria Bartomeu will welcome in the Directors’ Box a delegation from GSMA – the company in charge of the event – led by John Hoffman, director of Mobile and delegate councilor at GSMA. Aside from this institutional reception, the Mobile World Congress will also take the field at Camp Nou. Before kick off the first team players will get their photo taken with event’s corporate logo and during the game the event will be publicized via speed time, the LED screens that surround the ground.

The Mobile World Congress will start on Monday 26 February and as is usual, FC Barcelona will take part in various planned events. The Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB), the body that deals with knowledge and innovation at the Club, will be present in several talks and presentations that bring together innovation and industry in the world of sport.

Session on technology and user experience

The first appearance for FC Barcelona at the Congress will be on Monday 26 at the conference of Live events and fan engagements organized by the multinational INTEL. Marta Aubia from BIHUB will analyze how technology can personalize and improve the experience for fans inside the stadium.

On Wednesday 28 FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu will visit the fair to attend the session ‘Enhancing the consumer experience’ which forms part of the Sports & Entertainment Summit. There, William Mannarelli, director of the Patrimonial Area at FC Barcelona, will explain the potential uses of mobile technology to enrich the experience for our fans at the Espai Barça and to allow them to enjoy a unique opportunity.

Projects with GSMA, Google and Snapchat

The Barça Innovation Hub will have a permanent space during the Congress at the Innovation City venue, thanks to their year-long collaboration with GSMA. This partnership has given rise to a pilot project for RCS technology, a development of 4G that allows the user a more director and simple interactive experience with services such as Seient Lliure. As part of the agreement with GSMA, in this case in the area of Big Data and Internet of Things, an audiovisual presentation of possible initiatives to measure, via sensors, air quality, movement of people and the uses of space at the Camp Nou with the aim favoring security, reinforcing the services on offer and improving the user experience.

Furthermore, a project between FC Barcelona, Google and Snapchat will in the area of augmented reality that allows users to virtually step out onto the field at Camp Nou to share the player experience on match day via a mobile terminal.

As a parallel activity to the Mobile Congress, FC Barcelona will take part in the 4YFN (Four Years From Now) which is also taking place in Barcelona over the next few days. The event is considered one of the most important in the world for start-up businesses to share ideas and work on projects together. At the 4YFN Albert Mundet, responsible for the Area of Knowledge at FC Barcelona and Dr.Gil Rodas, responsible for the Area of Health at BIHUB, will take part in a session to explain the use of innovative medicine at FC Barcelona. A representative from the Barça Innovation Hub will also take part in a workshop in which various start-ups will propose new solutions to help improve the fan experience at Camp Nou.